Day One

“A warm welcome” – Friday 22 november 2019

A dream coming true. Today i’ll step on a cruise to the Antarctic. At 3:45 PM I arrive at a little office at the pier. I register myself, leave some of my luggage and short after I find myself in a bus filled with people that brings us to the ship called: the ‘Ocean Adventurer’. Well known for it’s charming and intimate atmosphere and it will sail us over the famous Drake Passage to Antarctica. When we arrive I see staff everywhere pointing us the right way. This makes me think about the movie Titanic. Everybody smiles and welcomes us on board. It’s kinda overwhelming.

When I open the door of the cabin I see a familiair face. When she starts talking i know it for sure, I’ve met her before. After putting our travel agendas next to each other we figured out that we’ve met on the Galapos Islands a couple of months ago. What a small world we live in.

After an interesting briefing we all enjoy a very extensive buffet. The food they prepare here is amazing. After months of backpacking i’m enjoying and appreciating the food on a whole different level.

Later on we head outside to get some fresh air and to enjoy the view over the Beagle Channel. A channel of 240 km long that will soon meet the Drake Passage.

Falling a sleep is hard with the movements of the ocean. It will take some time to get used to, but it’s already completely worth it.

Day Two

“Surviving Sea Legs” – Saturday 23 november 2019

After a turbulent night with not to much sleep I wake up very tired. I can’t get used to the swinging movement of the ship. After taking a shower i make my way to the breakfast room. On my way to the table I grab things along the way to keep balanced. I’m happy when i reach my chair and get to sit down. I eat a bown of muesli, because that’s what is closest to me. After finishing my breakfast i can’t motivate myself to go for a second round to look at all the delicious food they perfectly presented to us.

Back in my cabin i decide to watch the presentation about birds from my bed. After the presentation the ornithologist takes the people outside the deck to spot some birds and i lift myself out of bed, put on my nice yellow parka and with my camera around my neck i walk to deck three. We spot the following birds that are following the ship:

• Grey-Headed Albatross
• Black-Browned Albatross
• Wandering Albatross (biggest in the world)
• Giant Petrals

I have a nice conversation with two people from England and together we check the bridge. When we arrive to the bridge one of the staffmembers spot a Fin Whale. We felt so lucky to be there at that particular moment!

The fresh air did me good and i attend a presentation about using the Zodiac boats en spreading microparticlas through clothes. It’s important to check your clothes on seeds and other organic material to protect the Antarctic continent.

With a cup of thea we sit down on the deck. I talk with Sammy, a guy from France. A very nice guy and we talk about lessons that life thought us and how we try to use these lessons in our daily lifes now. It was a very interesting conversation on a fantastic location with view over the South Atlantic Ocean.

We head to the mainlounge for the recap of the day. It is a very informal presentation with a lot of laughter. After the presentation is finished we make ourselves ready for the Captain’s Cocktail. For this occasion everybody exchange there warm outfit for a more formal occassion. We get introduced to the captain and different managers. It is nice to see the faces of the people that work so hard behind the scenes. After meetings these friendly people we have dinner. A la carte…. it doesn’t get any better then this.

With our belly’s full of delicious food, we sit down in the mainlounge and enjoy the Boatytalk with Matt, the historicus. He’s is a pretty good storyteller and we all enjoyed listening to his lifestory.

We go to the deck for a drink, then to wrap up the day we enjoy a cup of thea in the mainlounge before we go to bed.

FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY:

Sitting on the back of the deck all by myself enjoying the raises of sunshine, the view over the ocean, my favourite music and book about the penguins with the pictures of Dave Merron.

Day Three

“Hello Penguins” – Sunday 24 november 2019

After a excellent night of sleep I make my way to breakfast. I’m back to the ‘old’ Mandy again. The ‘old’ Mandy means that I enjoy a second round and fully enjoy the goodness they serving.

An hour later i walk to the deck to enjoy the fresh air and the beautiful birds that are following us over the Southern Ocean.

At 9:30 am we enjoy a presentation from Marine Biologist Marla about the sealions. It is very educative and how cute are these sealions hey? After the presentation we sit down for. achat on the back of the deck before the next presentation starts. This presentation is called ‘Fire and Ice Boom’. It’s about geology, vulcanic activity in the South Shetland Island and stone formations after vulcanic erruption. Around this time we see Deception Island from the window. We go outside and even spot a humpback whale. This creature with Deception Island on the background gave us beautiful images.

This. isthe first time we make ourselves ready to go on land. Our Zodiac Group is called ‘Albatross’ and we are the first ones going on land. We get of at Whalers Bay. It got this name because of the time that the whalehunting was big here in the 1900. Now it is a hisorical sight, because you can find pieces of the old Norwegian Hektor Whaling Station and a Britisch Antarctic Survey Bas Base.

We walk passed the historical objects like tanks where they stored the oil they obtained from the whales. We walk into a group of cute penguins. The Gentoo and the Chinstrap to be precicelsy. They are small little photo geniuses. You can’t take a bad photo of them. Cuteness allover.

The hike gnow goes to Neptunes Window for a stunning view over the Brandfield Streat and the Caldera. After. thehike we go on board on Francoise her Zodiac. What an experience! The water has a kind of deepblue colour which is a huge contrast with the white snow. We see a Weddel Seal, swimming Penguinss, the Adelie Pengoo, Gentoo Penguin, Chinstrap, with Giant Petrel, Cape Petrals and the gorgeous Blue Eyed Cameron.

Back on board i start to write my experiences down and at 07:00 PM we have a recap and briefing followed by again, ofcourse, al lovely dinner. Today I enjoy New-Sealand Lam and more… Our tablehost is Joey. Joey is amazingly kind. We eat with the same group of young woman at the same table. The other groups that travel together all have a sign on the table like ‘French Group’ or ‘Chinese Group’. So we asked the manager for a sign with ‘Joey’s Angels’ on it. I’m curious if that’s going to happen.

At 09:00 PM Lauritz tells us about his advotures in Greenland where he lived for a while and how he almost losted his arm when it got infected after a polarbear hunt. We talk with eachother after the nerveracking story of Lauritz and go to bed around 00:00.

FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY:

The feeling of sliding over the deepblue waters on a small Zodiac boat with views where you can only dream of. The realisation that you sail over the Southern OCean, the Ocean that boarders the North of Antarctica. That you’ve officialy arrived in Sub-Antarctic terretory. The Gento Penguins that following your Zodiac with so much speed and dives. Sailing in a caldera from an Active Vulcano. Lots and Lots of favourite moments…

 

Day Four

“a Stormy Ride” – Monday 25 november 2019

It’s like I just wake up from a long winter sleep. So good! I have breakfast early and then of we go on. We hit the waters with a couple of zodiacs and Matt is our guide today. He sails us to Bulls Bay (Braban’t Island). For Matt this area is unknown.

We see georgous formations of ice; caves, huge cracks caused by movement of glaciers and pilars that are almost breaking. The blue that shines through he ice is beautiful. A bright neon blue colour gives the ice something magical.

We spot two cute Gentoo Penguis standing together on a huge drifting piece of ice. I never forget this image. Through the walkie talkie we heard a Leopard Seal is spotted in a cave, we slide over the waters to make our way to the cave, but it dissapeared quickly. Several birds are flying over us. One of them isa Wilson Storm Petrel. Just beautiful. Suddenly the weather starts changing. De snowfall is getting worse, the wind stronger and our view is completely gone. Despite the weather i’m trying my best to shoot some images of this one of a lifetime experience. It takes us a long time to find our ship back. Luckily there is GPS. I honestly think we would have been lost otherwise. I heard the stress in Matt’s voice. What an adventure though! I love it. With a warm choco between our hands we talk about it in the mainlounge afterwards. .

After a delicous lunch we get a presentation of Yvonne. She tells us about glaciers and the effect that climate change has on this continent and the wildlife. This presentation was not planned, but because of the bad weather we can’t go on the waters.

They surprise us at the end of the day with an hour of exploring a tiny part of the Antarctic Continent. We see some small Gentoo colonies, a lost Adelie Penguin and a Weddel Seal. It’s so much fun studying those penguins. Most of them are constantly on the move. With their body’s covered in poo the slide down from hills over the clear white snow. Some of them jump in the water, some of them just came out and hopping back to the colonie. Its facinating. They are amazing swimmers and can stay under water for 7 minutes.

As soon as we get back we see our sign standing on the table: ‘Joey’s Angels.’ We laughed so much that night.

We finish the day with an interesting documentary about penguins. In this documentery they put a robot penguin with camera between a colony. Great footage guaranteed. It was so much fun to watch! I will never forget about the jealouse female Rockhopper pengunin that attacked the robot from which she thought it was competation.

After the movie we decided to relax in the hottub with a fenonomal view over the mainland.

FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY:

Overwhelming nature on the first zodiac ride and the silence. Gigantic icebergs made a big impression on me and gave me a feeling of freedom. Oh, and today I bought four cards that i want to send from Antarctica to family and friends. How cool is that!

 

Day Five

“Rescue Mission” – Tuesday 26 november 2019

At 7:15 AM we hear Solan his voice through the speakers: ‘goodmorning everyone, goooooooooodmorning’. What a legend. It’s. anew day and today the sea is very calm. We are lucky with hardly any floating sea ice and because of that are able to pass through the Lemaire Channel. This is a a 11 km long channel which seperates Booth Island from the Antarctic Continent. The most narrow point is less then 800 meters wide (different websites give different distances, but this is what i wrote down after learning about it on the cruise).

After lunch we head to Peterman Island where we go on land. This is home for about 500 pairs of Adelie Penguins. It’s the most southly place where Gentoo and Blue-Eyed Shag colonies live. The place is absolutely stunnning.

Penguins are busy building there nests and i’m observing it quietly. Blue Eyed Shags are also busy building nests, close to where the penguins are doing their thing. I see a crabeater seal realxing on a gigantic piece of floating ice.  Nature on it’s best. To witness this with a dramatic background of mountaintops covered in snow. It’s so pure, clean and unique. My eyes tear up a bit and I keep on observing.

With the Zodiac we are coming a bit closer to the crabeater seal that is still relaxing on that big piece of ice. They have a beautfiul shiny silvercoloured fur and a very adorable face. After 1.5 hour we head back. tothe ship. There they tell us that the Polar Plunge is postpoened because of the kayakgroup that hasn’t returned yet.

We enjoy the beautfiul BBQ the staff prepared. Later on, with a burger in our hands, we discover that all this time that we were enjoying the food a group of people got stuck on Petermann island because of huge pieces of floating ice that unexpectetly appeared. It blocked their way back to the ship totally. With the ship we had to seperate the ice so the zodiacs could pass through. Later on we had to pick up the crew, so again the ship had to split up the bigh pieces of floating sea ice. I think they arrived for the BBQ around 20:45 PM instead of 19:00. I’m happy that they are safely back on board. They definitly have a good story to tell when they get back home.

By the way, this BBQ was fenomonal! Something you probably experience once in your life. The deck outside was full of beautfiully setup tables, Spanish came out of the speakers and that view…  three times Wow.

After the BBQ we play a quiz together. Our team is called ‘Honeypot’ and we won! It was so much fun. We laught so much. Especially when people had to imitate Gentoo Penguins.

FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY:

Enjoying icebergs passing with the sun shining ni my face. The mountaintops coverd with glacier ice and the BBQ with a view. A dream coming rue.

 

Day Six

“Stepping foot on Antarctica” – Wednesday 27 november 2019

In the morning we arrive at Portal Point. The place where we step on the Antarctic contincent for the first time. When we arrive we make our way to a lookout point from where we look over a darkblue bay with floating icebergs, as white as snow. The contrast in the colours is breathtaking.

We have our photomoment with the big flag that says ANARTICA in capital letters and walk a different route to a 360 degrees view over the coastline with huge mountains covered in meters of snow on the background. A couple of Gentoos silently pass us. I can’t get enough of their adorableness. It’s the third biggest penguin after the Emperor Penguin and the King Penguin. After our walk we jump in the zodiac with Yuki as our guide.

First we see three beautyfull Blue Eyed Shages sitting on one floating piece of ice. What a sight. Then we see an iceberg with the rarest vorm. Like a com. Glacy icepigs in a row reaching up to the sky. Stunning. We pass a cute Weddel Seal and take our time to look at a group of Chinstrap Penguins looking down from a cliff into the dark blue sea. Yuki tells us that they are hesitating because leopard seals are on the watch. So… who’s going first? You see them thinking. Later on we see three Adelie Penguins posing on a gigantic piece of floating ice and the bluest of blue i’ve ever seen. It was a cave in a iceberg and it was bright neon blue. We make some cool pictures here and then we head back.

Once we’re back we are preparing ourselves for the Polar Plunge. Still cold from the expedition on sea i change myself into my Polar Plunge outfit and, put on a robe and i’m ready to go. Well… Ready… There was a long line of enthousiastic people from deck three up untill deck four. Some are wearing a funny had and some professional swimming caps. De guides are all dressed up as animals. Like a penguin and a unicorn. The music is playing loud and it feels like a party! I have to say that it helps to control my nerves. Before i know it is my turn. They put a belt around my middle and all of a sudden i’m standing on the edge of the boat. Without thinking i jump and for a couple of seconds it feels like i don’t have limps anymore. My first reaction was getting out and then the feeling comes. It’s hard to descbribe. So much adrenaline and I feel my heart pumping my blood to each part of my body and slowely i get this warm and tingly sensation. I actually feel like a new person! I would love to go again.

On my way to the cabin i bump into Junita and we both decide to warm up in the hottub. Double enjoyment. From. the top of the deck we still hear people jump, scream and laugh.

We make our way to Palaver Point (two hammock island). Here we firstly will go on land and then make a cruise on the zodiac. When i step into the zodiac we spot a humpback whale. We take our time to observe this beautiful creature. This is not part of the plan, because we are only on this boat because it transfers us to land. After we lost the whale out of sight we are heading towards land. Here we visit a Chinstrap Colony. They look so smart with their black helmets. We take our time to really observe the colony and then head back to the zodiacs. This time Lauritz is our guide.

Quickly we see a very big fat Weddel Seal laying in front of. agroup of Chinstrap Penguins. We take our time to observe and take some pictures. Now we make our way to open water and after some patience we spot a humpbackwhale. The sea is like a mirror  of silver. No wave. Nothing. It’s magical. We stay longer on the zodiac then expected and we run a little bit out of time. Lauritz is an amazing guy. He’s only 23 yeards old but already experiences so many different things. He has the best sense of humor, definitly.

As soon as we are beack we eat a la carte. I’m not used to all these fancy dishes, but i love it. I eat veal and it was so well prepared. I have a lovely chat with Cassie, Annie and Yunita afterwards. Such nice young woman. Happy i’ve met them. After dinner we listen to Tara and her story about her three month during kayaktrip around Spitsbergen and bumping into 40 polarbears. Crazy! What a story.

After Tara her story we watch the sun go down and then i spend some time in the library sorting out some pictures for the ‘photo journal’. It’s still very bright outside and its 00:22 AM. This is the reason why i go to bed so late every evening.

FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY

The way my body felt after the Polar Plunge and warming up in the jacuzzi afterwards. The silver shine over the water during watching the whales. I’ve never seen water this beautfiul. A wavy vorm, no wind, so super smooth on the surface. That together with the humpback we were able to observce. At one point he got super close. It was amazing.

 

 

Day Seven

“Happy tears” – Thursday 28 november 2019

We arrive close to Useful Island. From here you have the perfect view over Gerlache Street. We start with a zodiac cruise and see lots of icebergs in many different vorms and colours blue. Is still get mesmerized by the bright neon blue colour. It looks articifacal.

Today the sea is calm, our sight is super clear and there is hardly any wind. The moutnains on the mainlind lighten up because of the big layer of white snow that’s resting on it. It is so clean.

My dream comes true. Besides a killerwhale i really wanted to see this seal. A leopard seal. We spot on and observe it swimming around. Head above water and then for a very long time under water. His head is wide but his, but his snout elongated. He has some black spots on the sides of his head. It’s the penguins worse enemy. They mostly hunt on the unexperiences penguins that are still developing their swimming skills. The leopard keeps on cirkling around us for a while. We decide to give him some peace and navigate to another place.

After the zodiac expidition we step our feet on the mainland again. We walk to a fairly high point en can see a Gentoo colony up there from close. They are busy building nests and some of the female Gentoos are brooding. Very beautiufyl sight. Penguins are funny little characters and i can stare at them for hours.

After spending quiet some time on the mainland we head back. tothe ship. I was writing in this diary when i heard someone speaking through Ethans walky talky. They’ve spotted a pack of killerwhales! As a child i always drew killer whales. I don’t know why. I always dreamt of seeing them one day. Before the anouncement was made publicly i head towards the deck.

First we see two killerwhales, which is already amazing. But then we see a whole pack of killerwhales. I think six of them. The sun is glinstering over the sea, the sky is clear and the water is calm. Perfect circumstances for this moment. The captain turns the ship around and we sail towards the killerwhales. I think have standing there for about an hour watching them. What a day!

Because of the delay the zodiad expedition is postponed. But it’s still going to happen. This was the most beautifull closure of this trip. With tears in my eyes i’m looking around me. I’m so lucky to be here. I worked hard for it, but still… i wish i could share this with others. This serene world completely white because the snowfal. We navigate through smalle little canyons between the icebergs that are floating in the ocean. It doesnt matter where i look, it takes my breath away. The sun is very low which gives a special effect. tothe atmosphere.

Another zodiac has spot a leopard seal. When we arrive we see the seal laying on a floating piece of ice, huge icemountains on the background and a low hanging sun that is colouring the sky in stunning colours. This seal is one of the top five predators among the marine mammals. When he opens his mouth you see many sharp teeth. It has some siilarities of a reptile. n a distance we move around the iceberg and can study him from different angles.

When we are back we are all so so happy. We close it of with a dinner and a boatytalk of Neill. He tells us about his time working as a travelguide. We laughed a lot.

I go to bed with this peaceful happy feeling inside of me.

fAVOURITE MOMENT. OFTHE DAY:

Seeing the pack of killerhwales in serene circumstances. The calmness of the water, the snowfilled mountainpeaks and complete silence on the deck. Happy tears on the last zodiac expidition.

Day Eight

“Guitar and dance” – Friday 29 november 2019

Today is how they call it a seaday, so no big plans. People can join presentations the whole day through. Some of them sleap the whole day. I’am one. ofthese people. It’s like my body instantly wants to relax and nothing else.

I get out of bed because of a prsentation about killerwhales and sit this trhough all nodding. I decide to go bed to bed and watch the presentation of Santiago from the cabin. I fall a sleep and wake up on time for the Recap & Briefing on the tv. I decide to turn around and fall a s leep again, but then Solan says he wants to bring out a farewell toast. I jump out of bed, put on my shoes, pick. a drink from the bar and look for my friends.

After the toast there was an auction to collect money for the ‘Penguin Watch’ program. The last ten years they spend on placing cameras to monitor annual breeding and reproduction success. They research if climate change and other external factors cause any imbalans in the ecosystem. Watching the penguins is a imporant indicator of the health of the marine enviroment. If you are interested. inthis project you can read more about it on Penguin Watch.

The auction is amazing. High bids are made. The Antartia flag leaves this ship for $2100. How cool is that?

We enjoy our dinner and listen to Dave his story about his sail trip around the arctic. After the prsentation the vibe changes and people start to dance. Matt starting to play his guitar and sings.

FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY:

Matt playing beautifully on his guitar.

Day Nine

“Perfect end of the trip” – Saturday 30 november 2019

Today we wake up as soo as we are getting close to Cape Horn. Cape Horn is the most sothern tip. ofSouth-America. After breakfast we are invited to marvel over this piece of land. Hundreds of birds are passing us. One of them is the Wandering Albatross. The biggest birds in the world (based on it’s wingspan). The wandering Albatross combined with Cappe Horn as a background is just beautfiul. A whale decides. toshow itself by jumping. outof the water. With a clap with his vin on the water he has everyones attentuon.

Today is a quiet day. We watch an old mobie which is made by a sailer and filmed on a beautfiull old sailingship. You see how they passed the rough Northsea and from there their journey to Cape Horn. They find a way to master the force of the ocean. It’s very ipressive to watch thse man work zo hard with so much love and pession for their captain. This is how Matt our Histroricus describes it to us. He tells us how this movie moves him time after time. His wive wants to sail around the world with hm one day. How beautful is that?

Later on Santiago gives me a couple of tips for my journey through Argentina and I edit some photos.

We say goodbye to our captain with a cocktail en Solan sys a couple of beautfiul words about his team. We all get a bit emotional of this speech. Beautyfiull to see how close they are.

Dave gives us a presentation about editing photos, which is super interesting and i biy myself a nice t-shirt.

Our last dinner was superb. The food was amazing and we end with how they call it ‘a chocolat fantasy’. A table filled with chocolate. Wauw! I don’t know where to look. During dinner all of the staff was called in. I love the fact to see the faces behind all that hard work. All of them are so kind. Joselito decides to impress us at the table with a impressive cardtrick. Still haven’t figured out how he did that! We take a last picture with our thwo favourite waiters and then we hit to the main lounge for the endmovie that Dave made for us about our trip.

Proud i watch my photos beeing presented in the video. The movie brings up emotions in me and i’m so intenstly happy with it. This movie says – without words – how special this experience is for me. Can’t wait showing this to the people  love so dearly at home.

We have a nice evening with lots of dancing and drinking. I’ll never forget this group of people!

FAVOURITE MOMENT OF THE DAY:

The emotions i felt during the movie Dave made. The music, natural beautfy, people and animals. It reflects my dreamtrip perefectly in image. A beautyfiul memory. tohave.

Day Ten

“King Crab Goodbyes” – Sunday 31 november 2019

Unfortunatly this day is missing in my diary. But i do recall a couple of moments.

I woke up and remember enjoying my last breakfast. The fresh bagels with salmon and creamcheese were definityl my favourite on this trip. The organisation was so smooth, that i don’t actually recall the check-out precoss. It was super smooth.

Back in the harbour i walked to the place where they keep your lugguage and walked. tomy hostel. We decided to fnish our trip and say our goodbyes in the ‘El Viejo Marino’. THE restaurant vofor one of the best King Crab Experiences.

As soon as a put my lugguage down in my room i decide to go for a run. i was so full of renewed energy. I had to run. I wanted to run and breath in this fresh air and ejoy the mountains and the smell of the sea. I never ran this fast. I saw the girls on my way back and we spoke for. abit. I was goiing to my hostel and change Then well meet.

In ‘El Viejo Marino’ we reflext on our shared and indivual expeiercnes. We listeened to echother and we laughed. And ofcourse, we enojyed the King Crab. Om my, this was amazing! It’s definitly a thing when you are in Ushuaia. Reservation is essential.

We said our goodbyes and there i was, alone, with my memories and a lowing feeling in my chest. I’am happy.