Amateur Traveler: Saturday, Jan. 2 - Drake Passage and Desolation Island

It was expected that this would be another full day at sea. There were more presentations scheduled and we began seeing whales and our first iceberg. We were also seeing penguins swimming in the water. Again the sea was calm and we were making very good time across the Passage. Before we knew it we saw land, the South Shetland Islands.

Since we were about 5-6 hours ahead of schedule, the Expedition team decided we should land on one of the islands, Desolation Island, after dinner. Darkness never limited our outings. There was none. We put on our gear and prepared to head out.

This business of dressing for the outings was a bit of a pain. I would wear long underwear, both top and bottom. Then it was fleece pants and a pair of thin waterproof pants. For my upper body, I would wear some kind of synthetic T-shirt, a fleece scarf and the parka that came with the expedtion. The parka was heavy duty. It had a nice fleece jacket that could be worn separately or as a liner for the shell. The shell was a heavy duty layer. It was made out of a thick waterproof/windproof material. It could handle the cold ocean spray without any problem. To round out the outfit, I wore two pairs of socks, one thin liner and a pair of thermals. Next came the rubber boots that were lent to us by the tour. A knit hat and gloves and you were set. Well not quite. You had to put a life jacket over the top and then a backpack to carry your camera and any other incidentals.

All of the outings involved getting into a zodiac boat. As part of the normal procedure, we would line of for the gangway, sign-out and hop into the zodiac. This was generally an efficient exercise.

Upon reaching the Desolation Island, We took a short walk along the beach. There were some seals around. There was a small area to explore and we went back to the ship rather quickly. It was really a warm-up outing to get us used to the routine. It became clear that most of us were over dressed. We were burning up and began to open up our jackets and take off the hats and scarfs. We would know better for next time.

There were not many pictures worth posting for this day. So here are a few pictures from the next day on the Aitcho Islands.

Penguins thinking about going to a more lively party