Whoopee! Because the crossing of the Drake Passage took only one day, we get an extra day of exploration. The plan was to land at Fort Point on Greenwich Island in the South Shetlands, however, because the wildlife was too close to the shore, the landing was moved to Hardy Cove on the other side of the island. The zodiac ride was smooth sailing into the cove. The shore here is covered with smooth rocks, which along with the seal poop made walking around a bit treacherous.
As we made our way to a higher ridge, we watched the fur seals lounging around. At the top of the ridge was a lone penguin just staring out across the bay. On the other side of the ridge several other penguins were there just standing and “watching” us? Eventually the loner at the top of the ridge made his way past the seals to the shore.
Then it was time to return to the ship, to rest and have lunch. During this time, the ship repositioned to Barrientos Island, home of two penguin colonies. Here we saw Chinstrap penguins and Gentoo Penguins. You can tell which is witch by the markings on their heads.
Fantastic pics. It really seems like the end of the world. How cold is it?
I am jealous. I love the video of the little penguin.
What awesome scenery.