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Antarctica's Amazing Danco Island! 1) The Scenery

 

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.

01 Danco Island Scenery

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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.

07 Danco Island Scenery

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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.

11 Danco Island Scenery

12 Danco Island Scenery(an unusual rectangular iceberg)

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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,

06 Danco Island Scenery(Zodiac departing Danco island)

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The area is home to a large number of Gentoo penguins which we visited (more on that visit soon).

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I found the following cloud formation to be rather unusual....

23 Danco Island Scenery

The following photo is one of my favorites from this trip, and an introduction to the Gento penguins of Danco Island.

24 Danco Island Scenery

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For a list of all the posts in DrFumblefinger's Antarctica series, please click on this link:

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Twitter: @DrFumblefinger

"We do not take a trip, a trip takes us".  John Steinbeck, from Travels with Charlie

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