Desolation Island, Edinburgh Hill and Half Moon Island

Waking up the land is gone again – as if we have anchored on the Drake. At 06:00 it is so foggy that we can´t see anything but water around us. Luckily it clears up while we are having breakfast – a festive after Drake breakfast, fried eggs and all.Our first landing is at Desolation island – named after it´s appearance; Desolate. Since the surrounding areas are rocky and not very well charted, we are one of the few ships that ever come here. On the landing site we meet our first penguins – chinstrap penguins, as well as fur seals and elephant seals. As the island was used in the early whaling days we find many whale bones – that have obviously been here for a long time. Moss is growing in every sheltered part of the bones, and weathered by the sun and snow the material resembles wood. We spent the morning walking between the moss and the wildlife – listening to vocalizing weddell seals and collecting all the trash we can find. Since the north side of the island is exposed to the Drake, we do find some plastic and ropes on the shore.From Desolation island we head South through mc Farlane strait, between Livingston island in the West and Greenwich island in the east. At one point we are doing about 11 knots, helped by the strong current whch appears in this relatively narrow strait when the tides change. In this way we approach Edinburgh hill – a knob of hexagonal basalt columns rising up from the ocean to a hight of 150 meter. Many take the moment to climb up in the mast or to be out on the bowsprit.From Edingburh Hill we continue to Half Moon Island – named that way because of it´s cresent shape. The island is quite small and inhabited mostly by chinstrap penguins, several gentoos and a lonely macaroni. We land on a small beach with a wooden whaling boat. After we follow a narrow path – very similar to and easily confused with the penguin highway, which is just next to it. We walk almost to the end of the island, climbing up a little to look out over the chinstrap colony. And in deed finding the rather odd or old looking macaroni. As it is getting a little more dark, we are walking back to the ship to make it in time back on board. It seems a strange concept that places 'close' in Antarctica – but between 22:00 and 04:00 sites are actually closed to allow wildlife a period off rest. During our landing the wind has picked up a little and the zodiac ride back is rather wild – getting into the drifting boat is a challenge, but we all manage to get back on board.Not long after a cloud of perfume follows us. The perfume is brought by 7 young man from the Argentinian Cámara Research station. They are fixing the place before the researchers come and have been invited on board to have a look around. They stay until late, leaving a track of stories and smiles. And perfume.