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| The Port Lockroy girls |
It was not a promising start as we had wind, fog and rain in the early morning – but this is Antarctica and the weather changed quickly! Soon, the clouds lifted and we enjoyed beautiful sunny weather the rest of the day.
Our first and only stop was in Port Lockroy – a small and nicely preserved museum with post office and shopping mall. Well, the mall is of course of limited size – but it contains an amazing variety of articles related to Antarctica. Not only the typical souvenirs (T-shirts, stickers, postcards), but also very interesting books (including a cooking book which tells you how to prepare a penguin) and excellent maps.
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| Fram meeting Le Boreal in Wilhelmina Bay |
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| Orcas! |
Afterwards, the FRAM sailed through the spectacular Neumayer Channel and in contrast to our first passage, on this passage we could see and truly appreciate the massive glaciers and snowy mountains around us.
Our afternoon destination was Wilhelmina Bay, which according to our expedition staff is the perfect place for whale watching. And it was!!! Orcas, humpback whales, minke whales… surfaced all around the ship! Sometimes we did not even know if to look out at port- or at starboard side, as there were so many animals everywhere!
The fantastic day was concluded with the charity auction of the master chart and then the very entertaining crew show! It is a great show as our crew demonstrated their hidden skills and many of them spend a great deal of their free time rehearsing for our pleasure.
