Day two in Antarctica began with Deception Island. Visitors are no longer allowed to dig their own hot tubs in the volcanic sand, but I could still happily have spent several days here: touring the bay, visiting the remnants of the whaling days, and (the one I chose in the end) going for a hike over the caldera rim to a colony of Chinstrap Penguins.
The hike was billed as “very difficult”, which I suspect took into account the average Fram passenger being over 65, overweight, and over-confident. We made it even easier for ourselves by not climbing down to the colony, but sliding instead:
The colony, at Baily Head, is one of the largest chinstrap colonies around, but unfortunately numbers are in steep decline here due to climate change. The locals were in lively form, however, courting:
thieving:
and squabbling:
Each nest is surrounded by radiating jets of poo, which the penguins emit with impressive force. Green jets contain bile, and red ones krill. The overall effect is rather like a Pollock:
After the walk, there was just time for either a swim in the freezing water, or a look at the rusting Hektor whaling station. I opted for the latter:
I’m enjoying reading about all this, but I wouldn’t fancy doing it myself!