Antarctica, Aitcho Island
Day 3, evening landing; Aitcho Island
Due to the improvement in weather through the latter half of the Drake Passage we made up a few hours and arrived at Aitcho Island, one of the South Shetland islands, in time to make an evening landing.
Getting our rubber boots and cold weather gear on for the first time took a while (in fact the process didn't ever get much quicker; the further south we went, the more layers we started wearing). Once outside though, the air was cool and refreshing, not bitterly cold, and I for one was delighted to stand on dry land again for a while. Actually, I sat. Clutching a sick bag, most of the time, but enjoying the experience nonetheless.
Niall and the other photographers were in raptures over the light quality and indeed the soft orange glow over everything as the sun dropped made the place seem doubly serene. People moved slowly so as not to alarm the penguins - who didn't seem to care at all and even came quite close in the course of their business between sea and nest. Carol's camera swinging from its wrist strap was a source of curiosity for one gentoo, which walked right up to her to investigate.
Soft conversation and the clicking of camera shutters barely broke the silence but were at intervals completely drowned out by penguin cries as pairs or small groups of birds stretched their necks to the sky and shouted loudly and tunelessly to one another. Other birds sat placidly on their stone nests for the whole time we were ashore.
It was a beautiful introduction to the outskirts of Antarctica and as we returned to the boat to drink hot chocolate and watch the spectacular sunset, the remembered discomforts of the Drake Passage were already fading.
