MARE AUSTRALIS CRUISE- Continued
Our second disembarkation was for a boat ride around Tucker Island. Here we were supposed to see cormorants, penguins, and other wildlife. We weren't disappointed.
Here we have two different varieties of cormorants. The pair on the right have completely black necks and red eyes. The birds on the left have white necks. Both varieties are are known for the fish catching expertise.
Below we have a colony of Magellan penguins. These penguins are larger than the Galapagos penguins but smaller than the Emperor penguins that are found in Antartica.
The next disembarkation was to the Pia Glacier. This was our first close-up view of a glacier and it was amazing. While we were there, a number of pieces fell off the face of the glacier. It sounded like thunder. One piece was so large that it caused a considerable amount of wave action. Below is our first view of the Pia Glacier. Look at the size of the face on this mass of ice. This was our first close encounter with a glacier and it was awesome. I'm glad we saw this one first as the glaciers we saw later in El Calafate were enormous and made this one look far less significant;.
Below left is a view of the Pia Glacier from above. Now you can see how far back the ice goes. The picture below right shows some of the icebergs that were floating in the bay and obstructing our passage. Once again, I was glad we saw these first as the icebergs we saw later in El Calafate were the size of LARGE buildings. Pictures of those can be seen in the El Calafate section.
And then there is the great antarctic explorer, outfitted and ready for the wild expanse of Southern Chile.
Our fourth disembarkation was onto the island of Hornos. This is the famous Cape Horn. The picture below left shows the landing area and the steps we had to walk up to get to the area of the monument,, the lighthouse and the keeper's quarters. The picture on the right shows the path to the monument.
The monument is a beautiful, large, modern sculpture. Here are two views - one with the fearless, antarctic explorer taking a much needed rest after scaling the heights at the bottom of the planet.
Although we were able to go to the monument, the actual Cape Horn is a short ways off. It is the peak seen on the other side of the inlet.
