Wednesday 19th November
During lunch the ship sailed to Damoy Point and we were on the earlier groups called for landing just after 2pm. They rotate the order of the groups around so we all get to go first, middle and last.
Damoy Point has a beach landing site which is very different to yesterday and a bit easier to traverse.
The zodiac over was through lots of ice and past icebergs which were absolutely stunning. There cliffs of ice at the shore line with mountains behind.
The first 'checkpoint' on the hike was a refuge hut. These are huts that can be found across the Antarctica peninsula and are managed by different countries. They can be used by anyone stranded in Antarctica and have emergency supplies inside.
The original plan was to take a look inside, but a family of gentoo penguins were nesting underneath, so we (rightly) couldn't go inside as it would disturb the nesting.
Today's hike was much easier. There were lots of Gentoo rookeries to see both on the beach and on rocky outcrops that have been exposed by melting snow/ice. It was very warm today, I didn't have many layers on and could have easily walked around in a T-Shirt. The weather was what they would expect in their summer, not spring. Ironically it was warmer today in Antarctica than it was at home! Could see global warming in action right before my eyes. The penguins were struggling in the heat, so many were lying face down in the snow to try to cool down and many lay there for so long people were questioning whether they were alive! The expedition leaders assured us they were.
There were penguins everywhere! Awesome to see so many. A sight i could never grow tired of.
There were also brown Skua birds around. These are huge and really bullish. They were trying to steal penguin eggs to feed their chick's.
We also saw the remnants of an avalanche that had happened earlier. This is common at this time of year as the glacial ice starts melting. I had heard the avalanche this morning whilst in the kayak on the other side of the mountain in Borgen Bay.
Being surrounded by such beauty is so emotional and needs real processing time
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