Another early morning. We were scheduled to cruise the ship through the Lemaire Channel although we were warned that we might not make it since the weather report said there would be ice. We got the call to come out on the bow of the ship as we cruised through the channel though. I missed the first part of the approach but was there to see the channel filled with ice and what looked like a giant tabular iceberg blocking it. Our captain was determined though and sure enough, he found a way through. On the way, I got my first glimpse of some Minke Whales.

Our first stop was Petermann Island. We opted to do a landing only for this time so we could get a little more rest. There was a small Argentine base here but it was unoccupied. The landing site was a rock beach with little pools of water where Gentoo Penguins were surfing and having fun playing in the water. As we walked further, I snapped what others would think was one of my best photos of the trip — a handful of Gentoos standing around with the red color of the base building in the background as a Brown Sku bird just happened to be soaring overhead. Climbing up onto land, there were a handful more penguins. I also noticed a red spot in the snow off in the distance which I thought was someone’s scarf that they had dropped. When I approached, I found it instead to be a dead penguin which had been meticulously picked apart by the skuas. They had a surgical precision to it which was amazing that they were able to get every single bit of meat and had seemingly cut back the feathers on its head with a scalpel.

After a late lunch, we headed back out to nearby Port Charcot and >Pléneau Bay. Our guides described Pléneau as an “iceberg graveyard” since many of them run around here so there is a detailed history in the ice. We started with a Zodiac cruise, seeing Crabeater Seals and many cool icebergs. You can tell the anchored icebergs from the floating ice because the bottom foot or two of it is eroded from the water at high tide.

Stepping onto land at Port Charcot, we started to climb to the top where Jean-Baptiste Charcot had discovered the land back in his expedition in 1903-05. They dragged stone after stone up this hill to construct a monument at the top called a cairn. James and I headed there but had to stop to see a colony of Gentoo Penguins feeding some newborn chicks. Unfortunately these chicks were just recently hatched and just starting to feed so it’s not likely that they be able to grow strong enough and finish molting before the winter starts. Since nearly all of the other penguins we’d seen were well into their molting process, it was cool to see the chicks feeding though. Their parents take turns going out to catch krill and then returning to land. They then start to regurgitate the partially digested food while their chicks eagerly pick it out of their mouths. That can’t be a pleasant experience for the parents! After feeding, the chicks are so full that they take a nap as their parents guard them against potential skua attacks.

After watching them for a while, we continued the hike up the hill. While not super challenging compared to other hikes I’ve been on, I imagined as the early explorers did it while carrying heavy rocks and in much more primitive gear to protect against the elements. James and I posed for a photo at the top as Jeremy took our picture. A second later, James dropped to one knee and looked up at me to say “Myke, will you marry me?” I had to ask him if he was serious since we had talked and joked about it so many times since we had first started dating 3.5 years ago. When he confirmed, I said “of course” that I would marry him. Fortunately Jeremy quickly realized that James was seizing this opportunity and snapped a handful of photos to capture the moment. The other guides who were up there to witness the moment were also a bit in shock. One of the professional photographer guides, Michelle, had to ask us to recreate the moment so she could also capture it. James and I snapped a handful more photos to remember the spot and talked through what had just happened as we walked back down the hill, holding hands.

Some of the research that had been done on this site involved tracking the magnetic south pole to see if it changed throughout the year, so I hurriedly walked over to that make-shift base just as the guides were wrapping up on the island. It was basically just a wall built out of stones next to the side of the rock cliff, but it had a great view of where we had just been.

Back on the boat, everyone on board celebrated the passage through the LeMaire Channel with a BBQ on the deck. The crew had prepared a full buffet including hamburgers, hot dogs, baked chicken, and a BBQed pig. It was still a bit cold outside but we ate our food on the deck as we enjoyed the views. The sun started to set as we sailed back through the channel which made for a beautiful view. All of the regulars said that they had never seen such a beautiful sunset.