After a three hour flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, we boarded the Ocean Endeavour at 5pm. It is a completely re-fitted Baltic car ferry with the ice-strengthened hull. There is accommodation for 500 but Antarctic regulations limit the number of passengers to 200, so there was so much room. I had a four-berth cabin to myself.
The ship is 450 feet long, 36 feet wide and has 8 decks. The kitchens occupied roughly half of deck six!
We were full but it rarely seemed crowded, there were plenty of places to chill out comfortably in armchairs. There was a pool, though that was only filled for three days as it splashed about in heavy seas! It was lovely lying in the warm water looking at the Antarctic landscape. My previous Arctic trips were both on the Ocean Nova, maximum capacity 75 and on one trip we had only 57 on board. Despite nearly four times the passengers, there seemed to be so much more space on the Endeavour – its stabilisers also made for a smoother passage!
We had about 120 crew serving our every whim plus about 30 expedition experts who gave talks and led the shore excursions. The meals were magnificent four course or more with normally at least 6 choices of mains. It was up-to five-star standard - I would note, that I am an expert at that standard
For the shore trips, there were a total of 20 zodiacs which meant people could be moved very quickly
Monday
At Sea
Tuesday
The Falklands
West Point Island lies off the most north-westerly point of West Falkland. It has an area of 1,255 ha (2,700 acres) and is owned by Roddy and Lily Napier. The settlement is located on the east side of the island, in the lee of Black Bog Hill and Michael’s Mount. The valley between these peaks takes us over the centre of the island, to the dramatic Devil’s Nose and surrounding cliffs, where we can see black-browed albatross and rockhopper penguins.
We could safely and unobtrusively get to within about 15 metres of the hundreds of nesting albatross and penguins who seemed oblivious to our presence. It was very muddy! At one point a penguin happily wondered through where we were standing.
A fair walk over but several of us got a lift back in the Napier’s land rover
The garden surrounding the Napier’s house is also a pleasant place for tea where we saw a turkey vulture.
Saunders Island is home to a rich diversity of wildlife, including approximately 11,000 breeding pairs of black-browed albatross and four different species of penguin. Historically, Saunders Island was selected as the site of the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands. Reasons for its selection included the presence of a safe natural harbour and nutritional plants which were beneficial to sailors departing on long voyages. The 12,545 ha (31,000 acre) island was first leased for farming in the 1800’s and purchased by Tony and David Pole-Evans in 1987. It currently has a population of seven people and is still farmed with cattle and sheep.
Saw my first king penguins, as well as plenty of skuas and chinstrap penguins
Wednesday
Stanley
I spent about 5 hours wandering around this very British town. Plenty of wildlife along the shore.
Thursday and Friday
At sea
We hoped to ship cruise Shag Rocks, an isolated set of six prominent, jagged peaked islands are approximately 150 million years old, and home to thousands of blue-eyed shags along with various other seabird species. Unfortunately, it was fogged out but we saw plenty of shags.
Saturday
South Georgia
Elsehul.
Elsehul is a beautiful sheltered little harbour with an astonishing array of wildlife. It is the only site at which you could see grey-headed and black-browed albatrosses, as well as light-mantled sooty albatross, king, macaroni, and gentoo penguins, blue-eyed shags, southern elephant seals and fur seals. First discovered by sealers in the late 1700’s, Elsehul has been one of the most popular sites on the island.
Sunday
Stromness, and Grytvken
Stromness whaling station is in the central harbour within Stromness Bay on South Georgia’s north coast. It is famous for being the Shackleton party’s final destination on their epic journey across South Georgia in search for rescue. The whaling station was in use between 1907 and 1932 after which it became a ship repair station until that closed in 1967. The station is now derelict and home to many fur seals, and a large number of Gentoo penguins.
You aren’t allowed into the ruins for safety reasons but the seals, especially the pups, were fascinating to observe.
Grytviken
The ruins of Grytviken whaling station are at the head of the cove, surrounded by spectacular mountains. This whaling station was the hub of the Southern Ocean whaling industry for over 60 years. It was established by Captain Carl Larsen in 1904 and in its heyday housed over 300 men and processed more than 54,000 whales in total. In addition, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grave is also located in the nearby whalers’ cemetery. Nowadays neighbouring King Edward Point is home to a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research station, museum and gift shop and the centre of government administration on the island. As usual, there were far more penguins and seals than people!
Monday
Godthul
Godthul, which means ‘good cove’ in Norwegian, is a 3km long inlet situated 9km east of Cumberland Bay. Gentoo penguins are abundant, and the calls of light-mantled sooty albatross echo off the natural cliff amphitheatre that encircles the harbour. A floating factory ship servicing two whale catchers was stationed here each summer from 1922 to 1929. A small shore depot supporting the whaling operations was established close by a stream in the southeast corner of the harbour, and the rusting barrels, wooden shed and boats are fascinating relics of the whaling era, as is the impressive collection of whale and elephant seal bones scattered along the beach.
St. Andrews Bay is home to the island’s largest king penguin colony. The population has increased drastically over the years as only 1,100 penguins were counted in 1925, which increased to more than 32,000 breeding pairs in the winter of 1985, and over 150,000 breeding pairs in 2002. In addition to king penguins, St Andrews Bay is also home to over 6,000 southern elephant seal cows during the pupping season, making it the largest elephant seal breeding beach on the island. The bay is fully exposed to the open sea and to the strong winds that plummet from the ice-clad summits, which form a superb backdrop to the wildlife.
You may remember the sequence on Blue Planet 2 of a beach covered in seals and king penguins – that was St Andrews Bay and the film camera did not lie!! In addition to the adults, we saw hundreds of chicks either covered in brown down or starting to moult to their adult plumage. You could observe how important family life is to the penguins.
Tuesday
Gold Harbour.
Gold Harbour lies on the southeast corner of South Georgia, at the foot of Salvesen Range. An amphitheatre of hanging glaciers and vertical cliffs rises straight out of the sea and the towering snow-covered peaks of Mt. Paterson create an unforgettable backdrop to an exceptional abundance of wildlife. It is home to around 25,000 breeding pairs of king penguins, which spill from the colony, into the tussock and onto the beach. Gentoo penguins can be found in smaller colonies throughout the site, and Elephant seals dominated the beaches. We were reminded that walking slowly and being constantly aware of where you are in relation to wildlife was essential. Wildlife always had right of way!
Cooper Bay lies at the southeast extremity of South Georgia and is protected from the open ocean by nearby Cooper Island. It straddles the most important geological break in South Georgia – the Cooper Bay Dislocation Zone where a sideways, horizontal movement of at least several kilometres created tight folds marked by stretching and sheering. There are several small coves to explore, and the island’s largest macaroni penguin colony is found here. Chinstrap penguins could also be seen at the southern end of the bay. We spotted our last king penguins, giant petrels, light-mantled sooty albatross, blue-eyed shags and South Georgia pipits plus elephant seals and fur seals.
Due to an invasion of rats, the South Georgia pipit became virtually extinct except on outlying islands. Following a program to exterminate all the rat invaders which finished only in 2015, there are once more thousands of pipits and we saw many.
Wednesday and Thursday at sea
Friday
Elephant Island – sadly this was our one weathered out day, we had hoped to land but the wind was too strong. From the boat, however, we could see the Shackleton monument, plus a plethora of birds and penguins.
“A curious spectacle met my eyes…Some of the men were reeling about the beach as if they had found an
unlimited supply of alcoholic liquor on the desolate shore. They were laughing uproariously, picking up
stones and letting handfuls of pebbles trickle between their fingers like misers gloating over hoarded gold.”
-Ernest Shackleton, in ‘South’, describing his men’s behaviour upon landing at Elephant
Island, their first encounter with land in 497 days
Saturday
Kinnes Cove lies across the channel leading into Antarctic Sound from the Esperanza, (Hope Bay) Research station. Kinnes Cove was named for the Scottish whaling company owner, Robert Kinnes of Dundee, who sent an expedition south in 1892. We viewed an Adélie penguin colony from our Zodiacs.
Esperanza
We paid a visit to the only permanent occupied site on the continent - the Argentine station Esperanza (Spanish for hope) is located on the north-eastern coast of the Antarctic peninsula. The station has operated continuously since December 1952 and is manned by the military, but unlike other stations, personnel live here with their families, including children. The population ranges from about 55 in winter, up to 90 people in summer. There are numerous buildings at this site including a Catholic chapel, school, radio station, scientific laboratories and an infirmary. Within the station limits, there is also a historical hut where three of Otto Nordenskjöld’s party spent a winter here (unexpectedly) in 1903. This is an Antarctic continental landing with Adelie penguins onshore. We were shown round the museum, school and chapel – always having to give way to the many penguins!
Sunday
Mikkelsen Harbour lies on the southern coast of Trinity Island at the northern end of the Palmer Archipelago. The site was discovered by Nordenskjöld on his Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901-04. The harbour was used by whalers for mooring factory ships and named for Norwegian whaler Captain Klarius Mikkelsen. On the island there is a gentoo penguin colony, a few unoccupied huts and a radio mast.
Cierva Cove lies on the south side of Cape Herschel, within Hughes Bay. It is named after Juan de la Cierva, the inventor of the autogiro (the precursor to the helicopter, first flown in 1923). This site is known for its collection of stunning icebergs and diversity of marine mammals. It is also home to Primavera, an Argentinian summer research station. It was snowing lighty but the icebergs were amazing, we saw lots of seal and at least three whales. Halfway through we were met by a zodiac which supplied us with a drink of hot chocolate – most welcome’
Monday
Danka Island and Port Lockeroy
These were the only two places I had visited on my previous trip, however, I had missed landing at Lockeroy due to illness and Danka island was unrecognisable as there was so much snow!
Danco Island lies in the southern end of the Errera Channel. It is relatively small, 1 mile long, but quite high (180 m or 590 ft). Beautiful rolled icebergs tend to collect in this area of the channel. Danco Island is home to approximately 1,600 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins which breed quite high up on the slopes. Danco Island was also home to the British Antarctic Survey’s Station O. Fieldwork conducted from this hut focused on surveying the region and geological research. It was closed in 1959 when work was completed.
Port Lockroy is comprised of Jougla Point and Goudier Island, both of which are home to numerous nesting gentoo penguins. There is an extraordinary museum inside the old British Antarctic Survey hut, referred to as Bransfield House. One room within the hut is also a post office and gift shop where stamps, postcards and souvenirs may be purchased. There are signposts indicating one path for penguins and the other for humans! It’s much smaller than Esperanza and only manned during the summer.
Tuesday and Wednesday
At sea – the Drake Passage – for the “Drake Shake” it was a fairly smooth crossing on Tuesday but rougher on Wednesday.
Thursday
We disembarked at 9am, were taken for a short tour of the Tierra del Fuego, National Park then plane back to BA, overnight hotel and an overnight flight back to London.
Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctica
Sunday, January 7th to Thursday, January 25th, 2018
“Falklands, South Georgia & Antarctica: Explorers & Kings”
Aboard the M/V Ocean Endeavour, Quark Expeditions
If you want to skip the writing and go straight to the photos they are at: https://photos.app.goo.gl/DhAZXWmJoUw9mpS13, sorry there are so many I have pruned them by 50%
Sunday
After a three hour flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, we boarded the Ocean Endeavour at 5pm. It is a completely re-fitted Baltic car ferry with the ice-strengthened hull. There is accommodation for 500 but Antarctic regulations limit the number of passengers to 200, so there was so much room. I had a four-berth cabin to myself.
The ship is 450 feet long, 36 feet wide and has 8 decks. The kitchens occupied roughly half of deck six!
We were full but it rarely seemed crowded, there were plenty of places to chill out comfortably in armchairs. There was a pool, though that was only filled for three days as it splashed about in heavy seas! It was lovely lying in the warm water looking at the Antarctic landscape. My previous Arctic trips were both on the Ocean Nova, maximum capacity 75 and on one trip we had only 57 on board. Despite nearly four times the passengers, there seemed to be so much more space on the Endeavour – its stabilisers also made for a smoother passage!
We had about 120 crew serving our every whim plus about 30 expedition experts who gave talks and led the shore excursions. The meals were magnificent four course or more with normally at least 6 choices of mains. It was up-to five-star standard - I would note, that I am an expert at that standard
For the shore trips, there were a total of 20 zodiacs which meant people could be moved very quickly
Monday
At Sea
Tuesday
The Falklands
West Point Island lies off the most north-westerly point of West Falkland. It has an area of 1,255 ha (2,700 acres) and is owned by Roddy and Lily Napier. The settlement is located on the east side of the island, in the lee of Black Bog Hill and Michael’s Mount. The valley between these peaks takes us over the centre of the island, to the dramatic Devil’s Nose and surrounding cliffs, where we can see black-browed albatross and rockhopper penguins.
We could safely and unobtrusively get to within about 15 metres of the hundreds of nesting albatross and penguins who seemed oblivious to our presence. It was very muddy! At one point a penguin happily wondered through where we were standing.
A fair walk over but several of us got a lift back in the Napier’s land rover
The garden surrounding the Napier’s house is also a pleasant place for tea where we saw a turkey vulture.
Saunders Island is home to a rich diversity of wildlife, including approximately 11,000 breeding pairs of black-browed albatross and four different species of penguin. Historically, Saunders Island was selected as the site of the first British settlement in the Falkland Islands. Reasons for its selection included the presence of a safe natural harbour and nutritional plants which were beneficial to sailors departing on long voyages. The 12,545 ha (31,000 acre) island was first leased for farming in the 1800’s and purchased by Tony and David Pole-Evans in 1987. It currently has a population of seven people and is still farmed with cattle and sheep.
Saw my first king penguins, as well as plenty of skuas and chinstrap penguins
Wednesday
Stanley
I spent about 5 hours wandering around this very British town. Plenty of wildlife along the shore.
Thursday and Friday
At sea
We hoped to ship cruise Shag Rocks, an isolated set of six prominent, jagged peaked islands are approximately 150 million years old, and home to thousands of blue-eyed shags along with various other seabird species. Unfortunately, it was fogged out but we saw plenty of shags.
Saturday
South Georgia
Elsehul.
Elsehul is a beautiful sheltered little harbour with an astonishing array of wildlife. It is the only site at which you could see grey-headed and black-browed albatrosses, as well as light-mantled sooty albatross, king, macaroni, and gentoo penguins, blue-eyed shags, southern elephant seals and fur seals. First discovered by sealers in the late 1700’s, Elsehul has been one of the most popular sites on the island.
Sunday
Stromness, and Grytvken
Stromness whaling station is in the central harbour within Stromness Bay on South Georgia’s north coast. It is famous for being the Shackleton party’s final destination on their epic journey across South Georgia in search for rescue. The whaling station was in use between 1907 and 1932 after which it became a ship repair station until that closed in 1967. The station is now derelict and home to many fur seals, and a large number of Gentoo penguins.
You aren’t allowed into the ruins for safety reasons but the seals, especially the pups, were fascinating to observe.
Grytviken
The ruins of Grytviken whaling station are at the head of the cove, surrounded by spectacular mountains. This whaling station was the hub of the Southern Ocean whaling industry for over 60 years. It was established by Captain Carl Larsen in 1904 and in its heyday housed over 300 men and processed more than 54,000 whales in total. In addition, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s grave is also located in the nearby whalers’ cemetery. Nowadays neighbouring King Edward Point is home to a British Antarctic Survey (BAS) research station, museum and gift shop and the centre of government administration on the island. As usual, there were far more penguins and seals than people!
Monday
Godthul
Godthul, which means ‘good cove’ in Norwegian, is a 3km long inlet situated 9km east of Cumberland Bay. Gentoo penguins are abundant, and the calls of light-mantled sooty albatross echo off the natural cliff amphitheatre that encircles the harbour. A floating factory ship servicing two whale catchers was stationed here each summer from 1922 to 1929. A small shore depot supporting the whaling operations was established close by a stream in the southeast corner of the harbour, and the rusting barrels, wooden shed and boats are fascinating relics of the whaling era, as is the impressive collection of whale and elephant seal bones scattered along the beach.
St. Andrews Bay is home to the island’s largest king penguin colony. The population has increased drastically over the years as only 1,100 penguins were counted in 1925, which increased to more than 32,000 breeding pairs in the winter of 1985, and over 150,000 breeding pairs in 2002. In addition to king penguins, St Andrews Bay is also home to over 6,000 southern elephant seal cows during the pupping season, making it the largest elephant seal breeding beach on the island. The bay is fully exposed to the open sea and to the strong winds that plummet from the ice-clad summits, which form a superb backdrop to the wildlife.
You may remember the sequence on Blue Planet 2 of a beach covered in seals and king penguins – that was St Andrews Bay and the film camera did not lie!! In addition to the adults, we saw hundreds of chicks either covered in brown down or starting to moult to their adult plumage. You could observe how important family life is to the penguins.
Tuesday
Gold Harbour.
Gold Harbour lies on the southeast corner of South Georgia, at the foot of Salvesen Range. An amphitheatre of hanging glaciers and vertical cliffs rises straight out of the sea and the towering snow-covered peaks of Mt. Paterson create an unforgettable backdrop to an exceptional abundance of wildlife. It is home to around 25,000 breeding pairs of king penguins, which spill from the colony, into the tussock and onto the beach. Gentoo penguins can be found in smaller colonies throughout the site, and Elephant seals dominated the beaches. We were reminded that walking slowly and being constantly aware of where you are in relation to wildlife was essential. Wildlife always had right of way!
Cooper Bay lies at the southeast extremity of South Georgia and is protected from the open ocean by nearby Cooper Island. It straddles the most important geological break in South Georgia – the Cooper Bay Dislocation Zone where a sideways, horizontal movement of at least several kilometres created tight folds marked by stretching and sheering. There are several small coves to explore, and the island’s largest macaroni penguin colony is found here. Chinstrap penguins could also be seen at the southern end of the bay. We spotted our last king penguins, giant petrels, light-mantled sooty albatross, blue-eyed shags and South Georgia pipits plus elephant seals and fur seals.
Due to an invasion of rats, the South Georgia pipit became virtually extinct except on outlying islands. Following a program to exterminate all the rat invaders which finished only in 2015, there are once more thousands of pipits and we saw many.
Wednesday and Thursday at sea
Friday
Elephant Island – sadly this was our one weathered out day, we had hoped to land but the wind was too strong. From the boat, however, we could see the Shackleton monument, plus a plethora of birds and penguins.
“A curious spectacle met my eyes…Some of the men were reeling about the beach as if they had found an
unlimited supply of alcoholic liquor on the desolate shore. They were laughing uproariously, picking up
stones and letting handfuls of pebbles trickle between their fingers like misers gloating over hoarded gold.”
-Ernest Shackleton, in ‘South’, describing his men’s behaviour upon landing at Elephant
Island, their first encounter with land in 497 days
Saturday
Kinnes Cove lies across the channel leading into Antarctic Sound from the Esperanza, (Hope Bay) Research station. Kinnes Cove was named for the Scottish whaling company owner, Robert Kinnes of Dundee, who sent an expedition south in 1892. We viewed an Adélie penguin colony from our Zodiacs.
Esperanza
We paid a visit to the only permanent occupied site on the continent - the Argentine station Esperanza (Spanish for hope) is located on the north-eastern coast of the Antarctic peninsula. The station has operated continuously since December 1952 and is manned by the military, but unlike other stations, personnel live here with their families, including children. The population ranges from about 55 in winter, up to 90 people in summer. There are numerous buildings at this site including a Catholic chapel, school, radio station, scientific laboratories and an infirmary. Within the station limits, there is also a historical hut where three of Otto Nordenskjöld’s party spent a winter here (unexpectedly) in 1903. This is an Antarctic continental landing with Adelie penguins onshore. We were shown round the museum, school and chapel – always having to give way to the many penguins!
Sunday
Mikkelsen Harbour lies on the southern coast of Trinity Island at the northern end of the Palmer Archipelago. The site was discovered by Nordenskjöld on his Swedish Antarctic Expedition of 1901-04. The harbour was used by whalers for mooring factory ships and named for Norwegian whaler Captain Klarius Mikkelsen. On the island there is a gentoo penguin colony, a few unoccupied huts and a radio mast.
Cierva Cove lies on the south side of Cape Herschel, within Hughes Bay. It is named after Juan de la Cierva, the inventor of the autogiro (the precursor to the helicopter, first flown in 1923). This site is known for its collection of stunning icebergs and diversity of marine mammals. It is also home to Primavera, an Argentinian summer research station. It was snowing lighty but the icebergs were amazing, we saw lots of seal and at least three whales. Halfway through we were met by a zodiac which supplied us with a drink of hot chocolate – most welcome’
Monday
Danka Island and Port Lockeroy
These were the only two places I had visited on my previous trip, however, I had missed landing at Lockeroy due to illness and Danka island was unrecognisable as there was so much snow!
Danco Island lies in the southern end of the Errera Channel. It is relatively small, 1 mile long, but quite high (180 m or 590 ft). Beautiful rolled icebergs tend to collect in this area of the channel. Danco Island is home to approximately 1,600 breeding pairs of gentoo penguins which breed quite high up on the slopes. Danco Island was also home to the British Antarctic Survey’s Station O. Fieldwork conducted from this hut focused on surveying the region and geological research. It was closed in 1959 when work was completed.
Port Lockroy is comprised of Jougla Point and Goudier Island, both of which are home to numerous nesting gentoo penguins. There is an extraordinary museum inside the old British Antarctic Survey hut, referred to as Bransfield House. One room within the hut is also a post office and gift shop where stamps, postcards and souvenirs may be purchased. There are signposts indicating one path for penguins and the other for humans! It’s much smaller than Esperanza and only manned during the summer.
Tuesday and Wednesday
At sea – the Drake Passage – for the “Drake Shake” it was a fairly smooth crossing on Tuesday but rougher on Wednesday.
Thursday
We disembarked at 9am, were taken for a short tour of the Tierra del Fuego, National Park then plane back to BA, overnight hotel and an overnight flight back to London.
Excellent holiday, highly recommended