These are photos taken while sailing through the Gerlache Strait and the Lemaire Canal, after exploring several islands in the Falklands archipelago, South Georgia and Elephant Island – a journey in hommage to my hero Sir Ernest Shackleton.
On the return voyage through the Drake Passage towards Cape Horn we passed various spectacular Antarctic islands like Livingston and Deception island in the Shetland group. The last glimpse of Antarctica was of Smith Island.
The photo in the banner of my webblog was taken during a sunset in the Drake Passage, sailing away from the South Shetland islands.
Awesome silence and an overwhelming feeling of solitude strikes me as our vessel enters the ice-pack of the legendary 
Gerlache Strait. The snowpeaks of Liège Island, Brabant Island and Anvers Islands are slowly appearing on the starboard side. We are sailing down the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula. The strait was discovered and named by the Belgian explorer Adrien de Gerlache, leader of the Belgica Expedition (1897-99). His vessel ‘Belgica’ got stuck in pack-ice in the Bellingshausen Sea (at 71°22′S) and was forced to spend the winter of 1898 in Antarctic ice – an absolute first at the time. With great difficulty the team was able to cut the ship free from the icepack, to escape from having to spend a second winter there, and face certain death. Frederick Cook and Roald Amundsen were part of the crew of this epic polar exploration. The scientific data gathered by the various scientists on board were of great value to subsequent South Pole explorations.
Sea chart showing the entrance to the Gerlache Strait, Brabant Island and Anvers Island.
In Paradise Harbour and -through the spectacular Lemaire Canal- near Pleneau Island we discover a magic world of icebergs, penguin colonies and plenty of seals. Then we headed back north to Livingston island and Deception Island – part of the South Shetlands Island group.
Entering the Lemaire Canal
In Paradise Harbour, near Pleneau Island
Chilean antarctic base Gonzalez Videla
Fur seals near Pleneau Island
Livingston Island, South Shetlands: The penguin’s most dreaded predator, a sea leopard (Hydrurga leptonyx) is lying in wait for penguins returning from forays to feed their chicks up on the rocky cliffs. Sea-leopards can devour up to 25 penguins daily.
The penguins’ main enemy, the ferocious Sea Leopard; photo shot near Pleneau Island.
Exception to the rule: a white (albino?) gentoo penguin.
Sea-chart of Deception Island, South Shetlands: the very narrow entrance, called by sailors “Neptune’s Bellows”, is tricky to negotiate because of underlying rocks on the left side. A Norwegian cruise-ship, the Nordkapp of the Hurtigruten Line, ran aground here in January 2006 and had to be escorted by a sister ship back to Ushuaia.
Sunset over the South Shetland Islands.
The voyage home had us cross the dreaded Drake Passage (which -as the saying goes is either “Drake Lake” or Drake Shake”: for our luck, was the first!). The Hanseatic was able to pause right in front of Cape Horn, where we went on land to see the albatross monument, the lighthouse and the chapel. Then it was back to Ushuaia via the Beagle Canal. The end of an unforgettable voyage. The picture above was taken at 11.30 pm. upon entering the Drake passage: it shows one of the last islands of the South Shetlands, Smith Island, appearing in an esoteric midnight light.
Albatrosses accompanied us all through the voyage.
Cape Horn rises 424m with striking cliffs on its upper parts: crossroads of three oceans, and throughout history a marine cemetery. This is the headland that sailors shun. Over 800 shipwrecks lie on the ocean floor around the cape. Cape Horn was discovered in January 1616 by two Dutchmen, Jakob Le Maire and Willem Schouten, sailing in the ship “EENHEID” (Unity). They named the cape after their ship HOORN, which had accidentally burned down at Puerto Deseado on the Patagonian coast. The Drake Passage is about 950 kms long. If one is fortunate , one experiences the quiet waters known as the “Drake Lake”. Otherwise one has to be prepared to experience the “Drake Shake”, which seems to be the rule.
Cape Horn: monument to the albatross. The sculpture depicts an albatross in flight, and commemorates those lost in the treacherous seas off the headland.
On a memorial stone at Cape Horn: An ode to the Albatross, the most beautiful of all sea birds.
Map of MS. HANSEATIC journey, January 2007