Crossing the Drake: Excursion from Ushuaia to Antarctica

It's been nearly a week since we made the time to put a blog post up. Since we first crossed the Drake, it's been a non-stop adventure. Today, while we are on day 1 of sailing back across the Drake to Patagonia, it's the perfect time for some rest and catch-up.

A little close-up of seals we saw in the Beagle Channel before departing Ushuaia.

The two left photos were taken on day 1 of sailing out of the Beagle Channel. The middle photo was taken from one of the "igloo" rooms aboard the Resolution. Our excursion from Ushuaia to Antarctica was well under way!

As we passed into the Drake, the views became more consistent. As the right photo shows, the weather got colder, and fog set in, but we were lucky to have the Drake Lake, a relatively mellow crossing.

During these sailing days, we received education from the crew on the animal life and geography of the Antarctic Peninsula. We also benefitted from a few photography classes.

The crew found a sweet spot in weather patterns that enabled us to sail to the east side of the Antarctic peninsula in the Weddell Sea.

We made our first landing on Devil's Island on January 22nd.

Devil's Island - We would land between the two right peaks and hike to the top of the middle peak.

Our first trip on one of the Zodiacs started the hike and maneuvering up the middle peak.

After making the mountain summit, the group hiked between the mountains to the other side of the island. On the other side, we saw more incredible views and had our first interaction with a colony of Adelie penguins!

Above are samples of the views; all of the black dots in the middle section are penguins. The magnitude of the penguin colony was unbelievable. We got very close, and the rule was to get no closer than 5 meters (approx. 17 feet) from the wildlife.

With the right zoom settings and close to the 5-meter rule, we got many shots like this one of Adelies taking care of their penguin chicks in the nest.

Needless to say, our first excursion in Antarctica was incredible. With even this single exploration, our expectations for the trip were exceeded! The crew did an awesome job putting us in favorable weather spots, and we can experience so much!

Time to head back to the ship for some spiked hot chocolate!