Barrientos in the South Shetland Islands was a bonus stop, one which was possible because of our smooth transit of the Drake Passage.  And if the weather was favorable now, but uncertain later, the expedition crew wanted to make sure that their passengers would have at least one landing experience on this tour.

The good weather held, and our next stop was to the actual Antarctic Peninsula at Foyn Harbor and Portal Point.  We could finally say that we had set foot on the seventh continent.

These outings were the highlights of this tour, excursions that brought us close to the raw beauty of this remote place.  They involved transferring from this large expedition-class vessel onto small Zodiacs, rubber rafts equipped with a motor to take us near icebergs and wildlife, and to make landings on the continent itself.

There are restrictions on how many tourists may be on land at one time.  The passengers were divided into four groups of 40.  Two groups would go out a time, one of them would land, the other would cruise.  The other two groups would remain on board and attend a lecture on topics ranging from wildlife to history to geology.  By the time the lecture was over, the two pairs of groups would reverse roles so that eventually everyone was able to set foot on land and explore the terrain (and be amused by penguins).

We had four days allocated for such explorations.  The weather varied from day to day, but continued to be mild enough to make outings each morning and each afternoon.  An expansive and delicious buffet lunch was served to restore our strength for the afternoon outings.

I’ve collected pictures and videos from those four days of exploring and assembled them into albums.  I invite you to view them and see the remarkable landscapes and lighting, and the wildlife and other activites we enjoyed.

If you have the stamina to view the entire set of my Antarctica photos, here is the top level link to the albums: