We are lucky to be awake while entering the portal to Deception Island, as the weather ends up turning for the worst a few hours later when we exit. Deception Island is a sunken volcano and creates a horseshoe shaped island with an opening 230 meters wide. It is one of the safest natural harbors in the world, but it still gets windy. We arrive at Telefon Bay and a blizzard is hitting the island. Fortunately the conditions for the zodiac aren't too bad, so the crew allows us to land.
Once on land, we realize we will only want a short amount of time here, as strong blowing wind makes it unpleasant. This landing is more consistent with what we expected from Antarctica. It is windy and the snow is whipping at our faces, finding every bit of exposed skin we have. We both wear our sunglasses to block out the sun and to protect our eyes from the blowing snow. We make it to the top of the lookout and are surprised the snow isn't sticking to the volcanic ash. It just keeps blowing around. There is no wildlife here, but seeing the effects of the volcanic activity is interesting.
After lunch, we try out the on-ship pool which has just opened. Some people say the pool's water is 30 degrees Celsius (or 90 degrees Fahrenheit), but I quickly confirm that is not the case. We stay in the pool for about three minutes. Oh well, the experience is more memorable cold!
Our next stop is Aitcho Island which is part of the South Shetland Islands. Barrientos Island is covered with extensive beds of moss and lichens. It is home to gentoos, chinstraps, and elephant seals. This is our first opportunity to see a chinstrap rookery, and we are pleased to see chinstrap chicks. We also see many skuas nesting. We are on the island for about two hours, and our fingers are getting cold, so we decide to leave. However, right as we are leaving, we see a skua take off with a gentoo chick. It is stressful to watch the little guy struggle to get free. Many other gentoos try to rescue the chick. However, in the end the chick is sacrificed.
We return to the ship and have hot chocolate in the lounge to warm our hands before dinner on level six. Thankfully, we learn that the Drake Passage is predicted to be quite mild.
Kelly and Rhenee were excellent to work with on planning our trip. The logistics all worked smoothly and everyone was friendly and on time. Our accommodations were very good, particularly the incredible Patagonia Camp in Torres del Paine! Our guides on every excursion were outstanding and made the hikes memorable! Overall we had a wonderful trip with incredible memories!
Scott Gibson
1 day ago
Adventure Life is definitely a first-class safari tour company, and our representative was Franny Friesz. First of all, she responded immediately after we contacted Adventure Life. We told Franny that we had never been on a safari, and she was more than eager to offer a mountain of information about the trip. She informed us fully about all the ups, downs, and all arounds! She even prepared a number of packages for us to review -- even after we made changes to the areas we wanted to explore. Friendly, helpful, professional, and extremely knowledgeable -- these words describe Franny, and what a wonderful trip she prepared! We couldn't have asked for better service than Franny of Adventure Life. We HIGHLY recommend her and her outstanding company! Bon Voyage!
Prima Burke
2 days ago
The staff at Adventure Life made planning my family's trip to the Galapagos Islands as easy as possible. They listened to what we were hoping to experience and made thoughtful suggestions about how to accomplish our vacation goals while meeting the needs of travelers ages 17-76! They patiently answered questions and follow up questions in the months leading up to the trip. They helped us trouble shoot and customize the trip in every way possible. The logistics involved in traveling from Boston to the Galapagos are innumerable. The Adventure Life staff helped us arrange every detail and the team they assembled in the Galapagos was tremendous. I have never done a trip this big before and after working with Adventure Life this time--would not hesitate one second in working with them again.
Jennifer Howard Schroeder
3 days ago
Kevin got right on our request and had us booked within the week