Hanseatic inspiration - Grand Expedition Antarctica (2025): Part 6 (Yankee Harbour to Ushuaia)

After leaving the Weddell Sea, we returned via the Antarctic Sound and continued on to Yankee Harbour on Greenwich Island (one of the South Shetlands). It is home to a small gentoo penguin colony and a group of elephant seals.
In the afternoon, we visited Deception Island (also part of the South Shetland Islands) - a volcano whose caldera can be entered by ship through a narrow passage. We anchored at Pendulum Cove, where some fellow passengers went for a swim. The hills near the shore offer great views of the caldera.
The next morning, we arrived at Paradise Bay, with initial fog followed by blue skies. The zodiac cruise was simply spectactular, including a champaign bar at sea.
We then headed for the Lemaire Channel, with increasing partial fog. Shortly after setting sail, two large schools of Orcas appeared very close to the ship and could not be bothered by us. We also saw two further types of seals (crabeater and sea leopard).
We could not enter the Lemaire Channel due to an iceberg (and too much fog by then). The captain therefore turned around at this southernmost point of our trip (65° 02' S).
Over night, we anchored in the Neumayer Channel (where some passengers camped on land). A mink whale visited my balcony in the early morning hours of the next morning. We visited Damoy Point on Wiencke Island, where a British shelter hut could be visited, but also a large group of gentoo penguins with chicks.
After leaving the Neumayer Channel, we crossed the Gerlache Strait and entered Andvord Bay, where we anchored at Neko Harbour. This was the final landing, but also the first one on the mainland of Antarctica, so special in many ways. After a short hike, one enjoys a phantastic view of the bay and the adjacent glacier. There is another gentoo penguin colony there.
We subsequently started our return trip via the Errera Channel and entered the Drake Passage that same night. It was Drake Lake for both days of the passage, so we reached the Beagle Channel prematurely in the late afternoon of the second day, which is why we returned to Ushuaia already on the 27th of January (rather than the 28th as scheduled). We returned to Buenos Aires from there with another charter flight.

00:00 Yankee Harbour
02:07 Deception Island
06:02 Paradise Bay
10:37 Orcas
12:48 Lemaire Channel
13:20 Neumayer Channel
13:55 Damoy Point
15:37 Neko Harbour
18:56 Errera Channel
20:46 Drake Passage
21:04 Beagle Channel
21:48 Ushuaia