Antarctica

We were very lucky with weather in Antarctica.  The first day was sunny with calm seas, the second was overcast and a little misty, which made everything look ethereal.  The third day was typical summer weather here, heavy fog, a snow storm (see Playing in the Snow) and rough water.
  Antarctica is amazing, and I actually don't have the words to describe it.  I've been to Alaska and saw icebergs in Newfoundland, but neither comes close to the sheer overpowering nature of this southern part of the planet.  Even photos don't really show it, but they're the best I have.  Here goes:

 

  

  

It's hard for you to tell the scale in the pictures, so I though this might help.  It looks as if the ship is about to ram to shore, but we're actually at least a half mile off, here.

 

  

  

  

Icebergs are frequent and come in all shapes and sizes.  Often they carry passengers, seals and penguins.  There was one that looked a lot like a cruise ship, and there were penguins standing out on all the decks and balconies.  I wondered how the passengers got on board the bergs.  Did they swim to them, or were they standing on what they thought was solid land which then broke off?

 

This is a penguin colony.  I can't remember what type of penguins these are, but will fill in that info later.