After having explored the famous Falkland Islands and wondrous South George, the Plancius, the new ship owned by Oceanwide Expeditions slowly moved in the direction of the Antarctic Peninsula. There was a prize to be had the first one noting a floating sizable iceberg, would get a bottle of champagne. Not that the passengers needed anything to motivate them to go on deck, or the bridge, they were there from early morning until the light faded away. Several times, usually during meals or lectures the call “whales on starboard” could be heard and there would be a mass migration to the windows and the open decks. At some point of time I wondered if the ship would not keel over with the crowd pushing the way it did. Usually, one saw some indication that a whale honestly had been there, but I must report that I really never saw one, not even a tail, and I was not even slightly disappointed. Others though with better eyesight and, of course, much more impressive cameras, showed evidence of find and blows and even bodies elegantly cutting through the water.
When the ice did come though, commencing as a slight line on the horizon, and then morphing into a landscape that was so breathtaking that most of us just stood in awe, it hit us all, this is the Antarctic Peninsula. In the meantime, we had undergone various course corrections as our initial way to get to the Antarctic Peninsula had been cut off by too much ice. However, as it turned out, the alternative turned out to offer such unimaginable landscapes, abundant marine life and still more penguins, that we found ourselves just part of the flow of ice, moving wherever at whatever pace.
Most likely the afternoon that everyone remembers was the zodiac cruise in Paradise Bay. The weather was magnificent, the sun shone brightly and we were anchored just off the corner of an abandoned British Base. We all dressed warmly, because the cold seeped through any open avenues it could find and we all looked like penguins, pretty well fed ones, with our arms aside, our cameras marking the only difference.
This was cruising through wonderland, icy mountains surrounded us, and the water was choked with chunks of ice, which rumbled and tumbled as our zodiacs crammed through it. Everyone had their cameras out and was searching around to find something to photograph and boy did we find what we were looking for. There is no way to describe the utter feeling of contentment being so close to nature and with people you knew by now. There was plenty of marine life almost every large piece of ice was inhabited by one or two different types of seals. Not only that, they frolicked around us in the water almost turning over one of the zodiacs. We were not the only one having fun.
We did this, for at seems hours, until our hands within gloves turned blue and we made a final landing on the small shoreline of the old base, where we met our friends the penguins again. Of course, some of the active passengers, had already found a hill that had to be climbed, but most of us just wandered around enjoying a spell of earthbound activity. We made two more landings the next day, but to be honest about it, the previous day had been so glorious that we kind of felt that we were moving towards the end of our journey as we were, of course.
We had an almost non-existing Drake Passage; the water was so calm it put us to sleep most of the time, unless we were gathered by our various lecturers to cram more knowledge into our brains. It actually was kind of soothing to end our exploration this way, e-mail addresses were shared, commitments to get together were made, and all in all people felt good about the trip, which offered without any doubt the most diverse exploration of the southern continent.
has been operating in the Arctic and Antarctica for more than twenty years. The company has always been known for its active shore excursions including offering scuba diving, kayaking, overnight stays ashore and diverse programs of hiking. Their new ship, the Plancius offers state of the art technology, and a simple but elegant ambiance. It is a great environment for the first time expedition cruiser, who is testing the water, but wants to be comfortable on board the ship. Excellent lecturers are given by lecturer/guides focusing on the destination or subjects that maybe of interest to Oceanwide guests. Pre trip information about Oceanwide Expeditions can be found on www.oceanwide-expediitons.com
Aaltje van Zoelen is Managing Partner of world Wise Ecotourism Network, an organization that works towards tourism development that does not harm the environment and includes benefits for local people or local conservation organizations. She is a specialist in East Russia and has traveled all over the world in pursuit of destinations which up to this present time are still largely undiscovered and pristine. For more information, you may visit www.traveleastrussia.com, or her blogs www.aaltjeaworldwiseexplorer.blogspot.com and www.worldiwseunite.blogspot.com
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