Welcome to Travel Journaling: Antarctica Entry 13 November

The Vikings in the Antarctic are very different from their purported northern brethren. 

13 November, 2025

National Geographic Explorer

9:27

I know the date, but the day is often illusive. 

I woke up at 1:00 to try to see the stars in the night sky. It was clear, but too bright for stars. I did get some eerie photos of the landscape off the bow and under the bridge.

At breakfast, C.C. and I sat with W., R., Su, and SN. A stayed stayed in her cabin. At the 8:00 announcement, we were surprised with an update that orca were spotted off the bow. Everyone rushed up from the dining room to see them. 

I ran to the bridge and saw a huge family of orca. The naturalist S was there and pointing out where each part of the group were. It was a single family unit likely out hunting for breakfast. I caught a few pictures, but nothing spectacular with my phone's camera. 

If you zoom in you can see three orca just under the sea surface.

We also saw an iceberg with seal tracks and another with three penguins. There was a large group of penguins swimming next to the ship. It was amazing how deep we could see them under the water. 

Taken from a zodiac.

I caught up with D to see if he got any good pictures and we compared our photos for a bit. He's already submitted his ice photos. We also stepped into the gift shop to browse. I bought two handknit pufferfish plushies, a pin, and another postcard. 

Due to the orca sighting, we are about 45 minutes off schedule. C.C. is napping until the kayakers are called as we are in the first group to go out on the zodiacs. I figured I'd journal so I don't spend an hour or more doing so tonight.

21:14

It was another full day after the orca sighting. C.C. and I took a morning zodiac ride with another couple and the naturalist E. BH was our driver. It was cool having a small group on the zodiac. We cruised around Useful Island and Useless Island. There were tons of penguins and seals. The seals blended in well with the rocks. We saw our third seal species, a crab seal. The don't eat crabs; they eat krill. The Germans who discovered the species didn't have another word for krill.

Early in the zodiac ride, we met up with a group of "Vikings". They didn't take our stuff, but gave us hot chocolate (with or without booze - I had it without).

My favorite seal sighting was on a rock in the middle of the bay. It looked like it was sleeping above the ocean. 

I tried the burger for lunch. It was tasty. After lunch, C.C. and I napped instead of attending the presentation on climate change. 

After nap time was an excursion to Cuverville Island for a hike. It wasn't quite as stinky today. However, we got really warm going up the hill. Everyone was shedding layers.

This was actually Useless Island.

We saw another Adelie penguin with all the gentoo. Plus there was a forth penguin sighting. Our expedition leader, J, dressed as a penguin on this landing.

The penguins were everywhere, happily waddling all over. I finally took some videos of them waddling and sliding on their stomachs. I even got a few videos of them porpoising.

So many penguins. There are thousands of them in this picture. 

Tea time was much needed after the hike. I enjoyed our historian, M's presentation on the infamous Belgica Expedition. M recommended reading the book Mad House at the End of the World for more details. 

I tried the fish for dinner. I think it was called a lingcod. El thought she spotted a white whale. 

I am currently waiting to find out who won the artistic ice photos. I submitted two; "Water Nymph Rising in Water" and "Monster Hug". I didn't vote for either of mine. They got a good laugh from everyone, though.

"Monster Hug"

“Water Nymph Rising From the Water”

W. won first place with "Whale Shark Devouring Innocent Kayakers". The second winner was "West Virginia". "ET Reading a Book" and "Chicken Chasing Fish" tied for third. No prizes for me, but W.A.R. took first and the tie for third.

Teddy chilling out on deck.

Until the next post. 

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like to hear from me.

Welcome to Travel Journaling: Antarctica Entry 12 November

Warning: penguin guano. They get it everywhere. If you're wondering why some penguins look like they have pink on them, that is their poop.

12 November, 2025

National Geographic Explorer

20:54

I have found my Achilles heel and it is penguin guano. If I ever smell it that strong ever again, it'll be too soon.

My hope for 3:00 stars didn't pan out, too much overcast. 

C.C. and I were lucky to be in the first group of kayakers. We were out for 45 minutes after breakfast in Skantorp Cove in Paradise Harbor. It was snowy and windy. I sat in the back to steer while C.C. sat in front to set pace. It was an amazing experience paddling through the icy water, but we froze. My gloves are still damp. 

It was freezing.

We needed to stay away from the icebergs just incase they flipped.

We were some of the first back because after we  drifted out, we weren't sure how long it would take to get back. It was a struggle and a few kayakers hit icebergs by accident. The second group of kayakers couldn't go out due to the winds picking up. Everyone else took zodiac rides. C.C. and I will do that tomorrow.

We weren't supposed to be in front of the ship.

After we got back to our room and peeled out of our wet clothes, I spent some time in the sauna while C.C. napped. After lunch, I attended the Washington University professor's lecture on the Antarctica ice sheet. Unfortunately the west side of the continent - which is the side we are on - is rapidly heating up. This is causing the land to spring up and give the impression that the land is growing. He had done a lot of research on seismic activity on the continent and said that the hardest thing about research was leaving his warm sleeping bag in the morning. I asked about his most unexpected experience and he said it was nearly being stranded on Elephant Island when their zodiac swamped and they lost their motor. 

We reached Neko (pronounced nee-ko) Harbor and our guides set up a hike up a hill filled with penguins. C.C. and I were in the last group to go out, so we attended a lecture about penguins, their love lives, and life cycles first. Apparently no one knows yet what several species of penguins do during the winter months. They can't be tracked. Also, the inside of a penguin's mouth is horrifying. Their molting cycle makes them look hilarious, though.

This is Neko Harbor

We quickly stuffed our faces with tea time sandwiches and sweets before going on our hike. It was our first official landing on the continent proper. We got pictures and everything.

The hike up the hill was much easier then it looked. It had warmed up quite a bit. So, naturally I fell and hit the ground with one of my bare hands. I was so happy to wash it when I got back on the ship.

We spotted our third penguin species at this landing. There was a single Adelie amongst the gentoo. The skua were happily flapping around.

An Adelie penguin.

The views were amazing - especially since the sun finally broke through the clouds to give us blue sky. The smell was stomach turning and I almost retched. I hurried back down from the top of the hike as quickly as was safe. It was icy and the penguins have the right of way. This does not stop the penguins from approaching you. We did see a penguin fall off a rock and awkwardly try to brush it off. The group had a good laugh.

There were thousands of penguins.

As I reached the bottom of the hill, I noticed the unexpected addition of a seal. The Russian guide, S,  thought it was a leopard seal. Apparently they are harmless to penguins to the penguins on land. We later learned that it was another Weddell seal. S. also told me me that penguins are not as soft and cuddly as they appear. They actually have the texture of sandpaper. 

He looks like he's smiling.

I had a little trouble getting back to the zodiac because of all the penguins. Finally, some of the guides just told me to ignore them and get to the boat so we could leave. I was feeling sick to my stomach, so I raced to the zodiac and avoided the penguins like on a Mario Kart circuit.

The cocktail hour and debrief was nice. I started feeling better after a ginger ale and alcohol-free beer. Some food helped, too. 

I really liked the underwater report. It's so colorful with the algae and sponges. There was even a sea star that looked like it had feathers. S. followed up his ice presentation with a brief description on the different colors ice can be. He had fun telling us that if we hadn't seen red ice (as oppose to pink penguin guano ice), that we needed to come back and search the Antarctic again. I also submitted a photo to the ice photo contest. 

I did delay going down to dinner to ask the plant naturalist about indigenous mushrooms. There is one species native to the continent. It is small, brown capped, full of micro organism, and poisonous to humans. We are unlikely to see it this time of year. 

I am tired and a little crispy. I did get sun and wind. I hope its clear tonight.

Teddy enjoyed the view.

Until the next one.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like to hear from me.

Welcome to Travel Journaling: Antarctica Entry 11 November

More wildlife in this entry - including a humpback whale sighting. In addition to learning about the amazing continent of Antarctica, I sat with a group of people at lunch who told me some interesting LGBTQIA+ history that they lived through. I wrote a little of it in my journal, but may one day do a full blog post on the Virginia Tech Denim protest. 

11 November, 2025 

National Geographic Explorer

21:10

I decided to pamper myself today with a five minute trip to the sauna and a fifty minute massage. I've ended the night with a hot shower. The dryness of the region has made my hair dry really straight - probably the straightest it's ever been.

This morning started with our group going out first on the zodiac to hike around Mikkelson Harbor. We saw Weddell seals and more gentoo penguins. The island also had science equipment from Chile to record the weather and atmospheric changes. There was also an Argentinian Way Station where people can seek shelter in emergencies.  

Weddell seals on the island.

Penguins don't care if you're struggling to get to this Argentinean way station. 

Weather monitoring device the penguins have declared their own.

Gentoo penguin walking out of the remains of an old wooden boat.

S (the Russian naturalist) gave a presentation on ice and it's many kinds. C.C. and I were exhausted and nearly fell asleep during the presentation - which was interesting (C.C.'s new favorite phrase is "how interesting"). 

I thought this one looked like a monster asking for a hug.

We sat with W.A.R, Su, and SN at lunch. I again had a sandwich with salad. We talked a bit about LGBTQIA+ history. Su had gone to Virginia Tech and were part of the Denim Protest. The LGBT+ alliance and allies wore denim in solidarity for gay rights during a week in January 1979. At the time, the school and community retaliated against the students. Virginia Tech recently celebrated the 45th anniversary.

W also mentioned that he went to Brigham Young University. Apparently, anyone caught breaking the university rules were called in for disciplinary action. W said he was called in a handful of times after being caught by the Salt Lake City police with another guy. They hadn't been doing anything, just sitting, but that was enough to get them in trouble.

I took an hour long nap after lunch. It was much needed. 

We entered a bay around 14:00, while I was still sleeping, and whales were spotted. I woke up around 14:30 to the announcement that a leopard seal had been spotted on floating ice. I got a ton of pictures (including the colloquially called "s4!t chicken" - I really need to get it's real name again*). 

No fear of humans whatsoever. 

Leopard seals aren't dangerous to penguins on land, but they are terrifying to see up close.

Nearing our end time in the bay, a woman near me spotted a humpback whale fin. He hovered near the surface for a while before diving a deep dive and I saw the flap of the tail. 

D and I sat together at tea time discussing the photos he got and my identification of different objects in sea ice shapes. We both plan to enter the ice shape photo competition.

C.C. had to skip the lecture on photo journalism with a National Geographic photographer. The woman who hosted spent four years with the Sami people in Finland and Sweden. For her next story, she spent two years interviewing and photographing Native American horse culture in the U.S. and Canada.

I managed to catch the end of the today's recap - though I sadly missed the undersea lecture. C.C. signed us up for the first kayaking group in the morning.

At dinner, we sat with Da and Mk from Cincinnati, Ohio. Da has been wearing a Hadestown hat, which is how I recognized him. Mk is a retired marketing manager and Da is retired from managing health care practices - he's not a doctor, but an admin. We talked quite a bit about my work in health policy.

Until the next one.

If you enjoyed this post (or it really pissed you off) please like, share, and/or leave a comment. I love hearing from my readers and I hope y'all like to hear from me.

*I never did relearn or write down the proper name for these birds, but a Google search tells me they are Pink-faced Sheathbill. S4!t chicken is much more memorable.