Danko Island, the Lemaire Channel, and Christmas Eve in Antarctica

Gentoo penguins on Danko Island

Another early morning wakeup for our second day in Antarctica, and a zodiac ride to Danko Island. We watched thousands of Gentoo penguins running up and down their penguin highways, worn tracks in the snow that they refuse to move off of. Nesting protecting their eggs, backs turned against the wind with that particular penguin stubbornness that never really stops being funny.

The real showstopper came in the afternoon, when we sailed through the Lemaire Channel. It might be the single most beautiful place I have ever been. Snowcapped cliffs rise more than a thousand meters straight up on either side, close enough that the ship felt small against them, and we got lucky with a clear, sunny day for the crossing.

Hello Ponant

It's also narrow enough that it turns into one of the best ship-spotting stretches in Antarctica, which I did not see coming. Anyone who knows me knows I love spotting other ships on a cruise almost as much as I love being on one, and I had no idea Antarctica would turn into one of the best places on earth to do it. We passed Ponant, both Scenic ships, and at one point a National Geographic/Lindblad ship, all in the same afternoon.

That night was Christmas Eve. I hung stockings in our suite, on a ship, in Antarctica, a sentence I still can't quite get over no matter how many times I say it. Later we headed to the lounge for a Christmas carol sing-along led by our Cruise Director Olivia. There's something genuinely strange and wonderful about singing "Silent Night" surrounded by people from a dozen different countries, all of us somewhere near the bottom of the world together.

Xmas Stockings for myself, my husband and our cat.