24th – 25th – Second attempt, walking and cruising

As the forecast showed improvement in the weather, we decided to return to St. Andrews Bay to see if the conditions had improved since yesterday. They surely had, it was overcast but there was barely any wind, so the zodiacs were put into the water and we were shipped to the shore. The reason why we were so intent on getting on land here was that the area is occupied by a huge colony of king penguins, much larger than the one we saw yesterday. It was quite an experience. During our visit it started to snow heavily and soon every surface, ground and penguins alike were starting getting covered. The wind was still calm, though, so it was never a real issue. Coming back to the ship there were quite a few people who were struggling with wet camera gear from the snow melting, though, but they were handed a container filled with rice by the kitchen to try and remedy the issue.

King penguins.

Huge colony.

And snow.

King penguins meet the bigger red penguins.

In the afternoon we moved to Fortuna Bay where we did a zodiac cruise. It wasn’t snowing and while overcast it stayed dry and the winds kept calm. It was near perfect conditions to just put around and look at the local wildlife minding their own business, not being bothered by our presence.

The plans for the morning was that some people had signed up for a walk following the path of Shackleton form Fortuna Bay. We were to meet in the mud room at 0600 where we boarded the zodiacs and zipped to shore. Well, not so much zipping as not even half way there (the zodiac I ended up in pretty much did circled the ship) the walk was cancelled due to sea conditions and the inability to get on shore. So back onto the ship and instead we went to Stromness, a derelict whaling station where we landed and had a nice walk through boggy areas to Shackleton Waterfall at the end of the valley. The weather was beautiful and a small climb gave you a stunning view.

Arriving at Stromness.

There were plenty of pups running about near the zodiac landing.

The afternoon was spent on a casual zodiac cruise in Leith Harbour, seeing another whaling station and more wildlife, mostly birds of various petrels and penguins. Coming back to the ship we raised anchor and headed back into open sea, heading towards the Falklands.