I almost slept through breakfast today. After breakfast, I took a selfie with the lovely chambermaids who made my cabin so nice every day.
As always, we had a beautiful view at breakfast (photo below left). Just before Deception Island, we had to take a souvenir photo of the three of us (photo above from left to right Susanna, Claudia and me). The champagne glass in the photo below right was lent to me by a guest especially for the photo.
On the way to Deception Island we saw many beautiful icebergs (photo below), including some with penguins. Whenever there were black dots on the iceberg (photo right), you could assume that there were penguins there. So I quickly changed the lens and had a better shot of the penguins (photo above and below right).
A hike on Deception Island was offered in the morning, but I decided not to go as I really wanted to swim in the Antarctic (Antarctic Plunge). Claudia had signed up and Susanna and I did the circuit of Deception Island together. The weather couldn’t have been better. Pure sunshine. We had enough time to enjoy Deception Island.
There are many ruins dating back to the whaling era. However, whaling was not very successful and so the island was abandoned.
As the houses are in danger of collapsing, it was not possible to enter them. Individual boats were also visible (photo below). The black earth comes from a volcanic eruption that last erupted in 1970.
Siden husene står i fare for å kollapse, var det ikke mulig å gå inn. Du kan også se individuelle båter (bildet nedenfor). Den svarte jorden kommer fra et vulkanutbrudd som sist brøt ut i 1970.
Despite the ruins and the volcanic soil, penguins, sea lions and some birds live there. The sea lion (photo below left and centre) just lay in the middle of our path, but didn’t let herself be disturbed. She looked up again briefly to see who might be walking around and then perhaps thought ‘Those are just the ones from the Fritjof Nansen. There’s no danger and I can lie down again and enjoy the sun. Our expedition team adjusted the route so that we were 5 metres apart again. This distance from wild animals is mandatory in Antarctica. The one penguin was funny. It was a great photo model (photo centre and bottom right).
He also posed for a short video.
After the circular route, the last stop was swimming in the Antarctic. Susanna didn’t want to swim in the Antarctic, but I thought ‘I’m here now and why not? Quickly run into the cold water, dive under and run out again, it can’t be that difficult’.
Everyone who wanted to swim had to put on their swimwear under their thermal underwear. You could take your clothes off on a place covered with blankets and after bathing there were also towels provided by the ship to dry off. It was recommended to rub the bathing clothes dry a little and then put them back on, then go straight to the Zodiac and back to the ship for a hot shower. All those who came back from bathing, i.e. with wet swimwear, were given preferential treatment during the Zodiac transfer to the ship.
It was quite cold and the shins hurt the most. But eyes closed and through. I had instructed Susanna how to take photos. She had my mobile phone in one hand and the camera around her neck. She just snapped away. There were some really nice photos.
On my return, I took a hot shower, spread my clothes out to dry in the cabin and had a short rest before it was time for dinner again. Today we had a buffet. Very tasty as always. We spent the evening together with other travellers we had met. First Tommy explained to me how I could make more out of some of the photos. Then we had lots of cocktails in the Explorer Lounge. You’re not alone on a ship like this, even if you’re travelling alone. You always meet someone. The three of us, Claudia, Susanna and I, still keep in touch after the cruise. In any case, it was a fun evening. After many cocktails, I went to bed around midnight and slept very well.