End of Lemaire

Here are two more icy landscapes from the Lemaire Channel. I'm going to take a break from Antarctica -- yes, believe it or not I do still have more pictures -- and loop back to Chile. I've yet to look at a single photo from Valparaiso, or the very interesting cemetery in Punta Arenas.

There will be more penguins. I promise.

Growlers and brash ice

At times we sailed right through the sea of ice. (Later, in Cierva Cove, we sailed through similar ice in zodiacs.)

Sea ice

There's a lexicon to describe icebergs -- small ones are called “bergy bits,” and even smaller ones -- floating three feet above the water -- are called “growlers.” This blue carpet in the Lemaire Channel consisted of even smaller pieces, so-called brash ice, and maybe a few million Slushies.

That's a seal lounging on the floe in the foreground.

Into the mystic

Mountains in the sun

Not that the mountains glistening in the sun weren't beautiful. They were.

As you can clearly see.

Lemaire Channel

After spending a night near the entrance, we finally sailed the Lemaire one day before lunch. The channel is a narrow strait between the Antarctic mainland and Booth Island, and the towering mountains on both sides made it feel like one of the fjords, with fewer waterfalls and more icebergs. (Plus some very powerful winds.)

It's on every Antarctic itinerary, but at first it did seem to me to be nothing I hadn't seen before -- beautiful mountains covered in snow, icebergs, some of them adorned with seals.

But the sun was behind us, and as we sailed towards the cloud-draped mountains in the distance, the scenery shifted away from pretty fjord-like mountains into something uniquely Antarctic.

More morning mountains

I like the picture from both angles so here they are twice.

Ice in the sunlight

We did see the sun, but not often, and in the changeable polar climate, never for very long. But it's interesting that icebergs are much more beautiful when the sky is overcast -- that's when they seem to glow from within, and you get those amazing blues.

In the sun, all of the ice is mostly white, with a blue cast. (Picture taken near the Lemaire Channel.)

Saturday reflections

Here I am, standing on the stern deck, reflected in the window to the lounge, with the ship and the Lemaire Channel mountains in the background. We sailed through the channel one afternoon before lunch, and most of us were out on the decks taking pictures the entire time, despite chilly temperatures and gale-force winds. I took this photo as a lark because it was a fun reflection, and I'd already taken many standard pictures of the amazing landscapes around us.

And this picture ended up winning a prize in the end of the voyage photography competition.

Much to my surprise. When you go somewhere as ridiculously picturesque as Antarctica, there's bound to be big interest in photography. We had many serious, highly-skilled photographers in the group, and several presentations on composition and technique from the ship's photographer. The competition had four categories: animals, humans, classic composition, and creative vision, and when I saw some of the other entries people had uploaded, technically stunning captures of wildlife and landscape, I almost chickened out on entering at all.

But no one else thought to see Antarctica as a reflection, and though it felt a little like a cheat -- this is easy, this is what I do -- you could definitely call it my creative vision, and that's the category I won. (I was also a finalist in the human category, and I'll post that picture next.)

I don't think I'll ever be able to get wildlife pictures like the ones some of my fellow travelers got -- sharp and detailed and beautifully composed -- but maybe that's all right. My strengths clearly lie elsewhere.

Antarctic morning

One more, and then I have to pack and vacate my hotel room. This was taken from the ship, early in the morning near the Lemaire Channel.