09 February 2022 – Wednesday – Dallman Bay and Danco Island

In the early morning,(4:45am) I visited the bridge where the “ice captain” who is a specialist in ice navigation,  controls our safe voyage each night. The boat has two different radar units which I was told can locate ice as small as a shoebox. Because of the relatively warmer air meeting very cold waters, it is always foggy as we approach the Antarctic peninsula. So our “ice lights” were on to help visual spotting. The bridge is fascinating with state of the art electronics. They maintain an open door policy and are always happy to answer questions.
After breakfast we had a lecture, “penguins 101” which introduced us to the many types of penguins and focused on the gentoo penguins we would see in the afternoon. We also were instructed about how to enter a RIB (rigid inflatable boat) safely. The water temperature here is about 32.6 F.

By early afternoon we finally began to see land through the fog. We entered Danco island sound where we had our first adventure on land. The ship did not anchor. It simply used dynamic stabilization …however that works…to stay in place.
We suited up in warm layers, boots , and our National Geographic expedition parkas and headed for land in RIBs. We were met by a few gentoo penguins on the beach. They are cute little ones. There were several distinct nesting areas along our hike. We followed a marked hiking trail up through snow and rocks being careful to keep a respectful 15 ft distance from the birds and not to interrupt their comings and goings on the “penguin highways”. As we hiked up, the sun came out. It was actually hot to climb through the snow to the top of the nesting area. Apparently the top area was where latecomers to the nesting spot were forced to go because lower areas were already occupied.

The downhill journey was pretty easy. We returned to the boat in time for hot toddies and showers.

Dinner as well as all meals is always an opportunity to meet our fellow travelers. We are generally the last ones to leave the dining room. Service is friendly. Food is delicious. Wine flows. We sit and talk.
We went to the bar after dinner and managed to stay UP until midnight. It isn’t fully dark until about 1 am.