On Saturday morning we got up early
04:00 to catch from Santiago to the flight to the Falklands. There
was bit of apprehension about getting to the Airport on time. We
had reserved a taxi at 05:00 which we figured would be enough time to
check in, pass security, etc. The flight was scheduled for 07:50.
The taxi did not arrive until almost 06:00 and Surilda was getting
really nervous. I was getting a little anxious also. We finally
got to the airport and found our airline check-in counter. Masses of
people were lined up and we only had an hour and a half to flight
time.
Surilda told me to get in line and she
would try electronic check in. I started in to the line and an
attendant asked me for my ticket. The Falklands check in was at a
different area so we hurried down to it and to our relief there were
only a few people in line ahead of us. We were soon checked in, past
security and to our gate. We had an hour to wait. So much for
getting upset.
The flight to the Falklands
was uneventful. We first had a stop a Punta Arenas, a Chilean city
at the tip of South America and our exit from Chile. We were required to get
off the airplane, go through immigration to have our passports
stamped and then back onto the airplane. The flight from Punta
Arenas was only about an hour in duration, so we were soon landing in
the Falklands.
Our airplane landed on a British Air
Force Base, where all incoming aircraft land (an artifact of the 1983
Falklands War between Britain and Argentina) we gathered our bags and
went through immigration. We were met by a guide service and were
taken into Stanley, the capitol and only town of the islands. We
were treated to a wonderful tour of landmarks and information about
the history, culture and the workings of the island. The Falklands
are a British Protectorate Territory with their own government and
even their own currency which is mostly symbolic and even sold in
packets as souvenirs, the main currencies used are the British Pound
and the US dollar. The entire permanent population of the islands is
around 2,400 with about 2,000 living in Stanley.
The main industry is sheep, for both
wool and meat. The wool is much renowned throughout the world. All
of the land is in private ownership, primarily by the sheep farmers
but they allow visitors to trek mostly where they want to go. Some
of the farms have been split up to accommodate private homes and
hostels so there is a budding tourist industry coming to the islands.
Trekkers have to be mindful of the minefields laid down by the
Argentinians during the war. They are all over but have all been
located and are well marked and are in the process of being cleared.
It took us about and hour to drive to
Stanley on the only main road on the islands. It connects the
airfield to the town. The Airfield was built by the British after
the war with Argentina to protect the islands against another
invasion by Argentina and hence the road. The islanders are very
grateful to the British for liberating the islands after a short
occupation by the Argentinians during the war. During our tour we
visited a wonderful memorial to the men and women that were killed
during this war and to the British military units who served in it.
There are two main islands. East and
West Falkland and many, many smaller islands all along the coasts.
There are no native trees but some conifers have been introduced.
The landscape is covered by grasses and some small flowering shrubs.
The east island, where the airfield and Stanley are located is quite
flat with a few hills, the west island has some high hills but
nothing I would call mountains. Unfortunately I had left my camera in my duffel bag and was not able to take any pictures of the Falklands.
We just about saw everything there is
to see in Stanley and finally bordered the ship at about 7:30 PM. We
were welcomed aboard by the expedition leader, Gary Miller an
American Ecologist and polar expert. We had to have a mandatory
briefing about what to do if someone falls overboard and a mandatory
lifeboat drill before we could get underway. We finally left port
about 9:00 PM although it was still very much light.
We steamed through the harbor and out
into the open sea passing the headlands and a colony of Gentoo
Penguins along a beach. The adventure of a lifetime begins. We ate
a nice dinner about 9:30 and then enjoyed meeting some of the 52
passengers. Very nice people of all different backgrounds. Most of
them our age with a few younger people. The majority of the
passengers were Aussies, but Canada, Germany, New Zealand, the UK,
Norway, Hong Kong and the US were also represented. I went up on
deck to bid goodby to solid land for a few days and see the Falklands
fall away. It was very nice to be on deck in the brisk sea air. I
had not been to sea like this since I was fifteen and went out to sea
on my dad's fishing boat for 21 days. We had three days of steaming
on the open ocean before reaching our first destination, South
Georgia Island.
I was up and about at 06:30 the next
morning. I did not see anyone else was moving about so I got a cup
of coffee (instant, to my chagrin) and read till breakfast at 08:00.
We had a staff introduction and on board they had a
naturalist/biologist, a historian, a kayak guide, the ship/guest
manager, and the chefs, all Aurora employees and except for the
expedition leader and the biologist they were all Aussies. The
ship's crew, about 24, are Russian but we did not meet any of them.
The naturalist gave a lecture on the
types and kinds of animals we might expect to see on the expedition,
including whales, seals, penguins, and birds. Later on the historian
gave the initial lecture on the Shackleton expedition and his efforts
to save his crew after their ship was crushed by ice off Antarctica.
I spent a some time up on the bridge with a number of others watching
for birds and hopefully a sighting of whales. No whales but did see
several species of Albatross including the Wandering Albatross
(supposedly the largest bird in the world), Giant Northern Petrels,
Southern Giant Petrels, several species Skuas, Antarctic Prions, and
several other species of sea birds.
We then all gathered at the bar for a
fortified punch, hors d'oevres and an introduction to the Russian
Captain, Yury, who else. We all intermingled and met some more of
our fellow passengers. We had another lovely dinner of chicken
breast wrapped in bacon, roasted potatoes, and mixed vegetables.
Several of us went back up to the bar where we all swapped lies about
ourselves. THE OLDER I GET THE BETTER I WAS. All in all a
great bunch of people with diverse backgrounds. This is going to be
a wonderful trip.
We steamed a day and a half more before
reaching South Georgia Island. As we got closer we began to see more
and more wildlife. Lots of birds, penguins, and fur seals. We also
were able to see several “blows” from whales. Our naturalist
identified them as Blue or Fin Whales due to the size and shape of
the blow. We anchored in a small bay named Elsehul at about 16:00
for our first excursion in the inflatable boats called Zodiacs. It
was not all that cold temperature wise it felt much colder due to a
stiff wind. We boarded the Zodiacs down a gangway where we were
helped on by two of the crew. It looked kind of forbidding as the
sea was quite choppy but it was no problem. We toured around the bay
seeing a lot of Fur Seals, some, in fact quite a few coming out to
greet us. They seemed quite curious. Saw a rookery of Wandering
Albatross high on one of the cliffs.
There were hundreds of both King and
Gentoo Penguins, the second and third largest species of penguins
respectively, only the Emperor Penguin is larger. We will not see
any of them as they will not be on our route of travel. Many, many
albatross, and skuas. These large birds prey on both penguin chicks
and small seal pups. Some of the King penguins were going through
their molt to get ready for the coming winter.
After touring the bay, we landed for
about an hour and were able to walk among the penguins and seals. We
had been warned that the Fur Seals could act aggressive and come at
us but we were instructed to just hold ground, shout at them and
point. They would them back down like a scolded child and look
meekly away. It was all quite fun. There were several “blubber
sausages” the elephant seal. The are quite large, even though
these were young males. They move about quite awkwardly on land as
most true seals do but are fantastic swimmers and divers in the sea.
They dive several thousand feet for a meal of squid.
On the way back to the boat, we went by
a colony of Macaroni Penguins. We could not get among them at this
stop as they like to nest on rocky shores with crashing waves. We
were back on board the Polar Pioneer by 21:00. I was very cold,
especially my feet and hands. I had learned a lesson. Next time on
sure I would dress properly. I was not alone as most everybody else
was cold.
We had a happy hour before dinner, then
dinner and we all turned in early as we were to be woken at 05:30 for
another excursion, the first of three scheduled for the next day. We
pulled anchor and steamed two hours to Right Whale Bay where again we
dropped anchor and spent the night.
Five thirty came way too early. I had
some coffee and then scrambled to get dressed for our next excursion.
We took the Zodiacs into a sandy beach, just covered with Fur Seals,
some small wallows of Elephant Seals, and thousands and thousands of
King Penguins. They were all over the place and I could not imagine
how many there really were. The naturalist said that it was in fact
a small colony by South Georgia standards.
We were allowed several hours to walk
in among the wildlife, again consisting of Fur and Elephant Seals,
and the thousands of King Penguins. It was quite a dramatic
landscape. High mountains in the interior, all covered with snow. A
wonderful water fall and along the low hills Tussock Grass, the
common native grass of the island. There are no trees on South
Georgia so when Surilda and I saw what looked like tree stumps, we
were puzzled. On closer examination we found that they were whale
vertebrae. Wow!! We also saw the jaw bone of a whale. The
naturalist speculated that it was a Right Whale carcass. I wandered
around fending off aggressive Fur Seals, which was still fun and took
a lot of pictures. Back on the ship around 09:00 we had breakfast,
weighed anchor, and headed for Prion Island.
Prion Island is a tiny speck off the
mainland where the public is able to see nesting Wandering
Albatrosses. South Georgia Island has had problems with invasive
species both plant and animal. A major invasive species is the
Norway Rat, brought in by the early mariners. It has devastated the
native bird species by preying on the eggs and chicks and these
species are all so vulnerable since they are all ground nesters due
to the lack of trees. It was instrumental in bringing the Wandering
Albatross to near extinction. A foundation mounted an extermination
program and has been largely successful and although the island had
not been completely purged of the rats, they hope to be in a few more
years. Prion Island is now rat free and therefore we were allowed to
land and view the Albatrosses. It was quite a sight. I have seen
movies of these graceful birds flying but there take-offs and
landings can be quite comical. I felt very privileged to be able to
witness this.
From Prion Island we then sailed over
to Salisbury Plain, to view a large colony of King Penguins, the
second largest on the island. There were over 60,000 nesting pairs
and with additional individuals bringing the total number of King
Penguins on the Salisbury Plain to over 250,000. Another wow. It
was unbelievable to see such numbers of animals, all squawking,
whistling, and of course smelling. Some of the nesting pairs already
had chicks hatched others were still incubating. Many thousands more
were molting their feathers, which they do once a year. While
molting they cannot swim so they just stand along a creek coming from
a nearby glacier and wait till the molt is complete. It is funny to
watch. They look like little men just standing around gabbing,
probably complaining about the weather.
We climbed a rather steep hill were we
were able to get an overlook on the nesting colony. Again, it was
just an incredible sight to see. There were also large numbers of
Fur and Elephant Seals all over the place. We had to continue to
fend off some of the more aggressive Fur Seals but that is done
easily. Back to the ship we sailed to Fortuna Bay and anchored for
the night.
The next morning we all got ready for
the Fortuna Bay to Stromness Shackleton walk. A hike over the
mountains following the last seven km of Shackleton's trek to the
Stromness Whaling station where he finally got help for his men.
We all came ashore in a light rain but
upon gaining some altitude it changed to snow. We were socked in and
therefore I could not get many pictures for which I was very
disappointed. I could see that it would have been very beautiful had
the sun been shining. We all got very wet but since it was not all
that cold, I enjoyed it the hike very much and it somewhat brought to
light what it must have been like for Shackleton and his men. We
summited the pass and were faced with a very steep decent to the
valley below. There was a fairly large snow field and our leaders
decided that we could all “Bum Slide” down it. One by one we
slid down the snowfield several hundred feet on our backsides like
little children playing on the snow. It was all great fun. All was
well. We finally reached Stromness, a collection of abandoned
buildings from the whaling era. It was off limits to us as there is
a lot of asbestosis in the buildings. We were soon back on the ship,
soaking wet, but happy. We then steamed to Hercules Bay. Later in
the day there was a Zodiac cruise around the bay. I did not
participate due to my cold and my clothes and gloves still being wet.
I did manage to get some pictures from the ship.
The next morning dawned bright and
sunny. We steamed into Grytviken, the original whaling station on
South Georgia. Built in 1904 by a Norwegian named Larsen. It is now
the seat of the South Georgia Government and the base for all
activities on the island, with a museum, housing for government
personal, research facilities, and a Post Office. I think the Post
Office is mainly symbolic and a thing for the tourists. They have
their own stamp and of course they sell postcards, etc. The mail
goes out with the tourist ships, to the Falklands, on to England and
then to its destination. They warn the it could take up to two
months for the mail to reach its destination. I passed. There are
no permanent residents on South Georgia.
We visited Shackleton's grave. He died
of a heart attack while outfitting for another Antarctic Expedition
in 1922. They were shipping his body back to England but his wife
said that he would have wanted to be buried on South Georgia. Frank
Wild's ( Shackleton's right hand man) ashes are buried just to the
left of Shackleton's grave. The other graves were those of whalers
and land crews from Grytviken and the ships that worked out of there.
Grytviken has been to some
degree restored due to its being the seat of government. Still there
are lots of decaying and rusted relics form the whaling and sealing
industries around. We were treated to a tour by a young lady from
England who is the seasonal curator of the museum. It was an intern
position and she is working on a master's degree at some university
in England. She described all aspects of the whaling industry that
had taken place there. From the killing of the whales to the
processing of the carcass. Every part of the whale was used but it
was the whale oil that was the money maker. They could process up to
25 whales a day and worked 24/7. It was a hard, smelly, dirty job
for the average worker but they stood to make enough in a season to
be able to buy a small farm or get an education back in Norway. At
one point there were six active whaling stations along the shores of
South Georgia Island. Hundreds of thousands of whales were killed
during the whaling years which ended about 1965. Grytviken is the
only one that is opened for tourists to visit.
Later on we went ashore at
Jason Harbour where I made some movies of penguins and seals to check
out that function of my camera. Fending off Fur Seals, I took a long
walk among the tussock grass mounds to do a little exploring. Back
on the boat for happy hour, supper and bed. A real beautiful, sunny
day the nicest day so far.
February 1st
dawned gray and misty. We were all up for an excursion into Gold
Harbour and another chance to see the “usual suspects”, i.e.
Elephant Seals, Fur Seals, and King Penguins, along with the other
bird life of South Georgia. There was a hike up to a ridge to view
nesting nesting Light-mantled Albatrosses. I chose not to go as the
mist was pretty thick and did not think I would be able to see
anything much. I was right and those that went were back in short
order.
I contented myself along
with the others that did not hike by just observing the animals. The
Elephant Seals that are along the beach are immature males who get
into mock battles in hopes for the day when they can become
Beachmasters, or acquire a harem during the mating season. These
battles can get serious though, as I saw some pretty deep scars on
the necks of the youngsters and several had fresh wounds. I was told
that these youngsters were about 6 to 8 years old and they have not
developed the characteristic proboscis of the mature male. I asked
how long they live and was told that the males do not generally live
beyond 12 to 13 years because of the toll of constant fighting,
wounds, and mating for a few seasons leaves them weak and vulnerable.
The ultimate tax for sex.
I took some pictures of the
King Penguin chicks molting and a few of them made real fashion
statements. A lot of the adults were incubating eggs, which they do
by placing the egg on their feet and covering them with a bulge of
fur and fat to keep the proper temperature. It is late in the season
and I was told that most of these chicks will not survive. But I
guess you gotta try. I came upon a couple that were mating and as I
approached the male jumped off the back of the female and both stood
up and looked at me like “we were not doing anything”. Probably
teenagers. I guess penguins do it for fun also.
Back to the ship for a late
breakfast while we steamed to Cooper Bay for a look at a Macaroni
Penguin Colony. We climbed a hill, again fending off the Fur Seals,
to view the colony way up in the tussock grass mounds. We could not
get real close but with my handy telephoto lens I did get a few good
pictures. Macaronis are funny, with strands of gold feathers coming
out of the tops of their heads. I was told that they were so named
because the gold feathers on the head resembled a fad in London in
the 18th century of young men wearing colorful feathers,
ribbons, etc in their hair. Since it was introduced to England by an
Italian the derisive term macaroni was applied to this fad. I was a
bit skeptical of this story but then I remembered the “Yankee
Doodle” tune we learned as kids, “stuck a feather in his cap and
called it Macaroni”. Now you know the rest of the story.
These Penguins colonize way
up in the hills at hard to get places. Not real sure why, defense I
guess but as the other penguins colonize out in the open without many
problems that does not fit. One of life's mysteries I guess. It was
not a large colony and it consisted mostly of chicks with some adults
there. Most of the adults were out feeding as the chicks were old
enough to self thermoregulate and were large enough to not be prey
for Petrels and Skuas. The bulk of the adults were “gone fishin”.
Gathering large quantities of Krill, small crustaceans, that is one
of the mainstays of life here in the Antarctic. The adults will then
come back and feed their chicks.
After viewing the
Macaroni's, we took a Zodiac tour of the Cooper Bay where we saw our
first up close Chin-strap Penguin colony. They are cute little guys
and I think my favorite. They look like they have a bicycle helmet
on the top of their heads held on by a chin-strap. They are a bit
smaller than the King, Gentoo, and Macaroni Penguins with no other
colors except black and white, not counting the pink feet. They
seemed to greet us and escort the Zodiacs in toward the shore.
We were not allowed to land
because there was a disease that devastated the colony a few years
back and they are not sure what caused it. We were content to view
from the Zodiacs and I got some nice pictures. There were a lot of
Macaronis mixed in with them and a few Kings. They all seem to get
along with out squabbling. In fact all of the animals seem to get
along nicely. Probably a lot different during the birthing season
when Skuas and Petrels are trying to make a meal out of penguin
chicks and seal pups.
Back on the ship for lunch
and we steamed to Drygalski Fjord for a ships tour of the many
glaciers that are along the steep cliffs of the narrow fjord. It was
breathtaking. There were about ten or twelve of them along the way.
We steamed close to the main glacier at the end of the fjord, the
Wristing Glacier. Again magnificent. We stayed there for a while,
had a group picture taken and hoped to see a “calving”, part of
the glacier breaking off to form an iceberg. No luck this time.
This was the last stop for South Georgia Island. We then headed out
to open Scotia Sea for our two and a half day steam to Elephant
Island. We were getting a little more rock and roll on the open sea
and several of the group were beginning to feel a little woozy.
We entertained ourselves by
catching up on sleep, relaxing, sorting pictures and writing
journals. Visiting was also a popular activity. We are continually
telling each our storied, where we come from, what we do or did,
bragging of children and grandchildren. Every one is pretty much
open and fun to get to know. The staff also kept us busy with
several lectures on the wildlife we should expect to see and the
histories of Antarctic exploration. Gary the leader gave two
excellent lectures on ice. One on fresh water ice and the other on
sea ice. Explaining the different forms of each, how they form, and
what their impact is on the environment, ocean currents, wildlife,
and of course shipping. We also had several DVD's on Shackleton, a
“Frozen Planet” series by the BBC and some movies. We also
visited the bridge and topside to get fresh air and look for whales.
There was a contest to guess
the latitude/longitude and the date and time of the first iceberg
sighting. Fabulous prizes were promised. Happy hour every night
before a wonderful dinner. All were happy and content. The evening
of the 3rd we had our “Rat Eradication Auction”. We
had, had a nice briefing on the efforts to rid South Georgia Island
of the introduced rats. They had asked up to “Adopt a Hectare”,
$145 which is about the cost of the eradication for a hectare,
approximately 1.5 acres. In addition to that the staff on board
conducted an auction where we could bid on various items, shirts,
charts, books, and other mementos, the proceeds going towards the
program.
It was quite fun. Aurora
provided free beer and sangria to help lubricate the crowd and the
bidding began. We figured that it cost about $10 to eradicate one
rat so the bidding was conducted in rats. It went on for about two
hours with a lot of laughs and a lot of beer and sangria drank. They
raised about $3000 total. Really a good time.
The next morning we arrived
a Elephant Island and Point Wild where the bulk of Shackleton's men
spent four months before being rescued. Named after Frank Wild,
Shackleton's right hand man, whom is credited for having kept the men
alive during their ordeal. We boarded the Zodiacs in hopes of
landing on the small spit of land where these men spent the four
months in a makeshift camp of two small lifeboats turned upside down.
We could not make a landing as the seas were two rough and there was
a lot of “brash” ice. We were content to motor in as close as
our pilots dared to get an idea of what the conditions were like for
these men. It must have been awful. Just a tiny spit of beach at
the base of towering cliffs and small islands to the seaward. A
noisy, smelly, colony of Chin-straps nearby and a snowfield to their
backs. I was very disappointed on not being able to land, which
would have really put a focus on what the endured. Our pilot said
that they are able to make a landing only about ten percent of the
time.
We did a Zodiac cruse of the
bay, watching the penguins and taking pictures of the ice and rough
seas. We came close to a large glacier (the source of the ice in the
bay) and watched for a while. Two minor calving events came about
while we were there. A crackling noise followed by a tremendous roar
and and the sound of splashing water. It was a very wonderful thing
to witness. Unfortunately, I was not able to capture it on camera.
After about two hours we
headed back to the Polar Pioneer. The swell was so large that it was
an adventure just getting on and off the ship to the Zodiacs. The
Zodiacs are loosely connected to the gangway by ropes to allow for
the rise and fall of the Zodiacs relative to the gangway platform.
They were dropping as much a six feet so we had to time our stepping
on and off the Zodiacs with the rise and fall of the swell. We had
to wait till the Zodiac and the gangway platform were aligned and
when the Zodiac pilot gave the word and his arm, we had to step
lively. It was a little scary and several people fell but no one was
hurt. Part of the adventure.
We steamed away from
Elephant Island toward the Antarctic Peninsular over night. Several
times during the night we felt the bumps of the ship hitting ice
flows. I awoke about 05:30 and immediately headed to the bridge.
The ship's decks were covered with a coating of snow. We were in the
middle of pack ice, a really exciting moment for me. I felt I was
truly in the Antarctic. We slowly pushed our way through, seeing
several pods of Southern Right Whales, some penguins, and several
Leopard Seals, a first for me. We watched a Leopard Seal sleeping on
an ice flow next to two Adele Penguins. I guess he was not hungry.
We were supposed to have a
three stop day, starting with a place called Brown Bluff early in the
morning. I would be our first actual stepping on the Antarctic
Continent but alas it was not to be. We were to approach Brown Bluff
through a strait called Antarctic Sound at the tip of the Antarctic
Peninsular. Pack ice drifted up through this strait from the Weddell
Sea making it impossible for the ship to pass through. Plan B. The
ship's captain and Gary decided to backtrack a little to get away
from the ice and head west along the north coast of the peninsular
where they hoped we could land at Astrolabe Island. Our three
landing day may be only one or even none. All of the planed outings
are at the mercy of the weather and conditions.
We finally got to go for a
Zodiac cruise around Astrolabe Island, named for an early explorer's
ship. We first chased some Right Whales that were in the area and we
actually got quite close. Hard to get a picture of one but I tried
with some minor success. It was a fluke. We then motored in and
about the local icebergs trying to get some good pictures of the
color variations of the ice. In some places it is creamy, others a
deep blue and all shades in between. It all a function of the type
of ice, the bluer the less oxygen contained in the ice and somewhat
an indication of the age of the ice. Icebergs are all glacial in
origin and the deeper the blue means that the oxygen contained in the
original snowfall has been “pressured out” by the compaction of
the snow over the millions of years, hence an indication of the age.
The pictures I took do not do any justice to the wonderful coloring
of these icebergs.
We motored in and out of ice
flows looking for wildlife and saw several Leopard Seals the main
predator of penguins. They can be quite large and have a very
reptilian head. They have been known to attack Zodiacs but not a
real serious threat. We also saw Weddell and Crabeater Seals along
with the usual Fir Seals and of course penguins, mainly Chin-strap.
Chin-strap Penguins are the most numerous penguins on the planet. We
were also fortunate enough to witness a feeding frenzy, on krill we
assumed, of Great Petrels, cormorants, Cape Petrels, other birds and
penguins. They came right up to the Zodiacs not bothering with us at
all.
There was a light snow
falling and although it was a gray day and most of us really got cold
it was a great day. With the steaming through the pack ice, seeing
the icebergs and all the glaciers, I felt we were truly in the
Antarctic. All in all a wonderful day. Back on board for a hot
toddy, swapping stories, dinner and a good night's sleep.
The next morning we were on
the Zodiacs before breakfast and off to Hydruga Rocks where we
finally were able to claim we set foot on the Antarctic Continent.
Although the Rocks were really an island it is technically part of
the continent. We were able to walk among the Chin-straps and view
more seals.
We did have a minor tragedy
as one of the women slipped on the snow and fell down on her ankle.
The had to a stretcher and she was lifted back onto the ship in one
of the Zodiacs. Later we learned that she did have a minor fracture
so her ashore going is over for the remainder of the expedition. A
tough break (pun intended) but it did bring out the professionalism
of the staff and crew.
We were supposed to go
ashore on the mainland at Portal Point after breakfast but there
happened to be another tour ship there, due to some miss
communications so Gary decided to move on to our third place of
excursion at Foyn Harbour where they did a Zodiac cruise. I chose
not to go as I was still trying to recover from my cold.
Later on we steamed back to
Portal Point for our first step onto the Antarctic mainland. For a
good portion of the people on the ship this was their seventh and
final continent that they have visited. It has inspired me to add
visiting all seven myself. That means I have only Africa and Asia to
visit. Another two items added to my bucket list.
Finally setting foot on the
continent was somewhat anti-climatic for me. Portal Point is really
just a spit of land jutting out into the sea. Its called Portal
Point because many expeditions have used it as a starting point into
the interior of the continent. There were some cement footings at
the landing site, the remnants of an explorer's hut from the turn of
the 20th century. As usual we were greeted by the “usual
suspects”, seals and penguins. All of us congratulated each other
for being there, took pictures and then did a short hike up a glacier
to a wonderful vantage point. Although overcast it was a pretty
clear day and I was taken aback by the enormity of all of the ice
that covers the continent. All about us was white with a few rocks
and bare cliffs showing here and there. We were told that about
ninety percent of the worlds fresh water is locked up in the glaciers
of Antarctica. That is a big wow.
It was fun taking pictures
of us all. Everyone asking if someone else would take their picture.
Several were doing “selfies”. After we were satiated with
picture taking, we headed back to the Zodiacs for a motor tour of the
area. Several whales, Humpbacks, were spotted. My Zodiac did not
get all that close but it was a real thrill to see them. The wind
had kicked up a bit making for large swell and we were treated to
cold spray in the face on the way back to the ship. The swell also
make for a tricky boarding of the ship at the gangway. All made it
ok. We warmed up and had a nice supper and readied ourselves for our
next adventure.
We woke up the next morning
at Paradise Bay, and extremely picturesque bay, the site of an
Argentine research base. Although it was occupied we did not see any
of the inhabitants as it was early and they had not started their day
yet. It was called Brown Station. Does not sound all that
Argentinian but that is what its named. We climbed up a rather steep
and slippery snow field to a point of rocks that afforded an
incredible view of the bay and surrounding cliffs and glaciers.
There was talk of doing another “bum slide” down the steep slope
but our leader, Gary decided that it was so icy that it would be very
dangerous to attempt it so we had to walk back down.
We then did a Zodiac tour of
the bay which was covered with brash ice, pieces of broken glacier
ice, some small some large that we had to push our way through. Some
more whales were spotted although our Zodiac was not close to them.
Back on board the ship for a late breakfast while the ship moved us
to our last Antarctic outing. We cruised through a narrow channel,
studded with huge ice bergs of incredible beauty. Mountainous
islands covered with glaciers and the mainland showing the same. We
saw several other much larger cruise ships in the area. These carry
upwards of 1,000 passengers and because of a rule that says no more
than 100 people ashore at a time, these people are not able to land.
Part of the reason I chose the ship that we did.
Our final outing took place
in Orne Harbour where a number of beautiful icebergs were on display
along with several closeup encounters with Humpback whales. Some of
the bergs wonderfully sculptured caves and grottoes, displaying the
rich turquoise coloring of the ice. A truly wonderful day.
Back on ship we concluded
the day with nine brave souls partaking in the Polar Plunge. The
walked down the gangway to the platform in bathing suits and took a
quick plunge into the approximately thirty two degree water. Some
jumping off the deck. Needless to say I did not participate. After
their plunge they hurried down to the ships sauna for a quick warmup.
Good for them. We then moved on to our final leg of our voyage, up
along the South Shetland Islands to the Drake Passage and on to
Ushuaia, almost a three day steam north.
The seas got pretty rough
going through the Drake Passage and a lot of the passengers got a
little queezy, myself included. I went to just a light shade of
green but some were looking like limes. There were quite a few empty
seats in the galley for breakfast and lunch. The South Sea is
probably the worst sea in the world because of the convergence of
northern currents meeting the circular sea currents around Antarctica
and due to the fact that there are no land masses to slow the winds
down. As our expedition leader Gary said, “its a very confused
sea”. Of course the Russian captain kind of chuckled at us and
said it was not all that bad. And I though I was doing well to be
just a little green.
The seas calmed down as we
got closer to Ushuaia our debarkation port. We had a final dinner of
fillet mignon with all the trimmings. All of us had overcome our sea
sickness by then. After supper we all headed to the upper deck to
view Tierra de l Fuego, with its lovely hills and the high peaks of
the tip of the Andes, all covered with trees (I had not seen a tree
since I left Santiago) and snow at the higher elevations. It was a
lovely sight.
After that it was “Party
Time” at the bar. Dancing, drinking, and all that carrying on.
Another great time. We woke for breakfast and got our things
together and went through some sort of customs. Not much really and
all Argentinian really wanted was our reciprocal tax of $160 to enter
the country. I had paid it on line before I left. Its kind of a
tit for tat thing. Certain countries charge people to enter and
others do it in retaliation. Citizens of the US, Australia, Canada,
Mexico, and get this Albania have to pay going into both Chile and
Argentina. We all said goodbys, with hugs and handshakes. Promises
to keep in touch and visit when we are in the others neighborhoods.
I have plenty of places to stay in Australia now. Guess I gotta
make a trip there again.
Surilda and I found our B&B,
left our bags and set out to explore the area. Ushuaia is a
beautiful town built on slopes of the foothills of the Andes. Its
main industry is tourism and there were a lot of tour ships in the
harbor, some really huge, accommodating several thousand people. It
is a really nice area with plenty of hiking and exploring in the
area. Some people were staying several days, some leaving right
away. We kept bumping into our shipmates all along the city streets.
Surilda and I took a bus out
to Tierra del Fuego National Park and did a little hiking,
sightseeing, and picture taking. Back in Ushuaia we found a
wonderful seafood restaurant that specialized in locally caught King
Crab. We had some and it was delicious. If I had known what it was
like there I would have scheduled more time in the area but as it was
my adventure ended the next morning and I caught a flight to Buenos
Aires and then an overnight flight to Dallas and on to Denver. What
an exciting time I had. Put it on your bucket lists. Adieu.
