Bob Dylan’s “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” is playing behind the bar and I don’t think I ever imagined listening to Blonde on Blonde in such a setting. This morning we set anchor at Neko Bay, and hiked to the top of a rocky outcropping flanking a steep, precariously perched glacier. Gentoo Penguins roosted along the slope, and from my spot on top of the rocky mountain the whole bay, and seemingly the world, laid out in all directions reaching farther and farther until the last white peak blended into the pale blue horizon. A humpback whale came up for air just along the shoreline, sewing a thread of bubbles across the still water. This was the actual continent of Antarctica, right beneath me.
In the afternoon we sailed through the Gerlache Strait to Whilhamina Bay, fondly known as “Whale-hemina Bay” by the staff, for it’s guaranteed abundance of cetaceans. We didn’t set anchor until 4 PM, and by then I had already lost count of the number of whales I spotted. We got into our kayaks and headed toward a burst of mist coming from a humpback whale. We had been paddling for about five minutes when all of a sudden an enormous whale emerged from the water immediately beside my friend Roy’s kayak, her massive body less than a foot from him! She blew out a big breath and then dove right under his boat, Roy cried out and the rest of us all yelled unintelligible exclamations. Then the next whale, the calf, popped up right on the other side of Roy, this time his rostrum poking up, he gave the kayak a curious look and headed back down.
Here were were, watching whales, all the while the whales were watching us! This just kept on going, whale upon whale, including one absolutely massive male which surfaced just to the stern of my Dad’s boat, letting out a deep, cavernous trumpet, sounding like something between an elephant and a dinosaur. The cow and calf joined, snorting loudly. Occasionally a fluke would make an appearance as they dove, and the whole kayak team would cry out with joy. We stayed on the water till it was nearly dark, shivering but refusing to admit we were cold. We chased the whales until the very end, each sighting eliciting laughter until I actually cried. It was unreal and as close to magic as I could fathom. And that is how I would describe Antarctica in one word, magic.
The travel specialists we've worked with for 2 vacations have made the trip planning process easy! They ask good questions to ensure they understand our goals and likes and have done an excellent job matching adventures with our preferences - even suggesting things we would not have thought about on our own!
Amy
1 day ago
Erin is great to work with on our adventure to Antartica. She gave us great choices and is very knowledgeable about the options. Her recommendations saved us from making some big mistakes.
Carla
2 days ago
A Mind Blowing Adventure!
Adventure Life kept me well informed and up to date in the lead up to my trip and Albatros delivered a once in a lifetime adventure in full. A totally awesome experience from start to finish.
Jan Price
2 days ago
Jane Packer helped us through the cancellation of our trip due to American Queen Voyages bankruptcy and then finding another cruise with American Cruise Lines.
Jane is very prompt in response, answers any questions, and makes good suggestions thereby making the process much easier!
Deb Donaldson
3 days ago
Adventure Life did an excellent job of planning, organizing and executing a great trip to Argentina. It was nice to have the trip with just the two of us which allowed for a more personable tour with excellent tour guides in all four locations visited. We learned lots of details of the beautiful sites in BA, Mendoza,Baliloche and Iguazu Falls. We want to do another trip with Adventure Life some day.