In the afternoon we land at Telefon Bay on Deception Island. The island is the largest of three active volcanic centres in the South Shetlands. The last eruptions here were in 1970, 1969, 1967 and 1956.
We enter the large ring-shaped island, which is nine miles in diameter, by boat through the narrow entrance referred to as Neptune´s Bellows. Inside the caldera of the ancient (collapsed) volcano is the large harbour of Port Foster. Inside the caldera I can only see a ridge of snow-capped mountains surrounding us. It's a desolate place with no signs of life.
I climb to the highest point, Mount Pond (600m) and overlook the crater which is now filled with water and basalt flows. It´s windy and snowing and on the way back to the zodiac we´re forced to toboggan down a bank of snow.
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