The M/V Plancius is a basecamp, from which everyday activities set off. Once each morning and once each afternoon the zodiacs get ready to take people on various adventures.
Myself, I had signed up for all included activities, missing out only on the diving (which would have cost extra, and I would have had to lug my equipment half across the world, and I would have had to buy equipment, and I would have had to take a course in dry suit diving).
But yes, zodiacs brought us ashore on Danco Island, and through the guidance of professional photographer Dan, penguins and icebergs were caught on film. Or, you know, SD-cards. I like to think that composition, exposure and whitebalance was flawless.
Next up on the activities menu was snowshoeing. Basically, if you can walk, you can snowshoe. And reaching the better viewpoints is just so much easier when you can be all legolassing on top of the everchanging snow than sliding about in your gumboots. Sitting on top of a snowridge, with astonishing views of glaciers, mountains and the clear-blue ocean, in complete and utter silence, is something I'll recommend to any and all.
Although most of the nights were spent on board, a unique opportunity arose the very first night in Antarctica proper: To spend a night camping on land. Clearly I took the chance, and with the gear provided (bivvybag, two sleeping mats, sleeping bag and liner) it was in no way cold. Anchoring the tents with chunks of snow, preventing it from flapping in the wind, actually made for a night's real good sleep, quite different from the snorapalooza usually provided by one of my cabin-mates. I admit however that it didn't feel exactly like camping: Due to heavy regulations no food and alcohol was to be brought on shore, and any and all waste (including, but not limited to, whatever waste the human body may produce) needed to be taken back to the ship. Is it then really camping if there is no beer, bonfire, barbecued hot dogs, some douche playing Sweet Home California on guitar and midnightly pee-visits to a reasonably distant tree? Yes. Yes it is, for on Antarcticta all you thought you knew is out the window and recreated in its own, unique manner.
Safely returned on board, there were no reason to just hang about; new shores to land on, new challenges to meet, new activities to partake in.
The seasoned mountineer can spend full days mastering the glaciers and cliffs of Antarctica. The less so can at least get their crampons on, harness themselves through professional guidance and, as I did, abseil away on the icy slopes. One of the more useful skills when ice-climbing is knowing how to stop when you uncontrollably slide downhill on butt or belly. We were therefore taught some of the techniques used, with or without ice-pick, and it was good fun.
One of the more laid-back activities to be done is zodiac cruising. It's an excellent way of getting another perspective on the ice, the wildlife and the icebergs. The crew were as adept at steering the zodiacs as they were at relating interesting tidbits about seals, calving and trapped airbubbles. For instance, the almost other-worldly cobolt-blue-turquoise colour that defines so many icebergs, is caused by the many tiny airbubbles trapped in the ice, and then compressed into an ovaline form, thus refracting the light in a certain manner. And that is why any Antarctic bay looks like some giant has spread huge blobs of toothpaste upon its waters.
As the clouds rose and the wind increased, it seemed a while that I would miss out on the perhaps most looked-forward-to activity. But through the skill of the captain and the knowledge of the expedition leader we found calmer waters, and the sky cleared up. We geared up in wetsuits, sunscreen and sprayskirts and waddled into the kayaks. Closer to the Antarctic waters is hard to get without actually getting wet. The tranquillity is unrivalled. We paddled around icebergs and islands, on grease-ice and through chunks of sea-ice. We paddled round New Idaho, and the calm and quiet was a highlight of the trip.
So, in addition to regular shore landings with just hanging with the penguins, M/V Plancius is indeed a basecamp, full of activities.
To summarize: In Antarctica, we did a bunch of cool activities, including snowshoeing, photo workshops, camping, mountaineering and kayaking.
Fun factoid: On board were a large group of Chinese travellers. After having camped on a hitherto unnamed island, and not having quite understood the concept of peeing in a bottle, the island is now named Nieve Amarilla.
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