After a beautiful clear day at Fournier Bay, the Viking Octantis repositioned overnight as we were sleeping. In the morning we found ourselves near Danko Island, a rugged and beautiful spot.
Danco Island is in the southern part of scenic Errara Channel. It’s a small island (about 1.6 km x 180m) which was first charted in 1898. The island was named for Lieutenant Émile Danco, a Belgian geologist who died in Antartica while his ship was trapped in the ice. The Danco Coast is the northwestern section of the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, between 64 ° and 65 ° south latitude.
Danko island is surrounded by the rugged beauty of the Errera Channel — mountains, glaciers, thousands of icebergs, lots of seals, Gentoo penguins and whales. This makes for great scenic Zodiac and ship cruising. The weather was a little cooler than the day before, but still very nice and the scenery was pure, raw Antarctica, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
(an unusual rectangular iceberg)
We visited in late spring. After the ice has melted some towards the end of summer, the opportunity to hike to the summit Danco island is an option. But during our visit, it was quite icy and slippery on Danko. We landed on the island and worked our way up part of its slope, but it was dangerous,
(Zodiac departing Danco island)
The area is home to a large number of Gentoo penguins which we visited (more on that visit soon).
I found the following cloud formation to be rather unusual….
The following photo is one of my favorites from this trip, and an introduction to the Gento penguins of Danco Island.
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Fabulous shots!
Brilliant photos. It is so beautiful there! Viking is a fantastic cruise line too!
Oddly, I’d only recently read the account of the Belgica expedition, of which Danko was a member. (Madhouse at the End of the Earth by Julian Sancton). Amundsen appears to have been one of the first ppl ever to climb the island’s peak.
Great photos — and amazing ice flows and shapes!