The snow covered island sports towering
cliffs, large glaciers but also secluded bays like Port Lockroy.
The
team
was forced to spend winter in the area as their ship the Belgica got stuck in the ice. During the
long polar night they suffered from hypothermia, famine and scurvy.
One Belgian had enough and staggered off to
walk back to Anvers. But sofar he has not yet shown up.
At the end of the next summer the crew dynamited a channel
through the ice to finally get to open waters and sail back to the civilized world.
De Gerlache named Wiencke Island to
honor an unlucky Norwegian crew member who went overboard.
This part of Antarctica is frequently visited by cruise
ships because of the majestic natural sceneries and the relative ease of access.