Lowes Travels

This last post of my 7-post series details the final stretch of our trip. If you’ve just joined us, be sure to check out the beginning of our adventure here.

For this finale, buckle up and grab your favorite beverage — it’s going to be a cold and wild ride through an ice field with only some of the images from the thousands I took. Antarctica is so incredibly beautiful that it was agonizing trying to select which ones to include! 🙂

As Octantis glided along on yet another incredible morning (daytime temps were in the mid-30’s during our entire trip), we continued to be awestruck by the captivating scenery outside our stateroom window. We’d finally arrived at the White Continent – Yay!

The captain and the Expedition Team had a wonderful surprise up their sleeves for us. Although it hadn’t been announced yet, we’d heard whispers that something thrilling was just around the corner (or maybe around the next iceberg?)!

But first let me tell you what transpired on a previous night. Viking’s sister ship to Octantis is Polaris, and they were to have a meet-up. Polaris was on her way home as we were heading to the continent. This occasionally happens during the Antarctic summer to enable supplies and crew to be transferred as needed. Passengers on both ships were more than happy to size up each other’s ships while waving and cheering:

Now back to the surprise – the captain announced that he would attempt to ram into the sea ice sheet so we could walk off the ship directly onto the ice (a ship landing). Like everyone else, we ran to the bow of the ship to see and hear the action:

Play the video below with your volume up to hear the ramming of the ice:

We learned from the captain that this was only the second time a Viking ship had rammed into an ice sheet since they began sailing to Antartica a couple of years ago. We were fortunate to experience this event and it was fascinating and thrilling at the same time:

The ship is capable of this because it’s a Polar Class 6 ice-strengthened expedition ship designed to navigate icy waters and make land on sea ice (here’s where that sharp-edged bow comes in).

Sea ice is frozen ocean water that forms, grows, and melts entirely in the ocean. By contrast, icebergs, glaciers and ice shelves originate while attached to land masses. For most of the year, sea ice is covered with snow.

Our ice ram happened at Wilhelmina Bay. Octantis rammed twice so we could walk directly onto the ice. But it was determined that the ice was too soft near the ship for us to access it directly so we were put ashore in Zodiacs:

It was a bit snowy, breezy and rainy when we took our walk, and exhilarating to breathe the fresh, clean Antarctic air once again. We were finally at the continent, but the walk was still unofficial because it was on ice and not on land 🙁

After our walk we hung out on deck to take in the spectacular view. Then we heard some splashing in the water and saw Gentoo penguins swimming alongside the ship. Penguins are birds, but they are flightless and have evolved into terrific swimmers:

Humpback whales are frequently spotted in the bays here as they feed on the abundant krill, and sure enough we witnesed their breaches and distinctive fluke patterns:

Other wildlife present in the bay:

As the ship turned toward our final stop, we passed turquoise ice formations with their clear reflections in the water – simply beautiful!

Each iceberg has its own story, like a living part of the sea. We learned that 90 percent of each iceberg exists beneath the surface, and it was surprising to think we were seeing just “the tip of the iceberg”.

Recess Cove

Our final stop was at Recess Cove. The sun eventually appeared from behind the clouds, exposing the white continent in all its splendor. We were awed by endless white mountains rolling to the horizon and massive glaciers churning the icebergs in the sea:

As we motored to our landing site via Zodiacs, we navigated among huge ice sculptures of various shapes and heights:

And at last we officially walked on our 7th and final continent, Wohoo!

As we paused and took in the panorama before us, we felt very blessed and fortunate to be here. Snowy mountains and sky-high glaciers curtained the landscape. Sculpted by wind, the snow resembles sand dunes (similar to the red rocks in Southern Utah), undulating sensuously along the horizon. It is truly a landscape of rugged rock and pure white snow:

On our way back to the ship I was happy to learn that our Zodiac pilot was from my hometown, Cebu, Philippines! He gave us a special ride and a photo op at the bow of the ship. How cool is that?

The glassy water was littered with chunks of ice, icebergs and small islands. The air here is so clean and free of impurities – Breathe in…breathe out, ahhh!

It’s amazing to see how wildlife can exist and thrive in this icy kingdom:

The weather on our last day was a perfect sendoff, sunny and clear with no wind. What a fitting farewell from this snowy paradise!

Along the way several Orcas and Humpbacks bid us goodbye and put on a whale of a show:

New Year’s Feast

Back on board, the chef and his team were busy preparing a New Year’s Day feast:

Other ships big and small were seen conducting their own expeditions in the area:

As Octantis pointed north toward the open waters of Drake’s Passage, I continued to take pictures of this bleak but beautiful continent.

Below are more photos of our departure in a slideshow (I warned you, right ?):

We were very fortunate that our Drake’s Passage crossing was calm – a situation many mariners refer to as “Drake Lake”. It is often called “Drake Shake”, but not this time. I was glad I didn’t have to use my anti-motion sickness remedies, and Steve was able to complete his usual walking laps around the ship:

Back to Ushuaia

We were sad but fulfilled when we arrived back at Ushuaia, where our expedition cruise had begun:

Our time here had vanished in a flash – moving far too quickly – but this journey left us feeling privileged to have experienced our trip of a lifetime in such comfort and style.