Brown Bluff awaited us early in the morning on the eastern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. National Geographic Resolution made its way through the Antarctic Sound and the large icebergs found there. Below low clouds, 20,000 penguins greeted us as guests stepped on the 7th continent. All quietly celebrated the amazing opportunity to step ashore on Antarctica.
Today, Antarctica showed her true self. We had blustery conditions with icy winds coming down the glaciers towards the colony. We were not deterred, as the Adélie penguins were too entertaining. Tom and Louise, our visiting penguin scientists, offered invaluable insights as we observed a day in a life of a penguin at the colony.
As if that wasn’t enough, we also had the opportunity to Zodiac cruise through the icebergs around the colony since we cannot have more than one hundred people ashore at a time. Half of us explored by small boat while the rest were on land.
During lunch, the captain and the bridge officers relocated the ship deeper into Erebus and Terror Bay. When we arrived off the coast of Devil Island, the wind had completely subsided, and big snowflakes were falling. The options for the afternoon were kayaking or a hike to the top of Devil Island. Both were perfect choices. We returned to the ship after a beautiful afternoon, where the crew offered us the chance to take a polar plunge. A record number of us jumped in the freezing water, and we were rewarded with a super cool retro patch and a shot of an adult beverage!
What an amazing day on National Geographic Resolution!
