Port Lockroy/Danco Island: 64.5° S, 63.3° W; -2° C (30° F)   Sunrise:  03:30   Sunset:  23:05

Our final day in Antarctica, and what a day.  We visited Port Lockroy, a British Cultural Heritage site that began life during WW2 as a listening post for German shipping movements.  They found none –  no surprise. 

Thus the post was reconfigured for civilian use where scientists conducted experiments in sending radio signals, but the station was abandoned and fell into disrepair in 1964. It was been recently restored and is now a museum with a small gift shop and a post office.  Four young Brits staff this post for five months of the year.  They greet expedition ships – at high season now, they may see a ship every day.  They have no running water – they shower every 7-10 days! – and only a small generator for power.  I hope they are well paid!  Since this is Great Britain, Port Lockroy’s mail is shipped to the Falkland Islands then flown to England, then sent on to its destination – even if the destination is relatively nearby Ushuaia!  Ahhh, memories of the Navigation Acts!

When Port Lockroy was an active outpost, provisions were brought in at the beginning of the season.  Fresh food was quickly consumed, and the scientists’ diet consisted of dried and tinned food – and penguin!  Our expedition’s video chronicler caught Shirley in the post’s kitchen inspecting the tinned goods still on the shelf and the cookbook on the counter.   I look forward to viewing Shirley’s performance when we eventually receive the expedition video!

Outside the post is a sizeable colony of Gentoos mixed with a population of blue-eyed shags.  It often takes the eye a moment to differentiate between the two!  Snowy sheathbills nest under the post’s main building, making Port Lockroy a busy wildlife place.

After lunch the clouds lifted and we sailed a short distance to Danco Island in a small scenic bay.  The winds were light enough for kayaking; Shirley and I took off for a tour of the bay. From our sea-level position we saw some of our colleagues hiking to the top of a substantial hill.  What we couldn’t see was that this part of the hike was only the first half.  Look closely at the photo and you will see little orange-jacketed figures making their way up the hill.

So it seemed like a good idea at the time to join the other hikers.  And in spite of the significant challenge it presented, it turned out to be indeed a good idea.  The view was breathtaking!  Here we are at the top of the bottom of the world.

Our daily program included the following quotation from Fridtjof Nansen (1912):  “Strange.  There is always sadness on departure.  It is as if one cannot after all bear to leave this bleak waste of ice, glaciers, cold and toil …”  Now it is our turn to leave.  The sunset as we sail north toward the Drake Passage lit the mountains with a golden glow, and killer whales put on a final show for us.