Day 4 : Mikkelsen Harbour and Curtiss Bay
The ship has sailed into the white continent.
I woke up at ~5+am, peeped out of the window and realised that the landscape has changed significantly since sailing from Barrientos Island. As I walked to the bridge on Deck 8, I was thrilled by the new landscape before my eyes: icebergs and ice/snow blanketed the land in white!
The morning’s activities were shore landing on Mikkelsen Harbor and zodiac cruising. I had felt the harshness of the deep cold during the shore excursion on Cecilia Island the day before, thus I wore an ultra-light down jacket(the last of my layered attire) as an extra layer, in addition to those I wore the day before. I hurried to the mudroom to get ready for the zodiac embarkation.
The morning’s activities were shore landing on Mikkelsen Harbor and zodiac cruising. I had felt the harshness of the deep cold during the shore excursion on Cecilia Island the day before, thus I wore an ultra-light down jacket(the last of my layered attire) as an extra layer, in addition to those I wore the day before. I hurried to the mudroom to get ready for the zodiac embarkation.
Before we boarded the zodiac, we were reminded to 'slide' along the side of zodiac, and not to walk on it.
<There must be many who forgot about the drill, including me?!>
I was absolutely excited when we landed at Mikkelsen Habour's pebbly beach. The stark white of the snow covered landscape with glaciers along the slope of the mountains, and icebergs floating by was truly surreal and breathtaking. There were a few penguins on the beach and in the water to welcome us... haha.
Mikkelsen Harbour is a small bay on the south of Trinity Island. It used to be a whaling station. Now, it serves as an Argentinian emergency station on the island.
<There must be many who forgot about the drill, including me?!>
Mikkelsen Harbour
I was absolutely excited when we landed at Mikkelsen Habour's pebbly beach. The stark white of the snow covered landscape with glaciers along the slope of the mountains, and icebergs floating by was truly surreal and breathtaking. There were a few penguins on the beach and in the water to welcome us... haha.
Mikkelsen Harbour is a small bay on the south of Trinity Island. It used to be a whaling station. Now, it serves as an Argentinian emergency station on the island.
I was greeted with the sight of a remnant of a whale carcass and a shipwreck, and the ever ubiquitous penguins doting the landscape. The EC had set up a designated walking path along the beach leading to the Argentine Emergency Station. 
I was utterly awed by the sights as I followed the trail - a lazy seal lay by several large, jagged chunks of ice, which seemed only to emphasize its soft and cute appearance. Penguins were scattered everywhere, while other bird flew about, sheathbill*(the white birds) resting on the rocks and jagged blocks of ice that formed almost an intricate puzzle leading from the water to the shore. 
The penguins never failed to amaze and amuse me. Other than taking photos of them, it was also entertaining to simply stand by and observe them in action :).
After an hour, we changed with the other groups to do our zodiac cruising. The landscape was stunning as we approached the wall of ice on the land in the zodiac.
The zodiac weaved through the myriad mini-icebergs that dotted the sea. 
Some were towering and vertical, while others looked small and solitary. They were all of irregular shape and came in all sizes, each with a seemingly unique character to it, perhaps because of their almost clean-cut surface features that gave them sort of an artistic quality. 
The somewhat otherworldly atmosphere was probably heightened by the extreme chilliness (especially when the wind blew). After about an hour on the zodiac, we returned to the ship. I had to 'defrost' myself with a cup of hot coffee and a cookie before a hearty lunch, all the while in anticipation for another zodiac cruise at Curtiss Bay in the afternoon.
I was utterly awed by the sights as I followed the trail - a lazy seal lay by several large, jagged chunks of ice, which seemed only to emphasize its soft and cute appearance. Penguins were scattered everywhere, while other bird flew about, sheathbill*(the white birds) resting on the rocks and jagged blocks of ice that formed almost an intricate puzzle leading from the water to the shore. The penguins never failed to amaze and amuse me. Other than taking photos of them, it was also entertaining to simply stand by and observe them in action :).After an hour, we changed with the other groups to do our zodiac cruising. The landscape was stunning as we approached the wall of ice on the land in the zodiac.
The zodiac weaved through the myriad mini-icebergs that dotted the sea. Some were towering and vertical, while others looked small and solitary. They were all of irregular shape and came in all sizes, each with a seemingly unique character to it, perhaps because of their almost clean-cut surface features that gave them sort of an artistic quality. The somewhat otherworldly atmosphere was probably heightened by the extreme chilliness (especially when the wind blew). After about an hour on the zodiac, we returned to the ship. I had to 'defrost' myself with a cup of hot coffee and a cookie before a hearty lunch, all the while in anticipation for another zodiac cruise at Curtiss Bay in the afternoon. Curtiss Bay Zodiac Cruising
The weather was gloomy and there was light drizzle when we were 'launched' into the sea in our zodiac.
While now tinted with grey, the landscape was still mesmerizing, retaining an air of surreality. We were greeted with more uniquely shaped structures of ice that had an almost otherworldly look against the gloomy weather. There was also a whale?(*humpback whale) that swam silently pass us <i did not notice it until I looked through my photo>?
We spotted a seal on a small piece of ice and many were quick to take photos of it. Even with limited wildlife, i believe most still took a lot of photographs.
As the waves weren't rough, some of the zodiacs (fortunately this included mine) could stop along a small rocky landing which we excitedly clambered onto.
Set foot on Antarctica
Stepping foot on this small landing** was of great significant to many people because it meant that they had taken their first steps onto the Anarctica Peninsula, and by extension, the continent of Antartica.
After a while, we took the zodiac back to the ship, disembarked, and I warmed myself up with a decaffeinated coffee and cookies, washed-up, debriefed, had dinner, then took a walk around the ship before heading back to the cabin for the night.
<* Thanks Jade(bird expert) for the name of the bird and the whale>
<** I was surprised that people had such detailed information or motivation to land on the Antarctica Continent or I have too little prior knowledge? Anyway, we missed our landing on Esperanza the next day, and thus this was really the only landing on the Continent. I was fortunate to be on the zodiac with those who had wanted to do the landing :)...>
Map of locations for Day 1-4 and the daily program of 5th March
Previous day:
The next day:
Wikipedia: Antarctic_Peninsula
National Snow and Ice Data Center: Quick Facts on Icebergs
Wikipedia : Mikkelsen Harbour
Wikipedia : Curtiss Bay