HDS24-22, trip log, Antarctica - Discovery and learning voyage

Ushuaia is the southernmost city of South America and known as “el fin del mundo,” the “end of the world” – today we know that there lies another world beyond that rough ocean to the south known as the Drake Passage. The destination of our voyage is a world unlike any other place we have seen before: Antarctica.

Today is the day and we finally embark M/V Hondius, the beautiful 107 metre vessel that would take us to explore Antarctica. We embark the ship at 4pm and are met by the staff and crew who warmly welcome us onboard. After checking in we are directed to our cabins where we our luggage is already waiting for us. We then are shown to the lounge for tea, coffee, and biscuits. The Chief Officer, Matai gives us a mandatory safety briefing followed by an abandon ship drill for which we are asked to use our wonderful bright orange lifejackets and get acquainted with the entire procedure.

At 6pm it is time for Captains cocktail to celebrate the beginning of the voyage with a glass of prosecco and delicious canapes. Captain Toni makes a welcome speech and we all toast to a good trip ahead. The Expedition Staff introduce themselves; it is interesting to meet all of them and learn where in the world they come from and what their specialities are. As the ship is sailing away from Ushuaia through the Beagle Channel and into the night is it time for a fantastic buffet from the chefs. Already now, this ship feels like home. As we look through the windows at the rolling mountains and lush green forests.

The next two days will be spent sailing through the Drake Passage - we are all hoping for a ‘Drake Lake’ and no ‘Drake shake’. 

The predicted waves of five to six meters woke some of us up in the morning around 4am swinging the ship from Port to Starboard.

Not everyone makes it to breakfast but later most of us feel better again. Around noon the waves die down to a moderate swell. We can’t call it a ‘Drake Lake’, but the officer says: “these are really good conditions”. At 10.30am, Pipa gives a very interesting lecture about whales - which type of whales we might possibly meet during our voyage and how to recognize them by their different blows and dorsal fins. We are getting excited.

Shortly after this, we are called by deck to come down to the expedition store to do boot fitting.

Just after lunch Rose shares with us holds a lecture about the Gerlache Expedition to Antarctica which started in 1897 from Belgium – the Gerlache Strait is now named after him. Later in the afternoon at 4pm Charlotte shares her knowledge of all the pinnipeds/seals that we might encounter and even makes us listen to the funny sounds the Crabeater and Leopard Seals make.

Different briefings are also held to prepare for all the activities: diving, kayaking, and camping.

While sailing we can observe Wandering Albatrosses and Southern Giant Petrel around the ship and hovering just above the waves, we see some Grey Backed Storm Petrels.

Around 9.30pm we cross into the Antarctic convergence, which means we leave the warm waters of the Atlantic Ocean we enter the cold waters of the Southern Ocean. This change produces an upwelling of life and nutrients, and we are  hopeful this will be the start of some good wildlife sightings for the upcoming days.

After another, and fortunately less rough and wavy night, we wake up to our Expedition leader’s wake-up call – this will be our 2nd day in the Drake Passage. Some of us go up to the bridge or the outer decks to get some fresh air and observe the seabirds like wandering albatrosses and giant southern Petrels which are surrounding the ship.

The morning is then spent a delicious breakfast and a lecture about held by our Expedition Guides Carina about Penguins. She tells us very interesting facts about all species of penguins that one can find in the southern hemisphere. This will help us a lot to be able to identify the penguins we are supposed to see in the areas we are about to visit: Penguins, Chinstrap Penguins and Adele Penguins.

Shortly before lunch an announcement stirs a lot of interest: the first marine wildlife sighting. Humpback whales are swimming and breaching around the ship. Everybody is either outside or in the observation lounge, prepared with cameras and binoculars to observe and enjoy these beautiful animals.

Timings seem to be perfect - as the show seems to come to an end, it is time for lunch which means another delicious meal provided by the kitchen crew.

Now it is time for the last pat of preparation for our up-coming landings: biosecurity! Everything that will be worn like waterproof jackets and pants, gloves, hats and any kind of gear that we are planning on bringing to shore like back-packs need to be cleaned. We bring everything down to the shell doors on deck 3 where the Expedition Staff is already waiting for us with vacuum cleaners ready to assist us cleaning our gear. And so, we are all cleaning, vacuuming and helping each other to make sure that everything is perfectly clean and no seeds or vegetation or other bacteria from any other place in the world will be brought by us to Antarctica.

In the afternoon we are surprised by another treat. We are called to the lounge to join Expedition Guide Szymon on his lecture about Ice – and the Expedition Team is serving ice-cream. We will all remember a lot of interesting facts about ice!

Shortly before dinner time we reach the most southern Island of the South Shetland Islands called Smith Island. A first little preview of snow and ice-covered mountains.

In the daily Recap after dinner our expedition leader Pippa tells us about the plans for the next day and we get some insights and great information about the Drake Passage, the heat loss in the human body and Geopolitics in Antarctica.

The 2nd day on our way to Antarctica comes to an end and we all go to our cabins excited and happy to experience our very first steps on the continent in the upcoming day.

We are finally here; we are in Antarctica!

After two sailing days across the Drake Passage, Antarctica welcomes us in proper polar conditions in Orne Harbour – winds with strong gusts, snow showers and quite some swell.

Orne Harbour is a cove, approximately 2km long, on the west coast of Graham Land. The most prominent features being a black, steep, pinnacle “Negro Nunatak” and a glacier.

After breakfast, a zodiac cruise is planned and will give us an introduction to Expedition Cruising. We immediately understood a sense of adventure and willingness to push our comfort zone would be required for expedition cruising.

Getting in the zodiacs for the first time is challenging but we have been well briefed, and our guides are helpful and remind us all dos and don`ts. As we gently move on the windward side of the coast, we are bobbing on the surface of the seas on a high swell towards a chinstrap colony. We go past ice growlers (small icebergs) and we observe our first penguins at a safe distance from the breaking waves. Our drivers do a good job in keeping us dry from splash but, wet snow showers and the wind blowing some of our bow splash onto us, make it a rather wet ride. Once back in the shelter of the cove, we enjoy observing the front of a glacier, the brash ice and icebergs around us. We take time to switch engines off and take in the soundscape. As a final treat, some of us are blessed with the first humpback whale sightings from the zodiacs, bliss! We shall never forget the sound of a whale blow!

During lunch, we sail towards our next destination: Paradise Bay. And if paradise is made of ice and snow, then this amazing place we can see soon must be it.

Almirante Brown Station is in the Danco Coast, a beautiful bay formed by the Argentine Channels to the north and south of Bryde Island which shapes the skyline to the west. South of ‘Brown station’ is Skontorpe Cove, a sheltered area surrounded by huge glaciers and high mountains.  

Today the plan is to split our group, half of us will go zodiac cruising and half will visit the station grounds and its surroundings, after a while, we will swap, and everyone has the chance to spend some time on land and on the water.

While zodiac cruising, we are treated to Weddel Seals on ice, a curious Minke whale that keeps on ‘spy hopping’ Tiphany’s zodiac as well as some humpback whales seen every here and there. More seals are seen in Skontorpe Cove and one of the greatest treats is witnessing from a safe distance two large calvings - one in Skontorpe Cove and the second, across the bay from the station. The blue-eyed shags are also very entertaining, flying to and from the colony with nesting material. Early summer is a busy time for Antarctic wildlife. On land we enjoy some magnificent views as well as our first Gentoo Penguin rookeries. These little cute fellas seem to have made themselves very comfortable around the base buildings and give us the first dose of penguin love for the trip. We will never get enough of penguins! At the station, we are able to walk up to the top of a hill overlooking Paradise Harbour and from there to a snowy shoulder overlooking a glacier and a few hauled out Wedell Seals on the last sea ice. The surprise this day comes when two of our guests get married and the spot… Long live the newlyweds! 

As the weather is good in Paradise Bay and seems to hold, it is decided to stay here for the night. And this gives 40 brave campers the possibility to spend the night outside. They head out after dinner to dig their pits in the snow and make themselves comfortable under the Antarctic sky for the night - if we can call it that way. The campers work efficiently setting up their sleeping pits and everybody comes together to enjoy the beautiful calmness of Paradise Harbour at night. Some Weddel seals haul out at about 50m from the campers and by midnight, everyone is tucked in for the night. The guides keep an eye on the weather and ice condition. At 3h45, Paolo comes to wake us up and after covering up our snow pits and packing our gear we are picked up by zodiac and taken back to the ship for a 4h30 coffee with pastries. Life is good! 

We start our day early with the usual wakeup call from Expedition Leader Pippa. We quickly get dressed and head to the dining room to enjoy a hearty breakfast.

We then prepare to go outside for the morning to our first activity of the day which was a zodiac cruise of Foyn Harbour. It is a little windy and rainy, but we persevere and board our zodiacs. Once out, the weather starts to change for the better as we drive closer to Enterprise Island.

We visit a large, wrecked whale processing ship called “Guvernøren”. She had caught fire and been scuppered in the bay in 1915 leaving a large hulk sitting partly above the water for us to see. We observed the ship in her final resting place for a few minutes before moving on. We weave in amongst the ice and rocks along the coast of the island. Some of us spot part of a water boat which had also been scuppered nearby but is mostly covered in snow. We round the corner and head out to sea to see the giant towering icebergs floating around. They are huge and came in amazing shapes, textures and sizes. We can`t help but find wonder in every iceberg. Whilst we are enjoying the ice, a call comes over the radio: someone has spotted a few Humpback whales!

We head further out to sea to their location and make a slow approach. Our care is rewarded as we spot three of them swimming back and forth blowing bubbles and diving repeatedly. We are lucky to have one show its fluke to us so we could see the details of the underside of the tail which are different for each individual whale and makes it possible for us to identify them.  After a while we say goodbye to the whales and leave to head back to the ship. We are a little glad as it was very cold. We arrive back at Hondius just in time for lunch where we regale our fellow passengers with our adventures of the morning while the ship repositions.

Our stop for the afternoon is Danco Island where we got the opportunity to go on shore and do a zodiac cruise. The first group goes ashore while the second group is out to cruise. Onshore we put on our snowshoes and walk slowly up the hill to the first colony of Gentoo Penguins. Then the slope gets steeper and soon we zigzag up the hill to the snow-covered top with more nesting Gentoos. We can observe them building their nests and a few have eggs! It is a difficult year for them as there is still so much snow.  From wherever you stop and stand on this walk, the views over the bay, the water and the incredible number of icebergs is fantastic. We go back down to the landing site and swap with our friends in the zodiacs to enjoy a cruise. We cruise around big icebergs and observe the huge glacial front. We see some Weddell seals climbing out of the water looking for a cosy patch on the snow to rest.

At this point, a big number of us returns to the ship of us but some others stay on the landing site or return there after their cruise as they have a special event to take part in - it is time for a Polar Plunge!

As soon as we were ready we run out into the ocean and dunk our heads into the water. Some of us squeal upon entering the frigid sea but everyone is coming out with a smile on their face and a new story to tell. Around 60 fearless guests are heading into the water of +2°C. BRAVO to all of them!

Once completed we all rush back to the zodiacs to get back to the ship and prepare for the final act of the day. It is BBQ night. The hotel staff has put together a wonderful BBQ for us to enjoy out on the open decks surrounded by the sights and sounds of Antarctica. It was a truly wonderful way to end a day. 

n the early morning at around 6h we are passing the Lemaire Channel and are enjoying this beautiful scenery. What a nice start of the day. 

The wake-up call “only” comes at 7h – still early for many of us but the weather is said to be turning sour during the day and we hope to get the most out of it somehow. At 8h the first group is ready to discover Petermann Island.

We put on our snowshoes – it becomes “daily business” and we are getting quite comfortable with them. Different paths have been opened and we can walk in different directions. One brings us first to a Gentoo Penguin colony and then, further up the hill to our first colony of Adelie Penguins – a beautiful little penguin. He has a black head and his eyes are surrounded by a white line. Here we overlook also some beautiful mountain ranges. Another path leads up to another hill from which the view is so different but as amazing – we do see numerous icebergs of different sizes and shapes: it is a cemetery of icebergs; they have all stranded here. In the same time, and we can see them, the other half of our group is enjoying a zodiac cruise – they are driving on a safe distance around huge icebergs, some humpback whales pop up every now and then, penguins are swimming alone or in groups, jumping and diving and standing here and there on icebergs. What a wonderful morning this is.

During lunch time and the beginning of the afternoon, the ship is sailing towards Damoy Point.

In the afternoon we arrive at Damoy Point but sadly the conditions are aren`t as we hoped. The wind increased and we have to cancel the Zodiac cruise. But we are able to go ashore. The landing site lies in the far end of a small sheltered bay, there is still a lot of snow but stairs have been dug into it and we can easily make our way up the little slope.  

We get our snowshoes in our hands and after a short walk arrive to a cabin painted all in turquoise which looks lovely in the white surroundings – this is Damoy Hut. It was built in 1973 and used for several years as a British summer air facility and transit station for scientific personnel. It was last occupied in 1993 and has then been designated a Historic Site or Monument (HSM 84). The hut is well-preserved and contains scientific equipment and other artefacts from the times of its use beautifully displayed – another very interesting and informative visit.

And then nature and a walk await us. We can choose the length of our walk as different ways have been flagged through the snowy landscape. We can walk by several Gentoo Penguin colonies and enjoy beautiful views. Quite a few of us even make it up to the top of the little mountain. 

A short recap with the plans for the next day and insights on Japanese whaling lead us toward our dinner. Another fabulous day comes to an end.

The morning greets us with low skies and fog looming over Goudier Island. The first half of the day promises to be very busy, because the activity we are supposed to have differs a lot from the ones of the previous days. The morning of the 19th of December we had a plan to do… shopping! The tiny island of Goudier hosts a British station called “Base A” also widely known as Port Lockroy. Previously it was one of scientific outposts of the UK,

but now it is a museum and also a souvenir shop. Besides it is considered to be the southernmost post office in the World. We are very excited about this unique opportunity to send a postcard from Antarctica.

But before we are allowed to go onshore, we are given a mini-lecture in the Lounge held by one of the employees who lives and works in Port Lockroy. She arrived aboard Hondius with a Zodiac while we were having breakfast.

As the island and the station are very small, not all of us can visit at once and we are split in three groups.

The rules of visiting the station itself are very strict: boots need to be rinsed and brushed, not more than 30 people inside at any time and we all need to wear masks inside the building. This outpost is very far away from any medical help and facility and no one wishes the employees to get sick.

The exterior of the station is definitely not less impressive than the museum: hundreds of penguins nesting everywhere, Snowy sheathbills, skuas and cormorants flying around, old equipment, century old dog sledges and anchorage chains are to see – together with the museum, this creates a very special atmosphere. Eventually all of us have their postcards sent and souvenirs purchased and we returned to Hondius.

We leave Goudier Island and head to the place of our afternoon activity - Cuverville Island - which is a few hours of navigation away.

As soon as we arrive, the expedition team sets out on zodiacs to scouting the landing site. Sadly, it is absolutely impossible to approach the shore because of the enormous amount of brash ice and bergy bits that clog the way. Well, where there is plan A, there is always plan B! The decision is made to use this opportunity to navigate and study this labyrinth of icebergs with Zodiacs and see what else we could discover. Soon all of the Zodiacs are on the water waiting for us to embark.

And that is a really outstanding experience – to have a ride among these huge pieces of glacial ice drifting in the water. From time to time we can see rafts of penguins swimming next to us and Weddel seals sleeping on the ice. There is even a boat with no passengers, but William, our hotel manager, and with his helpers serving us hot chocolate.

We circumnavigated Cuverville island, spotted lots of wildlife and at the end even had a chance to watch a couple of Humpback whales swimming in the channel and waving us with their flukes.

Shortly after our return to the ship, Pippa delivers the plans for the next day: Keep on exploring!!!

We have, after many wonderful expedition days, left the Antarctic Peninsula. One would expect spirits to be low, the longing for the Frozen Continent settling in to stay. Only one more day, only one more hour. However, thankfully, we have one more full day of expeditions on Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands. After a delightful breakfast, we disembark in windy conditions to go ashore on Telefon Bay. Here, a volcanic landscape stretches as far as the eye can see. Chinstrap Penguins are frolicking along the black sand beaches, while both dead and alive Weddell seals lie motionless. The viewpoint, a small hike away, offers lovely views across the destruction caused by the collapse of the volcano, forming the Caldera that we can nowadays sail into through a tricky opening called the Neptune’s Bellows. For the passengers staying onboard, they had the option to enjoy Saskia’s lecture on the Nordenskjöld Expedition. After enjoying the windy morning on the shore and the barren views, we resettle on the ship and head to lunch. 

After gorging ourselves on the vast quantities prepared by our galley team, we continue onto the main event of the day, Whaler’s bay. This settlement used to be in operation to dismantle and store the incredible amounts of whales caught everywhere close to these shores. Big tankers, now copper brown due to oxidation, still stand hugely, forming part of the landscape alongside abandoned housing, in disarray, and other machinery and debris. Some of the buildings collapsed back when the volcano erupted in 1969, but few still stand. A short hike in between the structures offers a desolate view of the place. To the other side, passing by a resting elephant seal, you could walk all the way to Neptune’s window, an opening in the surrounding stonewall of the island, showing a scenic panorama beyond Deception Island. On the way we pass Gentoo and Chinstrap Penguins, many of Cape Petrels and a lone Leopard seal, lying at the far end of the beach, a very scarred individual, who nevertheless is sighted there regularly. This was our first sight of this species on this trip, and he yawned and gaped at us, before leaving to other shores.

After indulging in the beauty and desolation of Whaler’s Bay, we exited through Neptune’s Bellows, and head straight due north, through the Drake’s Passage, back to Ushuaia, back to land, back home.

As always, I finish with a limerick:

The waves of the Drake,
Took many in its wake,
But the Hondius still sails,
And our humour prevails,
And our way back home we make.

Today, after a few extremely exciting days in the Antarctic Peninsula and our two last landings yesterday inside the spectacular active volcano of Deception Island, South Shetland Islands, we have the chance to rest a little bit longer in our rooms this morning – there is no wake-up call and breakfast starts only at 8h. The weather and seas conditions have been announced to be pretty rough but the night has not been as bad as we thought.

Yesterday evening, Михаил has put out a call for a photography competition and now, during the morning, the expedition team I taking the entries for the  three categories – landscape, wildlife and comedy. There is a lot of enthusiasm to participate and provide our pictures which we took with passion during this voyage. All the entries are displayed on all the screens and voted can flow in until 16h.

Later this morning Chloe gives a very interesting talk about drifting life of the ocean – plankton. She makes us understand that it’s not always and only about the whales and seals. These tiny and even sometimes cute animals are important for our entire ecosystem and vital element for bigger animals in the oceans. After delicious lunch and bellies full of burgers, George invites us to his lecture about Geopolitics in Antarctica. With his passion of this topic, he explains to us how sophisticated and well-regulated Antarctica is and many countries which are involved in this subject are taking care of this part of the world; but there are also problems and conflicts of geopolitics. And then later this afternoon, Tiphanie takes us in the interesting world of fish of the Southern Ocean and makes us the amount of weird sea creatures that are leaving there. Very funny.

Daily recap with plans for tomorrow and lots of small and interesting topics from our expedition team happen as usual before dinner. And to round up the day, we all meet in the lounge after dinner again to meet and celebrate the winners of the photo contest.

We wake up to our second day in the Drake Passage – the swell has calmed down quite a bit, there mostly clouds and fog outside. But it is good to keep inside, reflect on this amazing trip, have time to for chats and coffees as yesterday has been a little difficult on some of us. And for sure, the expedition team has some more in store for us: a mini lecture series is waiting for us in the end of the morning. Saskia shares the story of Tom Crean, the forgotten Antarctic hero. Pippa makes us listen to the songs of Humpback whales and Sasha invites us in his former life in the Russian ghost town of Pyramiden on Svalbard, an archipelago between northern Norway and the North pole. 

Lunch is, as always, delicious and gives our days a rhythm.

And the expedition team is still not done with their knowledge. Mikhail is holding a lecture on Marine Mammal Acoustics – and we can listen so different sounds of whales and seals.

Shortly after 3.30 pm we can see land for the first time after leaving the South Shetland Islands two days again. Terre del Fuego greets us with sunshine and brown-green hills. Welcome back. We will soon sail into the Beagle Channel.

Another mini lecture series is offered to us in the afternoon. It is lovely to see images and hear about the adventure of the kayakers that Alexis and Nick are sharing with us. Rose brings us close to a less funny but highly important subject: the ocean pollution and the effect it has on the wildlife. Paolo then takes us back to Antarctica and shares his knowledge about the climate there.

And then time has come for our last “recap” and one last time Pippa comes with the plans for the next day, this time it is all about disembarkation – important but sad as the end of the trip is again coming one step closer. More festive is then the Farewell Toast by Captain Toni and the very beautiful and heart-warming slide show prepared by Mikhail. We then all meet on the bow for a group photo. We do have bright sunshine by now and it is quite warm. Also, it smells like wood and soil, smells we almost had forgotten about. And just because this is the Beagle Channel, a few dolphins greet us and enjoy riding in our waves. Lovely!

During a last dinner, we finally get the chance to meet the entire crew of the hotel department. Our time has come to thank them with a huge applause for their amazing work. What a day this has been – again !

At a bit past 10pm, it is even a bit dark, and the city lights are on, we arrive at Ushuaia and go alongside the pier. We enjoy our last day on board and find our way to our cabins quite late – but happy.

One last wake-up all from Pippa. Our bags are packed when we head down for breakfast one last time and we are getting ready to disembark our dear Hondius that has taken us to one of the most beautiful places on earth. The last 11 days have taken us on a remarkable journey over the notorious Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula. It has given us a glimpse of life in these remote and sometimes inhospitable places. We have encountered amazing wildlife, made new friends, learnt and experienced so much together. We will all take away different memories of our cruise, but those memories will stay with us for the rest of our lives. This was our expedition.

Total distance sailed on our voyage: 1’663 Nautical Miles (3’079,886 km)
Furthest point south: 65°10.9’S 064°08,1W

On behalf of everyone on board we thank you for travelling with us and wish you a safe journey home.