We wake up early to have breakfast before our 7:30am zodiac ride to Gold Harbour. Gold Harbour takes its name from the pyrite or ''fools gold'' found here in 1911. We wonder whether we will see any on shore, as we enjoy the view of the glacier in the distance and king penguins swimming nearby the boat.
On shore, we are greeted by elephant seals grunting and king penguins chirping (or actually kazooing!). The elephant seals are fun and unpredictable. One minute they are lazy, then suddenly they prepare to fight with threatening belches, and then a few moments later they are sleeping with their heads on top of each other. Further down, a meadow hides some more elephant seals that are calmly lying in a group enjoying the sun. But, all of a sudden one emerges, pushing itself forward awkwardly. When it moves, it looks like an enormous caterpillar. It has an amazing amount of blubber, making each movement look like an impressive amount of work.
Elsewhere, a few gentoo stragglers mix in between a king penguin rookery. While there are many king penguins, it's not as vast as St. Andrews bay. Still, we get to see many brown king penguin chicks. Many of the brown chicks are almost as large as their parents, but they still constantly beg for food. Watching them get fed directly out of the parent's mouth seems comical. The brown chicks just seem lazy. Is fishing really that hard?
After about an hour on land, we are ushered back to the zodiac and by 9:00am L'Austral sets sail for Cooper Bay. We arrive at Cooper Bay and gather into groups of eight for a zodiac tour. The eight of us ride the zodiac along the coast and around large rocks that are sticking out of the water. We see a large group of macaroni penguins, many of them perched high on the large rocks and coastal bluffs. They look and act much like the rockhoppers that we saw in the Falkland Islands. They both have arched backs, red eyes, and colorful crests on their head. The biggest difference between the macaroni penguin and the rockhopper penguin is that the macaroni's crests are larger and meet in the middle by its eyes whereas the rockhopper's crests do not meet.
As we continue down the coast, we see many fur seals and one large elephant seal swimming around in the bay. We watch countless porpoising penguins as we start cruising through the Drygalski fjord. There are blue-eyed cormorants and shags nesting on some of the rock outcroppings. For the first time, we see a chinstrap penguin. This lone penguin must have forgotten where his friends are.
We return to the cruise ship just in time for lunch. Today, we have a seafood buffet with prawns, scallops, and fish. We start sailing for the white continent.
Adventure Life is always an excellent choice when planning complicated, extreme, or exotic vacations or expeditions. They provide friendly professional services and advice and are enthusiastic and encouraging in helping us to prepare and thoroughly enjoy our trip. They handle all the details which greatly reduces the stress of planning a difficult trip. I'm very impressed with Adventure Life and definitely recommend them to friends and family.
Scott Trochim
2 days ago
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
4 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
5 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.