Antarctica, December 2024

By Henry Doenlen

Our trip to Australia in 2017 was the 6th continent that we had traveled to. Liz then spoke of going to Antarctica so we would see all seven continents. At Christmas, 2023, I proposed that we spend the next Christmas in Antarctica. We looked at several companies that offered expeditions and decided on Quark Expeditions. The used a smaller cruise ship with less than 150 passengers, so that everyone could have an opportunity to walk about on land. After paying the deposit to Quark, we spent 2024 preparing for the trip. We read blogs and saw videos of other travelers to Antarctica. We obtained Marino wool base layers, waterproof pants and gloves, other clothing layers, glove warmers, waterproof camera, and other items. On Wednesday, 12/18/24, we began our adventure with a Delta flight from Pensacola to Atlanta.

This web page is a combination blog and photo album. Almost all of the photos are clickable and hyperlink to a larger image. Photo descriptions are under the photos of the day, listed by row number and position (left, center, right).
 

Thursday, 2/19/24: Punta Arenas Arrival Day

 

We took the overnight flight on Delta flight from Atlanta to Santiago, Chile. We packed everything for carry-on so there was no worry about lost luggage. The last flight on LATAM took us to Punta Arenas (left photo). Fortunately, all of our flights were on-time and we allowed for plenty of layover tme. We had planned to arrive a day early in case there were flight delays.  We found the Restaurant La Marmita (right photo) for dinner. They served Highland Calapurca, which they described as a "mystical soup from Chile's North Altiplanic Tribe. A hot stone was used to keep the soup warm. We decided to collect some Punta Arenas stones so we could recreate this soup

 

Friday 12/20/24: Quark Expeditions

 

After staying the night at the Hotel Jose Nogueria (row 1, center), we walked to the Dreams Hotel (row 1, right). This was the first day for our expedition and so we first checked in with Quark Expeditions (row 2,right). The staff inspected our luggage, sized our parkas and mud boots, and weighed and tagged our luggage. We then checked into our hotel room. Before dinner, we walked on the beach looking for stones for soup and found some displays (row 2, center). We had dinner with some fellow travelers. We were given a briefing about times for the flight over the Drake Passage and safety on the boat and Zodiacs.
 

Ch teau d'amour in Saumur Ch teau de Chenonceau on the Cher River

Saturday 12/21/24: Flying the Drake

We woke up early for breakfast and and the bus ride to the airport. There, we checked in with Antarctica Airways for our chartered flight, then went thought passport control as we were leaving Chile. We boarded the airplane (row 1, left & center) and made the two hour flight to March Martin airport (row 1, right) on King Georges Island. This is on the South Shetland Islands, not far from the Antarctic Peninsula. We were lucky that it was a beautiful sunny day at Saint Georges Island.  The usual weather was foggy with clouds too low for the 800 feet ceilings that the airplanes required for landing. We left the airplane dressed in parka, waterproof pants, and mud boots. We were taken on a short ride in an electric mini-bus, then given our first Zodiac ride to the World Explorer cruise ship.  After lunch on the boat, we checked into our cabin #524, a veranda suite. After a mandatory muster and briefing about life boats, we were underway (row 2, left & center).  Before dinner, we were given a briefing about what to expect for the next day (row 2, right).

 

Sunday 12/22/24 AM: Palavar Point

Our first landing was to be Palavar Point (row 1, left) on the west side of Two Hamock Island.  It was named for the Chinstrap penguin rookery, with its attendant ceaseless noise resembling the profuse and idle discussion denoted by the word "palaver."  We were excited to see penguins on our first day!  After breakfast, our group was given an hour Zodiac ride, then onto a landing (row 1, center & right). The penguin rookery was high in the rocks (row 2, left). We were told to remain 5 meters from the penguins, but the penguins didn't always follow that rule (row 2, center).  They would walk up to us, look around, and walk off (row 2, right).

 

Sunday 12/22/24 PM: Portal Point 

During lunch, we cruised to Portal Point.  Portal Point is on the Reclus Peninsula on continental Antarctica. It was named by British explorers as it formed part of the “gateway” for the route to the Antarctic Plateau.  We had a Zodiac ride during which we saw a Waddell seal (row 1, right) and a humpback wale (row 2). We then made a landing and walked up a hill in the snow where we could see our cruise ship (row 1, left).  Liz had brought a small Antarctica flag and we had ourselves photographed with it.  It was a great day, for we got to photograph penguins and stood on the Antarctica continent!

 

Monday 12/23/24 AM: Foyn Harbour

During the night, we cruised to the vicinity of Enterprise Island. After breakfast, we were given a 90 minute Zodiac Cruise around Foyn Harbour to take us to the Governoren ship wreck (center). A fire took this waling ship in 1915, after a lamp was knocked over while dancing, setting thousands of wale oil ablaze. The entire crew escaped and was rescued. The wreck of a smaller boat used for whaling was nearby (right). We also saw some pretty glaciers. (left).

 

Monday 12/22/23 PM: Graham Pass

The Graham Passage separates Bluff Island from the Danco Coast,  We were given a 90 minute Zodaic ride to look for sea animals. We saw some pretty glaciers and iceburgs (row 1). We came across some seals laying in the snow (row 2, left).  A humpback whale surfaced about 3 feet from our Zodiac and started us so no one got a photo. We were pleasantly surprised by a Zodiac with hot chocolate (row 2, center).  Back on the boat, we watched those brave, crazy passengers who took the polar plunge (row 2, right).

 

Tuesday 12/24/24 AM: Danko Island

In the morning, we made a landing on Danko Island. It is a small island holding a large number of gentoo penguins (left) who breed higher up a hill. I only made it half way up the hill (center), but there were many penguins on the beach (right).

 

Tuesday 12/24/24 PM: Melchior Island

The weather became snowy and windy so the itenerary changed. During the afternoon, we did a Zodiac cruise in the harbour around the Melchior Islands. We saw dramatic rock and snow formations (row 1 & 2, left & center) and some penguins swimming (row 1, right). Back on the ship, there was a Christmas Eve visit by Santa riding in a Zodiac. As the weather worsened, the decision was made to sail back to the Shetland Islands. The seas were rough over the open water, and many, including myself, missed Christmas Eve dinner due to feeling seasick.
 

Wednesday, 12/25/24 AM: Half Moon Island

On Christmas morning, we were given a landing at Half Mood Island (row 1, left) to see the chin strap penguins (row 1, center & right).  This was followed by a Zodiac cruise during which we found a leapord seal (row 2 left) who raised her head and smiled for a photo (row 2 center). Vladamier (row 2, right) was our favorite Zodiac driver.
 

Wednesday 12/25/24 PM:  Yankee Harbour

On Christmas afternoon, we made our last landing on Yankee Harbour (row 1, left).  It indents Greenwich Island which holds a very large gentoo dauphin colony (row 1, center & right, row 2, center). Many penguins were nesting (row 2, left) and there was one chick seen by other travelers.  After Christmas dinner, there was a goodbye ceremony (row 2, right) with the Quark staff.

 

Thursday 12/26/24: Fly the Drake

We woke early for breakfast and prepared to disembark. A map (row 1, left) showed us where we had been. We saw our carry-on bags with the blue straps (row 1, center) being loaded on the Zodiac. We road the Zodiac one last time (row 2, left) for the flight over the Drake back to Puntas Arians. We had dinner on Thursday evening (row 2, center) at Restaurant Damina Elena.
 

Friday 12/27/24: Departing Punta Arenas

We stayed overnight in the Dreams hotel. On Friday, we walked around Punta Arenas (left) and had hot chocolate at La Chocolatta (center). We had dinner at Restaurant La Luna before we headed to the airport. We took a 11:59 PM LATAM flight to Santiago. After a 7 hour layover, we flew Delta back to Atlanta and then to Pensacola.  This had been an amazing adventure!.