Antarctica Delivers Stunning Views, Icebergs and Cold

Day 32, 2023 Grand South America and Antarctica

Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023; Antarctica

Thanks to our most excellent Capt. Smit, we arrived in Antarctica Monday ahead of schedule. And what an arrival – into a field of glaciers, some approaching the size of our ship.

After leaving Ushuaia, we spent Sunday morning circumnavigating Cape Horn at the tip of South America.

Our Antarctic expedition guides, Iain Miller and Dr. Neil Gilbert, have joined us and provided commentary on the history of the island, as well as the birds flying around. They will narrate our four days of scenic cruising in Antarctica. I’m afraid if you are a serious birder, you will be disappointed with my reporting. Last time I wrote about Cape Horn, I mentioned albatross sightings, and I hear some on the ship saw at least one this time.

There was lots of chatter on board about what we might find on our Drake Passage crossing. The captain estimated the swells at four to five meters (up to about 15 feet), and I definitely needed a hand on the railing when walking aft to dinner. We all joked about our “drunken reeling” when we hadn’t had a drink – yet.

Meanwhile, in preparation for our arrival in Antarctica, we had a briefing about protecting the environment – take extra precautions to ensure nothing blows or falls overboard, and do not touch any birds that might land on the ship. Capt. Smit showed a map of his Plan A for Tuesday, the first of four scheduled days. He, the ice pilot aboard and other officers will adjust the plan using weather data, satellite images of ice and reports from other ships in the area. He won’t be surprised if he gets to Plan L or M before we leave.

As always, I slept like a baby as the ship rocked away, and when I awoke Monday morning our motion had subsided substantially. It turns out while we slept, the captain sped up, crossing Drake Passage overnight to escape worsening weather. By noon we arrived at the northern islands of Antarctica and ducked behind them for protection.

Brilliant, I say! And we get another half day in Antarctica to boot.

After sailing through the field of huge icebergs, we spent yesterday afternoon circling Deception Island, a volcanic caldera offering a sheltered harbor – too small an entrance for us to enter.

By bedtime the sun hadn’t set, but I had a beautiful sunset out my window.

This morning, frost covered parts of the Crow’s Nest windows and the temperature had dropped into the 20sF.

By layering my fleece jacket with my puffer coat, I was able to keep reasonably warm for the brief periods I ventured out on the bow of deck 6 – a great viewing location for looking forward. I was glad I brought my fingerless gloves with mitten coverings, as today’s iPhones require all kinds of finger swipes.

We came across our first penguins, clustered on an iceberg but too far away to see in any detail even with my 60x zoom camera.

Keeping up Holland America’s tradition, waiters served Dutch Pea Soup on the decks and in the viewing areas throughout the ship.

We ventured into the Neumayer passage, and some of the best views there were from my balcony. I kept the cabin TV on the bow camera channel, with commentary from our guides, so I knew when to move to another part of the ship.

[If you want more detailed information about the channels, bays and other areas we are exploring, I suggest you read Jeff Farschman’s blog. With more than 3,000 nights on Holland America ships, Jeff has been everywhere many times. He includes fascinating background and dozens of amazing pictures.]

By afternoon, the cloud cover had dropped and there wasn’t much to see. Many passengers escaped to the theater to watch March of the Penguins. Having seen it, I watched Glass Onion, downloaded from Netflix. I have found the movie selection on the ship to be disappointing – none of the more recent films that played on the Zuiderdam earlier this year. I have not even heard of most of these.

I could tell by leaving the bow camera view on my TV that there wasn’t much to see as the cloud cover fell. A sole person was visible on the deck 6 viewing platform.

Our guides announced this evening that the best viewing tomorrow will be early morning, with commentary starting at 7 a.m. I’ve looked ahead on the weather apps and know that by noon the low clouds will return, with snow and freezing rain in the forecast almost continually for the next couple of days. I’m setting my alarm – not quite as early as sunrise just after 3 a.m., but early enough.

By bedtime tonight, no sunset — but it would be on the other side of the ship. The balcony railing was covered in freezing sleet and snow.