On our final day in Antartica we got the opportunity to kayak in a beautiful protected cove by the shore of Cuverville island. We saw a humpback from the ship before we got into the kayaks so we weren’t surprised to see one from the kayaks but after it was sleeping at the surface for quite a while it came up within 10 yards of us and a group of kayaks with us.
The cove had a small penguin colony as well as some gorgeous ice formations and very active glaciers that could be heard cracking and calving while we kayaked.
After the kayaking the ship was repositioned so that we had another opportunity for hiking at Neko Harbor on the Antarctic continent proper. The beach was in an area where the drop off from shore was dramatic and deep to the point that our ship could actually put his bow right into the beach and keep the ship in place using the Azipod positioning system. We still had to take a short zodiac ride to the beach but it was interesting to see the capabilities of this ship. They repositioned several times as ice built up against the port side of the ship to allow for safe zodiac loading and unloading.
We went into the beach and hiked up in the snow to a viewpoint above the harbor and above the Gentoo penguin colony.
After we hiked back down we returned to the ship to take pictures of the spot that we hiked up to for some perspective.
Today was our last day of landings in our voyage. This evening we start the trip back to South America and the end of the voyage part of our trip. We will be at sea in the Drake passage for the next 2 days with rough seas and little to see outside of the boat but there are lectures and presentations throughout the days. Once we arrive back in Ushuaia we will fly to Buenos Aires, and then on to Iguazu falls for 3 days and then home. The voyage on the NG Endurance was truly the trip of a lifetime. It was spectacular and so interesting and it's impossible to describe in pictures or words. We would highly recommend this expedition to anyone.