63d 31m 16.9s S, 56d 52m 57.4s W (WP087)

Donned in our wellies, we embarked on our first landing on the Antarctic Peninsula, a place called Brown Bluff, due to an outcropping of exposed granite with a brown hue. It’s the home of two types of penguins, the Gentoo (easily spotted by their distinct white patch behind the eye and red-orange beak & feet) and Adelie (my favourite by far, with their full black heads and blue ringed eyes). There was apparently a lone Chinstrap penguin but I did not see him.

We all got instruction on how to interact with the wildlife and to always make sure we don’t place ourselves between the animals and the sea, which is their home & safety. Keeping a safe distance from the curious Gentoos did not last long when they started to come up to us and peck at our boots & bags and exchange the same curiosity as us. We spent some time just observing a variety of “penguin behaviour” be it feeding chicks, to sunbathing, to swimming, to climbing snow-packed hills, to tummy-sliding, to stealing rocks from other penguins, to chasing someone else’s hungry chick. Seals on the beach, mainly fur seals, added to the dynamics with their grunts and slanted looks for us apparently disturbing their sleep. A snow petrel chick was ensconced away under the rocks.

The 360 degree scenery with snow capped granite peaks, black volcanic beach, and chunks of ice in the surrounding sea, really was amazing.