Antarctica: Stunning Views Atop Orne Harbor.

After a cold night of camping - and little sleep, I skipped the morning excursions in favor of sleep.

"You picked the most ideal one to skip," one of my fellow travelers informed me that afternoon. "It was just more Gentoo penguins."

"Phew!" I said. "I am so over Gentoos!"

I know that's bad of us to think. I mean, one of the big draws to going to Antarctica is to see the wildlife. But we had been very fortunate to this point, and had seen more than enough Gentoos.

So I was glad I went with sleep over going out in the cold, exhausted, to see more of the same. I mean, it wasn't even a continent stop. It was an island stop.

Anyway...

The afternoon brought us to Orne Harbor, in the Gerlache Strait.

Taken with my Google Glass.

Gorgeous scenery awaited us at the top of a very steep glacier. 

Taken with my Google Glass.

I was the second person off the zodiac and onto land. The path was a single foot-by-foot highway. Everyone who chose to ascend to the top needed at least one walking stick. The person ahead of me was freaked out by the path's steepness. He would take a few steps, then turn around and say, "Oh wow. I wasn't prepared for this."

Taken with my Google Glass.

Taken with my Google Glass.

Clearly, the penguins had no problems with the glacier's layout. Those little black specks are them.

The prefer to nest in the rocks at the top. These were exciting penguins for us to see, as they were different than any others. These were Chinstrap penguins!

After watching the penguins frolic, J. and I made our way back down the glacier. Again... A stunning view. 

Then we hopped in the zodiac with a few others, and cruised around the harbor to take advantage of a sea-level view of the beauty.

It was amazing. I tried to briefly capture it on video...

It definitely does not do it justice. I know. This was my favorite excursion, simply because we were able to capture views in the gorgeous sunshine.