Greetings from the Ocean Tramp!
As we are anchored at King George Island in preparation for our flight, as a group we’ve reflected on our favorite memories from our trip. Here below is our top 15, from each of the days aboard. We’ve been excited to bring you our trip reports as often as we can! Fyi – these reports travel all the way from a satellite phone- no wifi or cell reception in the Antarctic!
Favorite Quixote Memories:
1) First evening in Yankee Harbor at Greenwich Island – where we got our first taste of Antarctica wildlife at a rainy, misty, Gentoo Rookery. We could hear penguin sounds at night in our cabin!
2) Approaching Trinity Island to get our first real look of icebergs! In particular we love the colors and shades of blue of each individual berg. And they are often peppered with penguins! In general the ice and rock can have colors of pink, green, and copper depending on the algae or minerals
3) Spert Island – we took a zodiac ride around this small island of towering stacks, ice bergs, and caves. I can only describe it as Antarctic “Jurassic Park”! Definitely a new top adventure enjoyed by the crew as well
4) Spotted the first sighting of a Leopard Seal for the Ocean Tramp season, resting on an ice bergs. These top predators need all the rest they can get between hunts!
5) Whale encounters at Enterprise Harbor. All of us got to enjoy some small boat experience viewing humpback whales, under IAATO wildlife viewing guidelines. This included bubble feeding, a mom and calf, and my personal favorite, viewing a whale spout from a kayak!
6) Our “family” hike up a hill near an old wooden whaling boat, where we took a group selfie and all took turns sliding down the hill in our rain pants, or as we like to call it, “Antarctic sledding”
7) PENGUINS! Each time we explored a rookery, we’d always observe something new. On Day 7 we hiked up to a cliffside Chinstrap penguin rookery. It really let us experience the plight of a penguin, who will hike a mile up a hill (through penguin-created “highway” paths) to bring food to their chicks that they foraged for in the ocean.
8) The sounds of “ice calving”. Ice calving is when part of an iceberg or snow cap breaks off, resulting in a “thunder” like sound. Anchored Day for the night at Port Lockroy, we could hear the sounds of calving during the night!
9) Day 9 we made it the furthest south to the entrance of the Lemaire Channel. The fog cleared just as we got there to observe the towering peaks of Cape Renard. Ice prevented us from going further, which reminded us of the voyage of Shackleton’s Endurance. A breathtaking sight!
10) The 10th day was a “rest” day due to poor weather. After such an active first week, we all enjoyed sleeping in and getting to be in pajamas nice and cozy in our cabin! The Ocean Tramp has really felt like home.
11) Curious Fur Seals watching us as we explored around Gamma Island, Melchior Islands in the zodiac. Their snuffs and growls are really canine like! We also took our polar “plunge” on day 11!
12) Albatross sightings! We crossed the Bransfield strait in swelly seas, and saw several of these giant birds swoop and soar over the waves.
13) On this morning, we got up at 4am for sunrise on Half Moon Island. The sunrise took our breath away with the colors, misty mountain peaks, a chinstraps waddling across the cobblestone beach. The cherry on top – we watched a leopard seal hunt and capture a penguin in the water from the beach!
14) We had a bonus treat of spending time at King George Island with a rookery of Gentoo fledglings. These new young “teen” penguins, now out on their own for the first time, were quite curious, and we enjoyed watching them explore and jump in puddles!
15) And finally – our last favorite memory is the comrodority we’ve had as a group, both staff and crew! We’ve felt like a little family on the Ocean Tramp. The energy and what you make of an experience really goes a wonderfully long way!
Tomorrow morning we fly back to Chile, with lasting memories and smiles on our faces. We can’t wait to be able to share photos and videos with you once we are back on the mainland!
Cheers,
From Laura and the Ocean Tramp group!!!
