Video of our sailing through the Lemaire Channel:

And cruising around our zodiacs afterwards:

 

We woke up the next morning near the British-operated Fort Lockroy. There we got the much-coveted passport stamps for Antarctica:

 

We also finally saw our first sunlight in days:

 

 

Everytime we thought we saw something pretty, something else would catch our attention:

 

Icebergs, sea ice, pack ice — in shapes of every imaginable form:

 

We sounded the blowhorn to nearby ships just to say hi: 

 

And we kept sailing north:

 

We then landed at Paradise Harbor of the main Antarctic continent, where we hiked up to its highest point:

 

Took in the views:

Paradise Harbor just got served

 
 





Most of us chose to slide — or sled (if you brought a plastic garbage bag) — down afterwards:

 

Witnessed epic avalanches and glaciers calving:

 

And cruised around in our zodiacs in the harbor:

 

We were treated to an outdoor subzero BBQ on the ship’s deck upon our return:

 

But to put a bizarre twist to the celebrations, the Chinese side of the ship asked me to write American wedding vows for a Chinese mainlander couple who wanted to get married on the ship’s deck, with the vows delivered by our Russian captain.

It was pretty weird:

 

Our group then caught the bouquet, apparently to the Chinese passengers’ dismay:

 

 

And with said bouquet, posed for more group photos after the BBQ-Wedding Ceremony:

 

That night, we got even weirder at the bar when the rest of the ship went to sleep:

And speaking of NSFW, the next day we do the polar plunge (aka skinny dipping)…you have been doubly warned!

- At time of posting in Paradise Harbor, it was n/a -

Humidity: n/a | Wind Speed: n/a | Cloud Cover: partly cloudy