We departed Hidden Bay in the evening of our third full day in Antarctica, our captain telling us he had a real treat in store for us. While it was still early in the season — just late spring — the ice in the Lemaire Channel had cleared and our ship would be able to pass through.
The Lemaire Channel is probably the most photographed part of Antarctica and is on many travel itineraries to the region. It is beautiful and because of its photogenic nature has been nicknamed, ‘Kodak Gap’. This channel is 7 miles in length, about a mile wide, and surrounded by steep cliffs and glaciers. It flows between the Antarctic mainland and Booth Island.
The Lemaire Channel was discovered by a German expedition in the 1870’s but was first traversed by the Belgians in 1898, who named it after another Belgian explorer – Charles Lemaire who led an expedition to the Congo.
The late day scenery in Lemaire Channel was lovely. The water was still, with beautiful reflections. It took almost an hour to sail through and I think all the passengers and many of the staff were on deck, enjoying the scenery.
I conclude this post with a short videoclip of our travel in the LeMaire Channel.
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Spectacular photos. What was the air temperature on this beautiful sunny day?
Daytime temps were just below freezing point, but in the evening when these photos were taken it was probably 20F (-5C), with cool wind gusts at times. Not bad considering where we were at.