After a not-too-rough crossing of the Drake Passage, we awoke to a very early sunrise and looked out our porthole to see the first of what were to be four days of mind-boggling, surreal landscapes. Stark, snow-covered mountains, glowing blue glaciers, massive convoluted icebergs, and bizarre cloud formations. It was utterly compelling – hard to stop running from window to window to see what incredible scene would unveil itself next. Kathy took at least three photos of every glacier and iceberg we saw during the entire visit. The sun set only slightly – it was twilight during the short night – and even at a 3am bathroom break, one had to peer out at the haunting scene.
The weather was not that cold – in the 30s (F) mainly – but the wind varied dramatically. When it was windy (which it usually was), the weather felt bitterly cold; at other times it was quite comfortable. Everyone dressed in their bright red, cruise-provided parkas and crowded the rails, oohing and ahing at the sights until driven in by the cold. Our only breaks were for meals and for the excellent scientific lectures that explained to us what we were seeing.
The scale of the landscape was breathtaking – mountains plunged straight up into the sky; icebergs the size of skyscrapers floated by; glaciers hundreds of feet high poured themselves slowly into the sea. (Click any photo below for a larger version)
The cloud cover was bizarre, with rapidly-changing periods of sun and clouds, and wisps of clouds that hung midway in the sky. With the white of the snow and the clouds, the blue of the glaciers, icebergs and sky, and the reflections off the sea, made for challenging photography – our fancy new digital cameras had a hard time coping with the landscape of iridescent blue and white. The results were often surreal:
A few more of our favorite shots: (Click any photo below for a larger version)
