BT – Paradise Harbour and Almirante Brown Base

If I tell you that I took over 400 photos on day 2 in Antarctica you can probably guess that it was a magical day; and you may not be surprised to find that I’ll break up the account into three posts. We spent the morning in the vicinity of Paradise Harbour (S 64°54′ W 62°53′), a place which, today, well and truly lived up to its name.

Here we stepped ashore on the Antarctic mainland for the first time — a “continental landing” as it is called. We landed at Almirante Brown base, which is an Argentinian station that is currently unoccupied. There are a large number of huts and bases in the Antarctic which are vacant, some because they are historic but have outlived there practical usefulness, and others possibly because they allow the countries that built them not so much to support scientific research but to stake claims over bits of the continent (and this will become contentious once the Antarctic treaty — that essentially designates Antarctica as a place that is not “owned” by anyone — expires in 2048).

Actually, when I say “unoccupied” I am failing to acknowledge the colony of gentoo penguins which have overrun the place.

I joined many of the shore party in climbing up the hill overlooking the station. Here there were great views of the surrounding glaciers and mountains and the harbour itself.

We then boarded a Zodiac and explored some of the harbour, marvelling at the reflections and dodging the ice floes that were drifting about the bay. We also learned a little about glaciers, including the fact that the denser ice — which has had the air squeezed out because it has been deeper in the glacier and thus older — is more blue in colour.

It was wonderful to cruise around such a beautiful place.

I spotted a leopard seal on a far-off floe and we were able to get up close.

After about an hour or so of Zodiac cruising we headed back to the Plancius for lunch.