At last we saw land and it was announced that we would be going ashore on our first excursion to Penguin Island which is a dormant volcano which last erupted 300 years ago. It is home to a large chinstrap penguin colony and that was the exciting reason for our visit as well as it would be the first place we would touch ground in Antarctica. The penguins only come ashore for two months a year in the summer to breed and spend the rest of the year out in the ocean so this is definitely the time to come and see them. As we approached shore in the zodiacs we could see multitudes of penguins jumping through the water just like dolphins and more were waiting on shore to greet us. We kept the required distance but as they have not read the manual many of them came hopping by at very close range making for wonderful photo opportunities as well as giving us a really good opportunity to see them (and smell them) at arms length. Mixed amongst the hundreds of penguins were a few gigantic elephant seals who really paid us no heed at all. We got the time to just stand there and absorb our surroundings and let it sink in where we actually were. Never in my wildest dreams when I was studying geography so many years ago in high school did I ever dream that I would have the opportunity to visit all the continents in this amazing world of ours yet here we were standing an island of our seventh continent with more landings to come. How truly blessed we are!
Land was a very welcome sight after crossing the Drake Passage
The mix of ice and exposed rock is quite dramatic
First steps in Antarctica
Whale bones of all ages are scattered on the beach. Nothing is touched or removed from this pristine area
Being watched over by a brown skua that hang around to try and snatch the penguin eggs. The low miss like plant in the background is one of only two plants that grow in Antarctica
This young elephant seal eyed us but other than that was not too concerned
So entertaining to watch the penguins waddle and hop along
When you have an itch you have to scratch
The chinstraps are aptly named for the black strap under their chin
Penguins colonize on the areas where the snow has melted as they need the rocks to lay their eggs
Elephant seals in the background and equines live harmoniously as penguins are not on their diet
A stray Gentoo penguin mixed amongst the chinstraps
An Antarctica sunset at 1030 in the evening
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