Day 14 : Port Charcot

Today we land at one of the most important site of the Commandant Charcot first expedition in 1903. The weather today is Antarctica weather, cold, windy, grey.

Arriving at Port Charcot is like stepping back in time. This is such a special site in the history of Polar Exploration. Port Charcot is a small bay at the north end of Booth Island. Booth Island was first mapped in 1904 when the French Antarctic expedition led by Jean-Baptise Charcot over-wintered here between 1903-1905, onboard his ship "Le Français". Le Francais will have to stop its mission in January 1905 because of hitting a rock in the water, but will made it safely back to Patagonia in March 1905.

The above picture is the most symbolic shot of this entire trip.

We hiked to the top of the hill where the Cairn erected by the team of Commandant Charcot in 1904 is still there, overlooking the cove where "Le Francais" spent the winter. A cairn is a like a small vault made of stone, where explorers used to store scientific samples, data records and others discoveries, just in case their expedition would not come back safely...other explorers could find them and bring them back. It's great to be able to see it and stand in front.

Also...today is very cold, I think even the penguins are cold. It's Antarctica.

And, we get to see the Chinstrap Penguin with a back stripe on its neck.

After a short navigation we arrive in the Girard Bay, and the weather has cleared up a bit.

On your way we cross some spectacular icebergs, and the ship has to navigate in between them with care.

There is no landing point in the bay so we use the zodiac to wander across the icebergs and ice floes, looking for wildlife.

End of the day, we are now close to leaving Antarctica.

Below is one of the gate to Antarctica: the famous Canal Lemaire. We now have 2 more days at sea in front of us, before we reach Ushuaia. The Drake Passage and the Cap Horn are in between.