You find active volcanoes there. It's on average the highest continent in the world, even higher than Asia with its Himalayas and Tibetan plateau. It's one of the driest areas on Earth, drier even than the Atacama Desert or Death Valley. You’re going from one surprise to the next when you start reading about Antarctica …
During lunch, it finally happens. At twenty to one, dark silhouettes emerge in the misty distance. The mountain peaks are shrouded in grey clouds, snow patches cling to the brown slopes, glaciers slide between the peaks toward the sea. That's Nelson Island, one of the South Shetland Islands, a 510 km long rosary of islands – although sailors dare to …
Just after four in the morning, there's activity at Portal Point. We knew beforehand that it would be a short night in our shallow snow pit on continental Antarctica. As long as we're ashore, the Sea Spirit can't sail further. And we still have quite a few nautical miles ahead of us. So, we need to get back on board quickly. We managed ...
Briefly we are awakened from our sleep. That probably happens around six o'clock, when the Sea Spirit appears to be leaving Andvord Bay. This means that the campers who spent the night in Neko Harbour on continental Antarctica are back on board. Later, we will hear ...
Deception Island – as the name suggests – is not what it seems. You think you're looking at an island, but in fact, it's a caldera filled with seawater. So, it's a ring-shaped crater lake, right in the middle of the sea, with a diameter of a whopping nine kilometres. That must have been quite …
