Humpback and the Iceberg
Day 3 : Dec 12, 2019
On the 3rd day, we spot a pair of Humpback Whales, leading to our first thrill. Soon, the first Iceberg on the horizon adds to our excitement.
We opened our eyes to a calm Drake Passage in the morning. Thankfully, it was Drake Lake today too. We had the morning tea delivered to the suite. After the leisurely morning tea, we freshened up and got ready for the day.
We had an elaborate breakfast at The Restaurant on Deck 4. It was a leisurely paced 5-course breakfast which we enjoyed while soaking in the view from the window on the Port side.
At 11:00 am we headed to the Explorer Lounge on Deck 6 to attend a talk by Steve McCurry, the renowned photographer who is famous for his iconic ‘Afghan Girl’ photo that appeared on June 1985 cover of National Geographic. Steve was one of the explorers on this voyage. It was interesting to hear his perspective on how patience was the single-most important virtue of a good photographer to get some of the stunning & lively pictures.
Humpback sighted!
Went back to the room at 12 noon and dozed off. At 1:00 pm we heard the Expedition Leader Schalk Botha announcing the sighting of Humpback whales. We rushed to Deck 8 and looked around. There was a pair of Humpback whales, a mother and a baby who kept surfacing around the bow, snorting and flipping the tail. We were extremely excited with this sighting and took a lot of photos.
At 2:00 pm, we proceeded to La Terrazza on Deck 7 and had a buffet lunch. Then we walked into the Photo Studio on Deck 5 and used one of the Macs to check our photos.
Icebergs – first encounter
At 5:00 pm, we joined the daily briefing at the Explorer Lounge on Deck 6. We were appraised about the voyage progress by Schalk Botha and told that we should be spotting the first icebergs of the voyage in next 1 hour.
After the briefing, we stationed ourselves in the Tor’s Observation Lounge on Deck 9. Tor’s Observation Lounge in placed directly above the Bridge and has a clear view of the bow and front area. We spotted some Humpback whales at a distance clearly identified by the spouts. Soon we spotted a set of 3 icebergs at a distance. As the ship sailed passed the icebergs, the Captain slowed the speed to allow the explorers a good look at the icebergs and take fine photographs. In next hour, we spotted the first landmass of Antarctica region signifying the end of the Drake Passage.
As the excitement subsided, we realized that hunger pangs were setting it. It was late evening and time for dinner! We went to The Restaurant on Deck 4 and had a light dinner. The dinner was followed by nice hot tea served in the suite.
We arranged our gear for next day’s landing at Yankee Harbour at 10:00 am and Half Moon Island at 5:00 pm. With next day’s preparation complete, we retired for the day.