I will probably try to post some additional photos soon.
Ken
ken [dot] ludwa [at] gmail [dot] com
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Seattle
Thanks everyone for following my blog, and for all the emails and comments.
I will probably try to post some additional photos soon.
Ken
ken [dot] ludwa [at] gmail [dot] com
I will probably try to post some additional photos soon.
Ken
ken [dot] ludwa [at] gmail [dot] com
Buenos Aires and Home to Seattle
Friday February 6 – Drake Passage
When I posted my last entry, early on the second day of the Drake crossing, the day looked like it would be a little more bumpy… but by noon the sky turned blue and the wind died and we were on Drake Lake all the way to the Beagle Channel. Around 2:30 in the afternoon, we were enjoying the sun on the bow when we saw Cape Horn in the distance. Completely randomly, half an hour later I was listening to my music player… it was on shuffle, and a song by Great Big Sea came on, with the lyrics: “have you ever been ‘round Cape Horn, where the weather’s never warm, wish to God you’d never been born…”
I guess I missed out on the notorious Drake Passage… I *almost* feel like I missed out on the genuine Antarctic experience… but no regrets there!
Later that evening we had farewell cocktails and then dinner. After dinner, Jamie had put together a slideshow with the best photos submitted by everyone, and then a few of us stayed up late in the bar. Without the seasickness meds in my system, I was able to enjoy the evening.
Saturday February 7 – Ushuaia
After drinking and staying up way too late, the 5:30 wakeup call was rough. When I looked out our porthole window, we were dockside in Ushuaia. It was a sunny morning. We had breakfast and disembarked. Met a few shipmates in town at a coffee shop, and tried in vain to find a place to ship some of my extra stuff home. Eventually headed to the airport for my flight to Buenos Aires.
We arrived in BA on time and I grabbed a taxi to my hostel. It is full-on summer in BA, pushing 90 degrees and fairly humid – kind of a shock to the system. I checked into the hostel and went out for a long walk around town. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city… it is often described as very European, but that’s a comparison I can’t make. It did remind me of Washington, D.C… the architecture, the buildings all the same uniform height, and the broad tree-lined avenues. They even have an obelisk, which is nearly a twin to the Washington Monument.
Sunday February 8
Late in the morning I walked across town to the San Telmo Antique Market. It was an attractive old neighborhood. The market itself was crowded and touristy, mostly stalls with local art and souvenirs. The Lonely Planet said that Jenna Bush had her handbag snatched there several years ago, while surrounded by six secret service agents. I kept close check on my wallet and camera.
In the afternoon I went to a futbol (soccer) game. I went with a guided group, which turned out to be a good idea for a first-timer. Getting into the stadium was kind of a maze; at one point, we were waiting in a long queue, which backed up outside the stadium grounds a half-mile along the shoulder of a freeway. The home team was “River Plate” – one of the two pro teams in BA (River is second fiddle to the Boca Juniors; kind of like the Mets to the Yankees). We were right next to the “general admission” section, which offered a great vantage point of the hardcore fans, packed full of people and banners and flags… just before the start of the game, a drum corps marched into the crowd, leading the crowd in singing and dancing which went literally non-stop for the whole 90-minute match. It was a good match, played to a 2-2 tie; the home team had a 2-0 lead until they let their guard down and gave up two goals in the last 15 minutes, including the tying goal during extra time. One memorable experience was the mass of humanity getting into the bano at halftime. After the game, police in full riot gear were stationed around the stadium (this appeared to be the standard procedure) and the visiting fan section was cleared out first, with a half-hour before they let anyone else leave the stadium. The precautions are no doubt based on past experience, and they obviously worked.
I went back to the hostel, had just enough time to shower, and then I was off to a tango show (tango dancing is a big deal in BA, to put it mildly). It being a Sunday night, there was a small crowd; probably only 20 patrons in an attractive little dinner theater. And yet another small-world experience… the host sat me down at a table with three friendly Brazilians; Eduardo, Lucia, and Thaise. They all spoke some English, and I noticed Thaise spoke it perfectly. Thaise asked me where I was from and when I said Seattle, she laughed incredulously… she’s been living in Seattle for the last 2 years – and had just come to BA from Seattle, via Brazil, a few days prior. I also had some things in common with Lucia, who works for an environmental consulting company.
I enjoyed the tango show… even with the small crowd, the musicians and singers and dancers gave us their best. It was all appropriately melodramatic. The show was apparently about the history of tango, but it was all in Spanish.
After stopping by the hostel briefly, I went out again… off to see a milonga at an old café called Confiteria Ideal. Milongas are where the locals go to tango; the Lonely Planet suggested going to a milonga to see a more authentic tango experience. At this point it was 2 a.m. on a Sunday night. There were about 30 people when I got there. It was fun to watch… everyone was there simply to dance, and people mixed and matched regardless of age. One of the best dancers was a man I guessed about 65-ish; a few younger women were dancing with him… it’s considered an honor for younger women and men to dance with experienced older dancers. There was one old couple probably in their 80s, bowed with age but dressed up and dancing slowly along, a young couple in jeans, and others more dressed up. Everyone was obviously experienced. Some danced with more flair than others. It was a beautiful atmosphere… late night in this historic old café… arched ceilings and marble columns, chandeliers casting a sepia light.
I walked back to the hostel… 3 a.m. at this point, I went up to the rooftop bar, had a beer, chatted with a guy from California who is in the wine trade and a few other people I overheard talking about travel experiences in Portland, OR. Eventually they all disappeared and so I sat there enjoying the full moon, my last look at the Southern Cross, and the excellent vantage point of the surrounding old buildings and towers.
Monday February 9
I got up, checked out of my room and stowed my luggage, and proceeded to spend the day walking all over the City… another nice hot day. I started out with a short trip on the underground system, called the “Subte”… in particular I wanted to see the old ornate wood train cars they’ve preserved on the original line.
From there I walked to the main Cemetery, a massive necropolis packed with grand vaults containing the remains of Argentina’s politicos, military elite, writers and artists, presidents, and just generally well-to-do. The biggest attraction was of course the tomb of Eva (Evita) Peron, but I didn’t pause long there… I was mostly fascinated by the art and architecture of the vaults, each like a little building; many adorned with figures of angels or gargoyles.
After the cemetery, I stopped at MALBA, the Museum of Latin American Art. I only made one museum stop, and this one had been highly-recommended – and I could see why. Both the building itself and the art collection were outstanding, and it felt like it would have been right at home in New York or Paris.
Finally I went back to the hostel, had some time to relax and wait for my ride to the airport… watching trashy American television in the lounge (prepping for my re-entry). I ended up sharing a cab on the longish ride to the international airport with a gal from Brussels, and we exchanged travel stories. Got to the airport and checked in, and met another traveler on my flight, a nice retired lady from Texas, and so we talked over dinner at the airport. The flight took off on time, and I was asleep within an hour.
Tuesday February 10
I was surprised to wake up only an hour from our landing in Dallas. I had a tight connection in Dallas, but customs was incredibly easy, and I made my Seattle flight with time to spare for my first good cup of coffee in a month (my usual quad Americano) and some breakfast tacos.
The Dallas-Seattle flight was also uneventful, and when we landed in Seattle, it was, of course, snowing. It never snows in Seattle in February.
All in all, I was amazed at how on-time and smoothly the travels went – connections, luggage, weather – considering as far as I traveled and all the connections in strange places. Valerie picked me up at the airport and we drove straight to my place – good to be home.
When I posted my last entry, early on the second day of the Drake crossing, the day looked like it would be a little more bumpy… but by noon the sky turned blue and the wind died and we were on Drake Lake all the way to the Beagle Channel. Around 2:30 in the afternoon, we were enjoying the sun on the bow when we saw Cape Horn in the distance. Completely randomly, half an hour later I was listening to my music player… it was on shuffle, and a song by Great Big Sea came on, with the lyrics: “have you ever been ‘round Cape Horn, where the weather’s never warm, wish to God you’d never been born…”
I guess I missed out on the notorious Drake Passage… I *almost* feel like I missed out on the genuine Antarctic experience… but no regrets there!
Later that evening we had farewell cocktails and then dinner. After dinner, Jamie had put together a slideshow with the best photos submitted by everyone, and then a few of us stayed up late in the bar. Without the seasickness meds in my system, I was able to enjoy the evening.
Saturday February 7 – Ushuaia
After drinking and staying up way too late, the 5:30 wakeup call was rough. When I looked out our porthole window, we were dockside in Ushuaia. It was a sunny morning. We had breakfast and disembarked. Met a few shipmates in town at a coffee shop, and tried in vain to find a place to ship some of my extra stuff home. Eventually headed to the airport for my flight to Buenos Aires.
We arrived in BA on time and I grabbed a taxi to my hostel. It is full-on summer in BA, pushing 90 degrees and fairly humid – kind of a shock to the system. I checked into the hostel and went out for a long walk around town. Buenos Aires is a beautiful city… it is often described as very European, but that’s a comparison I can’t make. It did remind me of Washington, D.C… the architecture, the buildings all the same uniform height, and the broad tree-lined avenues. They even have an obelisk, which is nearly a twin to the Washington Monument.
Sunday February 8
Late in the morning I walked across town to the San Telmo Antique Market. It was an attractive old neighborhood. The market itself was crowded and touristy, mostly stalls with local art and souvenirs. The Lonely Planet said that Jenna Bush had her handbag snatched there several years ago, while surrounded by six secret service agents. I kept close check on my wallet and camera.
In the afternoon I went to a futbol (soccer) game. I went with a guided group, which turned out to be a good idea for a first-timer. Getting into the stadium was kind of a maze; at one point, we were waiting in a long queue, which backed up outside the stadium grounds a half-mile along the shoulder of a freeway. The home team was “River Plate” – one of the two pro teams in BA (River is second fiddle to the Boca Juniors; kind of like the Mets to the Yankees). We were right next to the “general admission” section, which offered a great vantage point of the hardcore fans, packed full of people and banners and flags… just before the start of the game, a drum corps marched into the crowd, leading the crowd in singing and dancing which went literally non-stop for the whole 90-minute match. It was a good match, played to a 2-2 tie; the home team had a 2-0 lead until they let their guard down and gave up two goals in the last 15 minutes, including the tying goal during extra time. One memorable experience was the mass of humanity getting into the bano at halftime. After the game, police in full riot gear were stationed around the stadium (this appeared to be the standard procedure) and the visiting fan section was cleared out first, with a half-hour before they let anyone else leave the stadium. The precautions are no doubt based on past experience, and they obviously worked.
I went back to the hostel, had just enough time to shower, and then I was off to a tango show (tango dancing is a big deal in BA, to put it mildly). It being a Sunday night, there was a small crowd; probably only 20 patrons in an attractive little dinner theater. And yet another small-world experience… the host sat me down at a table with three friendly Brazilians; Eduardo, Lucia, and Thaise. They all spoke some English, and I noticed Thaise spoke it perfectly. Thaise asked me where I was from and when I said Seattle, she laughed incredulously… she’s been living in Seattle for the last 2 years – and had just come to BA from Seattle, via Brazil, a few days prior. I also had some things in common with Lucia, who works for an environmental consulting company.
I enjoyed the tango show… even with the small crowd, the musicians and singers and dancers gave us their best. It was all appropriately melodramatic. The show was apparently about the history of tango, but it was all in Spanish.
After stopping by the hostel briefly, I went out again… off to see a milonga at an old café called Confiteria Ideal. Milongas are where the locals go to tango; the Lonely Planet suggested going to a milonga to see a more authentic tango experience. At this point it was 2 a.m. on a Sunday night. There were about 30 people when I got there. It was fun to watch… everyone was there simply to dance, and people mixed and matched regardless of age. One of the best dancers was a man I guessed about 65-ish; a few younger women were dancing with him… it’s considered an honor for younger women and men to dance with experienced older dancers. There was one old couple probably in their 80s, bowed with age but dressed up and dancing slowly along, a young couple in jeans, and others more dressed up. Everyone was obviously experienced. Some danced with more flair than others. It was a beautiful atmosphere… late night in this historic old café… arched ceilings and marble columns, chandeliers casting a sepia light.
I walked back to the hostel… 3 a.m. at this point, I went up to the rooftop bar, had a beer, chatted with a guy from California who is in the wine trade and a few other people I overheard talking about travel experiences in Portland, OR. Eventually they all disappeared and so I sat there enjoying the full moon, my last look at the Southern Cross, and the excellent vantage point of the surrounding old buildings and towers.
Monday February 9
I got up, checked out of my room and stowed my luggage, and proceeded to spend the day walking all over the City… another nice hot day. I started out with a short trip on the underground system, called the “Subte”… in particular I wanted to see the old ornate wood train cars they’ve preserved on the original line.
From there I walked to the main Cemetery, a massive necropolis packed with grand vaults containing the remains of Argentina’s politicos, military elite, writers and artists, presidents, and just generally well-to-do. The biggest attraction was of course the tomb of Eva (Evita) Peron, but I didn’t pause long there… I was mostly fascinated by the art and architecture of the vaults, each like a little building; many adorned with figures of angels or gargoyles.
After the cemetery, I stopped at MALBA, the Museum of Latin American Art. I only made one museum stop, and this one had been highly-recommended – and I could see why. Both the building itself and the art collection were outstanding, and it felt like it would have been right at home in New York or Paris.
Finally I went back to the hostel, had some time to relax and wait for my ride to the airport… watching trashy American television in the lounge (prepping for my re-entry). I ended up sharing a cab on the longish ride to the international airport with a gal from Brussels, and we exchanged travel stories. Got to the airport and checked in, and met another traveler on my flight, a nice retired lady from Texas, and so we talked over dinner at the airport. The flight took off on time, and I was asleep within an hour.
Tuesday February 10
I was surprised to wake up only an hour from our landing in Dallas. I had a tight connection in Dallas, but customs was incredibly easy, and I made my Seattle flight with time to spare for my first good cup of coffee in a month (my usual quad Americano) and some breakfast tacos.
The Dallas-Seattle flight was also uneventful, and when we landed in Seattle, it was, of course, snowing. It never snows in Seattle in February.
All in all, I was amazed at how on-time and smoothly the travels went – connections, luggage, weather – considering as far as I traveled and all the connections in strange places. Valerie picked me up at the airport and we drove straight to my place – good to be home.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Antarctica
Saturday January 31
Standing on the bridge in the evening as we sailed through a field oficebergs, I looked through my binocs and saw what appeared to be land… along ridge that spanned most of the horizon. I knew we were still a coupledays away from the Peninsula, so I wondered what I was seeing. I turned toDr. John who was talking with one of the crew and pointing at the horizon,and he said it was an 11-mile-long iceberg. It was hard to grasp the scaleof this thing, drifting along through the ocean. We navigated around it,just a few hundred feet off our port side, and it turned out the berg was asequally wide as it was long. It occurred to me that this berg probablycovered a larger area than the City of Seattle!
Sunday February 1
Most of today was on open water. We stopped briefly at Point Wild onElephant Island, where Shackleton's crew waited four months for him toreturn with rescue. From the ship, we could see the place where the menstayed, but seas were too rough to make a landing.
Monday February 2
Our first landing today was at Half-Moon Island. It was another beautifulday… mostly sunny, with occasional clouds and fog blowing through. CamaraBase, a small Argentine base is located here, and the handful of ArgentineNaval staff walked over right away… they seemed glad to have some outsidecompany. I spent a few minutes checking out the small chinstrap penguincolony, and then we did our first kayaking paddle around the bay. Therewasn't much different to see from the kayak, and it was a little rolly, butit was nice to be on the water. Memie, a petite city gal from Hong Kong,was my paddle partner, and she was new to kayaking, but very enthusiastic(and fearless). We seemed to work pretty well together.
Back out on the Bransfield Strait, we watched our approach to DeceptionIsland. At noon, I looked over toward the other side of the Strait and sawland, mostly obscured by clouds… my first sight of the Antarctic continent.
We made our second landing at Whaler's Bay at Deception Island. The islandis an old volcano, with the bay inside the caldera; it's like a doughnutwith a bite missing. The approach into the harbor is made through a narrowbreak in the side of the caldera, with colorful rocky walls and spiresrising up on each side of the entrance. The ship anchored in the calmwaters inside the harbor, and from here, we kayaked again, back out throughthe opening and on the open sea swells, among the cliffs on the outside ofthe island. At one point we looked up and saw several of our shipmates afew hundred feet above us in a low point on the cliff, called Neptune'sWindow. It was fun and a little challenging paddling in the swell againstthe rocks. We then paddled back to the beach and had enough time to hike upto Neptune's Window, which offers a great view of the Antarctic Peninsula onthe rare clear days like this one. I then walked down the beach among theremnants of the whaling operations from decades ago. Toward the end of thebeach, the sand is steaming and the water is warm, from the geothermalactivity underneath.
Tuesday February 3
Today was the most action-packed day of the trip. Our first landing was atEnterprise Island, where we kayaked among icebergs and bergy bits (that isthe actual technical term for pieces that break off icebergs). There werealso some striking ice features in the channel… some arches and interestingshapes. We saw a whale and tried to follow at a distance… although we got acouple closer looks at the whale, it wasn't too interested in hangingaround. We would see it surface nearby, and in a seeming matter of seconds,it was a mile away.
Our next landing was Danco Island. More kayaking… this time it was a looparound the island. The island is mostly covered by a massive glacier, whichrises several hundred feet sheer up from the water. The island issurrounded by glacier-covered mountains. At this point, it was starting tosnow, and it was just about dead calm. Halfway through the paddle, Dansuggested that we stop for a few minutes of silence on the water… when westopped moving, the only sounds were the brash ice tinkling, an occasionalrumble from one of the glaciers, and penguins porpoising through the water. Snow was falling gently. Another one of the best moments I'll rememberabout this trip. We detoured in the kayaks to see a few Weddell Seals hauled out anothersmall island. Following Dan's example, Memie and I also played a little,attempting to run our kayak up on top of the flatter growlers (floating icechunks smaller than bergy bits). I was happily surprised at Memie'senthusiasm for the kayak horseplay.
Back to the ship again, sailing down a channel to our next stop, we sawseveral whales. The captain stopped the ship so we could watch a couplehumpback whales that were surfacing and rolling. At one point, the whalesswam right under the bow of the ship, and I was perched in the perfect spotto look straight down to see them just a few feet under the surface.
Our third landing for the day was Neko Harbor. We went ashore in Zodiacs,and I took my first steps on the Antarctic Continent (that's number 5 forme). The snowfall was starting to pick up again. Wayne and I quickly setup our tent – on a snowy slope above the beach, surrounded by noisy gentoopenguins. Then Cathy and I headed back to the landing beach for a lateevening kayak paddle; it was after 10 p.m. by this time. The light and theice were surreal… the new snow on the drifting ice chunks made them standout in the twilight. I was resigned that this would just be a nice paddlealong the edge of the glacier to see some interesting ice features in thewater, until we heard a spout. We turned and saw the humpback not too faraway and carefully paddled in that direction. This whale did a pretty goodbreach before swimming away. At this point we heard and saw a minke whale,which headed toward Jamie sitting in the Zodiac following us (he had theengine off at this point). Then we heard more spouting further away… abouta mile away we could see another humpback, so we started paddling in thatdirection. This humpback was apparently running into some good food,because it was rolling and circling repeatedly, and didn't seem to takenotice of our approach. We got closer and closer, and the whale put on agood show… rolling and breaching, giving us repeated views of its tailfluke, dorsal fins, and pectoral fins. We crept closer, and eventually wesituated ourselves at about the safest allowable distance. We had a perfectvantage point to watch the whale as it passed by in front of us… I wascompletely enthralled. Until the whale suddenly decided to circle back –straight at our kayak. It went under for a couple seconds, but I could seethe wave on the surface heading directly toward us, and then it surfaced. Holy sh*t! A massive hump rose out of the water, pushing a wave ahead ofit, coming right at us broadside. At this point Cathy and I were paddlinglike mad, except she was paddling forward and I was paddling backward. Inthe split second all of this was occurring, I'm thinking "does the whaleknow we're here, does it care, or is it *aiming* for us?" In alllikelihood, it just didn't care... it was probably focused on getting a bigmouthful from the swarm of krill in the water around us. Certainly if itwanted to flip us, it could have; I learned that whales are surprisinglyfast and nimble. In any case, I joined Kathy in paddling forward – as hardas I could – and somehow we got out of the way. I turned to look behind usjust in time to see the whale plow through the spot we had just beensitting. I was shaking from the adrenaline overdose for the next hour.
We sat for a few minutes recovering and watching the whale continue tobreach and circle around, then decided to load the kayaks into the Zodiacand ride back with Jamie. As we paddled over to Jamie, two more whales wereblowing and breaching a little further away. It was probably 11:30 p.m. bythis point. We went back to the ship, I took a quick hot shower and changedinto dry clothes and then we got in Zodiac to head back to our snow camp onthe shore. I sat up for awhile in the twilight watching the gentoos aroundour tent, then eventually headed to the tent.
We had been warned not to go on the beach because the massive glacier nearbyoften calves large chunks which create a "mini-tsunami." The lines fromthese waves were clearly visible at the edge of the snowline on the beach. As I went to bed, I realized the wave line represented the more frequent"routine" calving events, but it occurred to me that the glacier lookedcapable of producing a larger icefall that could generate a wave to reach mytent. This paranoia is what kept me awake… every time I heard a rumble orcrack from the glacier, I reached for the door zipper on the tent. Eventually I was able to relax and fell asleep. Thanks to the good gear, Istayed warm enough all night.
Wednesday February 4
I was dead asleep when Jamie roused us from our tents at 5 a.m. It wasstill snowing, and the wind had picked up overnight. The worst part wasputting on my cold boots. We quickly broke camp, loaded everything into theZodiacs, and headed back to the ship.
Before loading into the Zodiac, I paused to honor my mom's brother Glenn,who died unexpectedly last year, just a few months after my grandma passedaway. My mom was surprised to learn from Glenn's wife just before my tripthat Glenn had a great interest in Antarctica, had an extensive collectionof books on Antarctica, and dreamed of visiting. I imagined Glenn seeingthe place as I was seeing it and inscribed Glenn's initials in the sandamong the gentoo penguin tracks.
Our next goal was to move down the Gerlache Strait to Useful Island, wherewe were supposed to make our last landing to see chinstrap and gentoopenguins. It was still windy, cold, and snowy. As we approached thelanding site, I got geared up, but just as I went upstairs to line up forthe Zodiac, Shane made an announcement that the landing would be scrubbeddue to the wind and waves. I was sorely disappointed to miss our lastlanding, but was still very thankful and happy that we had such greatweather over the course of the whole trip, especially when it mattered –this last landing was the only one we would miss.
I sat and enjoyed the scenery from the bridge as we sailed on down thechannel, then we had breakfast at 9:00. After breakfast, I went up to thebridge a little more, and then decided to go take a nap. When I woke up 45minutes later, I went back up to the bridge and couldn't believe my eyes. The skies were bluer than I had seen on the whole trip and the wind hadsubsided. The blue skies made the scenery along the channel even morestunning. After awhile, we went to lunch. Just as I was climbing thestairs back to the bridge after lunch, Shane came on and announced that wewould make a landing! And not just any landing… this one would includePalmer Station and an adelie penguin colony! Shane was just finishing thisannouncement as I walked onto the bridge, and everyone broke into applause.
I appreciated Shane's efforts to get us another landing. We'd only missedtwo landings on the whole trip. Shane didn't have to find alternatelandings on these occasions, but both times he went out of his way toarrange replacement stops… not only that, but these alternate sites turnedout to be better than the originally-planned stops.
Before reaching Palmer, we sailed a little way into the Lemarie Channel. Wehad a big crowd on the front deck to enjoy the sunshine and the mountainsand glaciers.
We anchored at Palmer Station and went to shore in Zodiacs. I'm not usuallystirred by patriotism, but I felt proud as we approached the station and sawthe American flag flying … here were fellow Americans in Antarctica for thesole purpose of advancing the cause of science and knowledge. We broke upinto a few small groups and got tours from the station staff. We were leadaround the station by an IT guy named Paul, from San Diego. Most of theresearch happens in the field, so there wasn't a whole lot to see at thestation… there are two main buildings with living quarters, a few labs, therecreation space and gym. The most interesting part was listening to Pauldescribe life at the station. About 45 people are there in the summer, and16 in the winter. There are lots of measures taken to keep everyone safeand sane. I went away thinking I would enjoy a year or two there.
After the tour, we took the Zodiacs across the cove to land at an adeliepenguin colony… a few thousand here. The chicks were mostly molted, butmany of them had funny little tufts on top of their heads, like littleafros. The penguins were not very curious or interactive. I think myfavorite penguins of the trip were the rockhoppers, which we only saw on theFalklands. Among the 5 penguin species we saw on the trip (rockhoppers,gentoos, kings, macaronis, and adelies), the rockhoppers were the mostinteractive and inquisitive with us human visitors.
Done with our landings, we went back to the ship for our last Antarcticactivity… a polar plunge. I dove off the gangway into the water (just acouple degrees above freezing), and then swam straight back to the gangwayand ran up to a dry towel and a congratulatory shot of vodka administered byDr. John. 15 of us did the plunge; again I was happily surprised at some ofmy shipmates who decided to jump in.
At this point we weighed anchor and headed into the Drake Passage on the wayhome. There was a colorful sunset, which lit up the mountains… our lastview of Antarctica.
Thursday February 5, and Friday February 6
Open water days. The Drake Passage is notorious as some of the roughest seain the world. This is known as the Drake Shake. Having been seasickearlier in the trip, I was prepared for the worst. However, all dayThursday, we were lucky to experience a much less common phenomenon known asDrake Lake… relatively calm seas. Seriously, the weather was amazinglycooperative on the whole trip. As the trip progressed, Shane keptcommenting on our good fortune with the weather – at several landings, hesaid he'd never seen it this good. Someone on this ship has some goodkarma.
Today, Friday, the Drake is slightly more rolly, but nothing compared to thedescriptions I've heard from those who have experienced its true fury.
We'll reach the Beagle Channel tonight (ahead of schedule thanks to the calmseas), and disembark in Ushuaia tomorrow morning; from there it's straightto the airport and off to Buenos Aires.
Standing on the bridge in the evening as we sailed through a field oficebergs, I looked through my binocs and saw what appeared to be land… along ridge that spanned most of the horizon. I knew we were still a coupledays away from the Peninsula, so I wondered what I was seeing. I turned toDr. John who was talking with one of the crew and pointing at the horizon,and he said it was an 11-mile-long iceberg. It was hard to grasp the scaleof this thing, drifting along through the ocean. We navigated around it,just a few hundred feet off our port side, and it turned out the berg was asequally wide as it was long. It occurred to me that this berg probablycovered a larger area than the City of Seattle!
Sunday February 1
Most of today was on open water. We stopped briefly at Point Wild onElephant Island, where Shackleton's crew waited four months for him toreturn with rescue. From the ship, we could see the place where the menstayed, but seas were too rough to make a landing.
Monday February 2
Our first landing today was at Half-Moon Island. It was another beautifulday… mostly sunny, with occasional clouds and fog blowing through. CamaraBase, a small Argentine base is located here, and the handful of ArgentineNaval staff walked over right away… they seemed glad to have some outsidecompany. I spent a few minutes checking out the small chinstrap penguincolony, and then we did our first kayaking paddle around the bay. Therewasn't much different to see from the kayak, and it was a little rolly, butit was nice to be on the water. Memie, a petite city gal from Hong Kong,was my paddle partner, and she was new to kayaking, but very enthusiastic(and fearless). We seemed to work pretty well together.
Back out on the Bransfield Strait, we watched our approach to DeceptionIsland. At noon, I looked over toward the other side of the Strait and sawland, mostly obscured by clouds… my first sight of the Antarctic continent.
We made our second landing at Whaler's Bay at Deception Island. The islandis an old volcano, with the bay inside the caldera; it's like a doughnutwith a bite missing. The approach into the harbor is made through a narrowbreak in the side of the caldera, with colorful rocky walls and spiresrising up on each side of the entrance. The ship anchored in the calmwaters inside the harbor, and from here, we kayaked again, back out throughthe opening and on the open sea swells, among the cliffs on the outside ofthe island. At one point we looked up and saw several of our shipmates afew hundred feet above us in a low point on the cliff, called Neptune'sWindow. It was fun and a little challenging paddling in the swell againstthe rocks. We then paddled back to the beach and had enough time to hike upto Neptune's Window, which offers a great view of the Antarctic Peninsula onthe rare clear days like this one. I then walked down the beach among theremnants of the whaling operations from decades ago. Toward the end of thebeach, the sand is steaming and the water is warm, from the geothermalactivity underneath.
Tuesday February 3
Today was the most action-packed day of the trip. Our first landing was atEnterprise Island, where we kayaked among icebergs and bergy bits (that isthe actual technical term for pieces that break off icebergs). There werealso some striking ice features in the channel… some arches and interestingshapes. We saw a whale and tried to follow at a distance… although we got acouple closer looks at the whale, it wasn't too interested in hangingaround. We would see it surface nearby, and in a seeming matter of seconds,it was a mile away.
Our next landing was Danco Island. More kayaking… this time it was a looparound the island. The island is mostly covered by a massive glacier, whichrises several hundred feet sheer up from the water. The island issurrounded by glacier-covered mountains. At this point, it was starting tosnow, and it was just about dead calm. Halfway through the paddle, Dansuggested that we stop for a few minutes of silence on the water… when westopped moving, the only sounds were the brash ice tinkling, an occasionalrumble from one of the glaciers, and penguins porpoising through the water. Snow was falling gently. Another one of the best moments I'll rememberabout this trip. We detoured in the kayaks to see a few Weddell Seals hauled out anothersmall island. Following Dan's example, Memie and I also played a little,attempting to run our kayak up on top of the flatter growlers (floating icechunks smaller than bergy bits). I was happily surprised at Memie'senthusiasm for the kayak horseplay.
Back to the ship again, sailing down a channel to our next stop, we sawseveral whales. The captain stopped the ship so we could watch a couplehumpback whales that were surfacing and rolling. At one point, the whalesswam right under the bow of the ship, and I was perched in the perfect spotto look straight down to see them just a few feet under the surface.
Our third landing for the day was Neko Harbor. We went ashore in Zodiacs,and I took my first steps on the Antarctic Continent (that's number 5 forme). The snowfall was starting to pick up again. Wayne and I quickly setup our tent – on a snowy slope above the beach, surrounded by noisy gentoopenguins. Then Cathy and I headed back to the landing beach for a lateevening kayak paddle; it was after 10 p.m. by this time. The light and theice were surreal… the new snow on the drifting ice chunks made them standout in the twilight. I was resigned that this would just be a nice paddlealong the edge of the glacier to see some interesting ice features in thewater, until we heard a spout. We turned and saw the humpback not too faraway and carefully paddled in that direction. This whale did a pretty goodbreach before swimming away. At this point we heard and saw a minke whale,which headed toward Jamie sitting in the Zodiac following us (he had theengine off at this point). Then we heard more spouting further away… abouta mile away we could see another humpback, so we started paddling in thatdirection. This humpback was apparently running into some good food,because it was rolling and circling repeatedly, and didn't seem to takenotice of our approach. We got closer and closer, and the whale put on agood show… rolling and breaching, giving us repeated views of its tailfluke, dorsal fins, and pectoral fins. We crept closer, and eventually wesituated ourselves at about the safest allowable distance. We had a perfectvantage point to watch the whale as it passed by in front of us… I wascompletely enthralled. Until the whale suddenly decided to circle back –straight at our kayak. It went under for a couple seconds, but I could seethe wave on the surface heading directly toward us, and then it surfaced. Holy sh*t! A massive hump rose out of the water, pushing a wave ahead ofit, coming right at us broadside. At this point Cathy and I were paddlinglike mad, except she was paddling forward and I was paddling backward. Inthe split second all of this was occurring, I'm thinking "does the whaleknow we're here, does it care, or is it *aiming* for us?" In alllikelihood, it just didn't care... it was probably focused on getting a bigmouthful from the swarm of krill in the water around us. Certainly if itwanted to flip us, it could have; I learned that whales are surprisinglyfast and nimble. In any case, I joined Kathy in paddling forward – as hardas I could – and somehow we got out of the way. I turned to look behind usjust in time to see the whale plow through the spot we had just beensitting. I was shaking from the adrenaline overdose for the next hour.
We sat for a few minutes recovering and watching the whale continue tobreach and circle around, then decided to load the kayaks into the Zodiacand ride back with Jamie. As we paddled over to Jamie, two more whales wereblowing and breaching a little further away. It was probably 11:30 p.m. bythis point. We went back to the ship, I took a quick hot shower and changedinto dry clothes and then we got in Zodiac to head back to our snow camp onthe shore. I sat up for awhile in the twilight watching the gentoos aroundour tent, then eventually headed to the tent.
We had been warned not to go on the beach because the massive glacier nearbyoften calves large chunks which create a "mini-tsunami." The lines fromthese waves were clearly visible at the edge of the snowline on the beach. As I went to bed, I realized the wave line represented the more frequent"routine" calving events, but it occurred to me that the glacier lookedcapable of producing a larger icefall that could generate a wave to reach mytent. This paranoia is what kept me awake… every time I heard a rumble orcrack from the glacier, I reached for the door zipper on the tent. Eventually I was able to relax and fell asleep. Thanks to the good gear, Istayed warm enough all night.
Wednesday February 4
I was dead asleep when Jamie roused us from our tents at 5 a.m. It wasstill snowing, and the wind had picked up overnight. The worst part wasputting on my cold boots. We quickly broke camp, loaded everything into theZodiacs, and headed back to the ship.
Before loading into the Zodiac, I paused to honor my mom's brother Glenn,who died unexpectedly last year, just a few months after my grandma passedaway. My mom was surprised to learn from Glenn's wife just before my tripthat Glenn had a great interest in Antarctica, had an extensive collectionof books on Antarctica, and dreamed of visiting. I imagined Glenn seeingthe place as I was seeing it and inscribed Glenn's initials in the sandamong the gentoo penguin tracks.
Our next goal was to move down the Gerlache Strait to Useful Island, wherewe were supposed to make our last landing to see chinstrap and gentoopenguins. It was still windy, cold, and snowy. As we approached thelanding site, I got geared up, but just as I went upstairs to line up forthe Zodiac, Shane made an announcement that the landing would be scrubbeddue to the wind and waves. I was sorely disappointed to miss our lastlanding, but was still very thankful and happy that we had such greatweather over the course of the whole trip, especially when it mattered –this last landing was the only one we would miss.
I sat and enjoyed the scenery from the bridge as we sailed on down thechannel, then we had breakfast at 9:00. After breakfast, I went up to thebridge a little more, and then decided to go take a nap. When I woke up 45minutes later, I went back up to the bridge and couldn't believe my eyes. The skies were bluer than I had seen on the whole trip and the wind hadsubsided. The blue skies made the scenery along the channel even morestunning. After awhile, we went to lunch. Just as I was climbing thestairs back to the bridge after lunch, Shane came on and announced that wewould make a landing! And not just any landing… this one would includePalmer Station and an adelie penguin colony! Shane was just finishing thisannouncement as I walked onto the bridge, and everyone broke into applause.
I appreciated Shane's efforts to get us another landing. We'd only missedtwo landings on the whole trip. Shane didn't have to find alternatelandings on these occasions, but both times he went out of his way toarrange replacement stops… not only that, but these alternate sites turnedout to be better than the originally-planned stops.
Before reaching Palmer, we sailed a little way into the Lemarie Channel. Wehad a big crowd on the front deck to enjoy the sunshine and the mountainsand glaciers.
We anchored at Palmer Station and went to shore in Zodiacs. I'm not usuallystirred by patriotism, but I felt proud as we approached the station and sawthe American flag flying … here were fellow Americans in Antarctica for thesole purpose of advancing the cause of science and knowledge. We broke upinto a few small groups and got tours from the station staff. We were leadaround the station by an IT guy named Paul, from San Diego. Most of theresearch happens in the field, so there wasn't a whole lot to see at thestation… there are two main buildings with living quarters, a few labs, therecreation space and gym. The most interesting part was listening to Pauldescribe life at the station. About 45 people are there in the summer, and16 in the winter. There are lots of measures taken to keep everyone safeand sane. I went away thinking I would enjoy a year or two there.
After the tour, we took the Zodiacs across the cove to land at an adeliepenguin colony… a few thousand here. The chicks were mostly molted, butmany of them had funny little tufts on top of their heads, like littleafros. The penguins were not very curious or interactive. I think myfavorite penguins of the trip were the rockhoppers, which we only saw on theFalklands. Among the 5 penguin species we saw on the trip (rockhoppers,gentoos, kings, macaronis, and adelies), the rockhoppers were the mostinteractive and inquisitive with us human visitors.
Done with our landings, we went back to the ship for our last Antarcticactivity… a polar plunge. I dove off the gangway into the water (just acouple degrees above freezing), and then swam straight back to the gangwayand ran up to a dry towel and a congratulatory shot of vodka administered byDr. John. 15 of us did the plunge; again I was happily surprised at some ofmy shipmates who decided to jump in.
At this point we weighed anchor and headed into the Drake Passage on the wayhome. There was a colorful sunset, which lit up the mountains… our lastview of Antarctica.
Thursday February 5, and Friday February 6
Open water days. The Drake Passage is notorious as some of the roughest seain the world. This is known as the Drake Shake. Having been seasickearlier in the trip, I was prepared for the worst. However, all dayThursday, we were lucky to experience a much less common phenomenon known asDrake Lake… relatively calm seas. Seriously, the weather was amazinglycooperative on the whole trip. As the trip progressed, Shane keptcommenting on our good fortune with the weather – at several landings, hesaid he'd never seen it this good. Someone on this ship has some goodkarma.
Today, Friday, the Drake is slightly more rolly, but nothing compared to thedescriptions I've heard from those who have experienced its true fury.
We'll reach the Beagle Channel tonight (ahead of schedule thanks to the calmseas), and disembark in Ushuaia tomorrow morning; from there it's straightto the airport and off to Buenos Aires.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Antarctic Dreams
In 90 minutes we will do a landing, at about 8 p.m. local time, and I willset foot on the Antarctic continent for the first time. I'll do a shortkayak paddle with three or four other shipmates, set up my tent, and spend anight sleeping on the ice. It's a perfect evening for it... no wind and alight snowfall. We've been warned that we probably won't get much sleep,with the noise of penguins, the all-night twilight, and of course the cold-- but I wouldn't pass up this opportunity for anything.
It's been an another amazing day. Lots of whales -- several of them rightup close, including one that swam right under the bow of the ship; I lookeddown and could see the whole creature from tip to tail just a few feet belowthe surface. Kayaking three times... during one of the paddles, we stoppedand sat silently for ten minutes... it was dead calm and the water was likeglass, with icebergs drifting silently by and brash ice all around. Therewas a light snow falling, shrouding the high points of the peaks andglaciers that surrounded us. The only sounds were the brash ice tinkling,an occasional rumble from one of the glaciers, or the splash of penguinsporpoising their way along the channel. We got back to the ship, and hadanother BBQ dinner out on the bow in the snowfall.
I'll post a longer entry later, with more on the last 2 or 3 days, but thisis one of those times I wanted to capture the moment.
It's been an another amazing day. Lots of whales -- several of them rightup close, including one that swam right under the bow of the ship; I lookeddown and could see the whole creature from tip to tail just a few feet belowthe surface. Kayaking three times... during one of the paddles, we stoppedand sat silently for ten minutes... it was dead calm and the water was likeglass, with icebergs drifting silently by and brash ice all around. Therewas a light snow falling, shrouding the high points of the peaks andglaciers that surrounded us. The only sounds were the brash ice tinkling,an occasional rumble from one of the glaciers, or the splash of penguinsporpoising their way along the channel. We got back to the ship, and hadanother BBQ dinner out on the bow in the snowfall.
I'll post a longer entry later, with more on the last 2 or 3 days, but thisis one of those times I wanted to capture the moment.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
South Georgia
This is a long one... the past week has been so packed that I haven't hadtime to do regular entries.
Sunday, January 25
Open water day… rough seas. Ate breakfast, then rode the exercise bike downin the lecture room (almost went over the handlebars due to the pitching ofthe ship). Felt good to get some exercise, but soon after, I startedfeeling seasick. Tried to eat lunch, but was only able to eat some breadbefore I felt nauseous. The only thing that seemed to help was laying flaton my back, and so that is how I spent the day. Thankfully I wasn't missingmuch, as the only activities were lectures and movies. Tried to eat dinner,but same results… only bread and some broth before the nausea hit again, soback to bed I went. Finally, I decided to give up on the scopolaminepatches, and went to talk to Dr. John. He gave me some pills that seemed todo the trick; only problem is they make me a little sleepy. Went to bedwith a warning from Shane that tomorrow's landings didn't look promising dueto weather conditions. Somebody mentioned they'd heard that the Orlova(another ship doing a similar route, a few days ahead of us) had scrubbedall of its South Georgia landings and headed on to the Antarctic Peninsula. For the cost and effort to get here, and now the seasickness, I was feelingpretty disheartened about the prospects of the next few days.
Monday, January 26
After a discouraging start, today turned out to be one of the days that Iknow will be the most memorable of the trip.
Shane (our expedition leader) called off our first stop at Elsehul Bay onSouth Georgia Island due to rough weather, so we went on to Right Whale Bayto attempt our next landing after lunch. As we pulled into Right Whale Bayand the shoreline became visible through the fog, I saw what looked like adirty glacier coming down from the mountains to a rocky shoreline… then Irealized the "glacier" was a multitude of penguins, and the "rocks" wereseals! We anchored a couple miles offshore, and even from there we couldhear the cacophony from the animals on shore. We watched anxiously from thebridge as the staff sent a Zodiac ashore to see if a safe landing could bemade, and we were happy when Shane decided to make it a go.
By the time we got into the Zodiac to head to shore, the sun was shining,but it started raining again before we even got to shore. As we weregetting out of the Zodiac on the beach, a sneaker wave drenched us. Then Iwas walking a little too low on the beach, and a couple more waves washed inand splashed into my boots… so I spent most of the shore time with wet feet.
However, the cold/wet feet hardly mattered. When I was booking myAntarctica trip, Joy, my travel agent enthusiastically recommended includingSouth Georgia (thanks Joy!). And here on our first landing, I understoodwhy. The beach was covered with tens of thousands of king penguins andthousands of fur seals. As soon as I jumped out of the Zodiac and turnedaround on the beach, there I was face-to-face with several curious penguinsand seals.
The small seal pups were like little puppies… they would excitedly run alongside you or right at you, with a gurgling sort of growl, staring up witheyes way too big for their little heads. The older juvenile seals wouldfeign ferociousness and charge at you, only to retreat immediately to a safedistance when they realize you're not afraid of them.
This was a breeding and molting ground for king penguins. Young chicksstart out covered by feathers that look like a very fluffy brown fur coat –it makes them look bigger than the adults. Some of them had their "coat"intact, while others were starting to molt… in some cases making them lookpretty scraggly. Likewise many of the adults were also undergoing theirannual molting. Many of them were trumpeting.
The penguin chicks are very curious, and if I stood still, they would walkright up to me with an inquisitive look, sometimes tilting their head atfunny angles or flapping their flippers to get a reaction.
We followed Jonathan down the beach to the best viewing point near theperimeter of the main part of the colony. There was a light drizzle and anincreasing wind the whole time we were on shore. Eventually the wind becamecause for concern… a violent gust nearly knocked me off my feet and I swearI saw Nico (who is my size) lifted off the ground momentarily. When Iturned around, Johann, Lay Chin, and Claire were flat on their backs on themuddy ground… I found out later each had minor injuries as a result. Everyone gathered behind a rock outcrop and in stages made our way back tothe landing site as the Zodiacs ferried us back to shore… I heard one of thestaff estimate the winds at 60-knots. The really dicey part was gettingfrom the Zodiac to the gangway platform as the ship and platform rolled withthe swells, while wind and smaller waves tossed the Zodiac back and forth…gladly, everyone made it safely back on board. Obviously, there was realcause for concern during this whole episode, and I'm sure the staff was onedge, but they handled it all calmly and that kept all of us calm, too… andin the end everyone felt that it was all part of the adventure.
By the time I got back to the ship, I was completely chilled, so I wentstraight to the shower. Then I had enough time to relax in the bar for afew minutes before dinner, when someone called out an iceberg (a first forme, as I had apparently missed a previous sighting)… I grabbed my camera anddashed outside in my t-shirt. It was surreal… this massive piece of ice,many times bigger than our ship, floating out there. Although it was mostlyfoggy, a shaft of sunlight found its way through the clouds onto the ice,casting shadows and creating a diffuse glow in the foggy air.
Over dinner, in our evening recap, and going to bed, I was thoroughly happywith this day's incredible adventure, not realizing it would only getbetter.
Tuesday, January 27
We had a 5 a.m. wakeup call at Prion Island on South Georgia. The weatherwas beautiful – mostly sunny and relatively calm… the complete opposite ofthe night before.
Prion Island is one of the few places to see nesting Wandering Albatrosses. I'm not keeping a tally or taking note of all the bird we're seeing, butthe Wandering Albatross is an impressive bird. It is the world's largestflying bird, at 20 lbs, with a wing span up to 13 feet. There have been alot of them following our ship on the open seas.
We also saw the South Georgia Pipit, a little brown bird (the only nativesongbird in South Georgia). We also saw more king and gentoo penguins andfur seals. Then back to the ship for breakfast.
Our next landing was Salisbury Plain… at yesterday's landing the kingpenguins numbered in the tens of thousands, today they numbered in thehundreds of thousands, covering the beach and the grassy plain above thebeach. More fur seals too, and today also a few (enormous!) elephant seals,wallowing in the mud and making all kinds of rude noises.
Again the king penguin chicks would come up and check me out. The sound wasamazing, the air full of the trumpeting of king penguins and barking ofseals. And then there is the smell of penguin guano and seal wallows… acrid is the best word I can find.
The key to not disturbing the penguins and seals – and to getting the mostout of the experience – is to walk slowly and deliberately, and if an animalis moving, to not cut it off. As Jonathan puts it, we're doing it rightwhen the animals don't change their behavior on account of our presence. When we do this, we can walk right among the animals and they barely react,other than approaching out of curiosity. This is getting easier now thatwe've had a few successful landings… I feel like I can take it at a morerelaxed pace and really appreciate the scene without having to
After Salisbury plain, back to the ship again… nap, lunch, and another nap.
Before and after every landing, we all go through a boot wash station, toscrub any traces of mud or seeds from our boots… this is to preventtransporting any non-native species between locations.
We did our third landing of the day at Fortuna Bay. From there, we hikedthe last steps of Ernest Shackleton's epic 1916 journey. Shackleton hadcrossed 800 miles of ocean in a small lifeboat to reach South Georgia, butlanded on the west side of the island; all inhabited areas were on the eastside. So he set out on foot, climbing the 5,500-foot mountains and glaciersover the island. Our hike followed the relatively-easy final 5 miles ofthis journey – from Fortuna Bay over a low pass to the Stromness WhalingStation (now a ghost town). It was a sunny and relatively warm afternoon,perfect for the hike. The terrain transitioned from grass to rough shalewith sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and glaciers. After wewent over the pass, we descended into a wide grassy valley to the oldwhaling station. At several points along the hike, Phil read excerpts fromShackleton's own writings of the journey, describing the places we wereseeing.
Along the hike we saw reindeer, which were an odd sight in this part of theworld. The reindeer had been imported by Norwegians during the whalingperiod of the early 20th century, and a population of several thousandanimals still exists.
We could not go closer than 200 meters to the abandoned whaling station(asbestos hazard warning signs) but it was still a striking image, the ghosttown on the bay surrounded by the windswept mountains. At the perimeterwhere it was safe to walk, there was an assortment of huge propellers andother ship parts, which added to the scene.
During the last half of the hike, Roy (one of my shipmates who I've clickedwith; recent retiree from South Africa) had to take it slow because his kneewas bothering him. Everyone else hiked ahead while I stayed back withJonathan (of the staff) to keep Roy some company. Everyone made it backfine.
Back on the ship, there was an incredible sunset over the peaks and glaciersof South Georgia rising up from the ocean.
I'm enjoying the daily flow of things… wakeup call, landings, naps, meals,evening recaps. And I'm feeling like I'm clicking socially with myshipmates and the staff… I like everyone, although there are certain peopleI tend to spend more time with. I'm glad I chose the smaller ship size (48passengers) instead of a larger ship, as the trip feels more intimate andshared.
Things are going smoothly with my cabin mates, too. Wayne (from Calgary) issuper easy-going. I've figured out that Alexey (Russian) is an interpreterfor a couple other Russians on board (a fat older man and a youngerattractive woman; not sure about their story) who don't really fit. Apparently they thought everything would be in Spanish; Alexey is extremelyfluent in Spanish, less proficient but passable in English. In any case,Alexey is a great cabin-mate – friendly, neat, and quiet.
Wednesday, January 28
Woke up feeling like hell – headache and tired all over – probably frombeing dehydrated. We aren't supposed to pee on shore, so I'm only drinkinga fraction of the water I usually drink. Still, I wasn't about to miss alanding.
This morning we landed at St. Andrews Bay. Every day just gets moreamazing… at this location there are 500,000 king penguins. I'm running outof superlatives to describe the experience… we hiked up to a vantage point,from where we could see a flat expanse of a river delta flowing into thebay, and every square foot was covered by penguins. It's hard to describethe sight and the noise (and the smell). I've been taking hundreds ofphotos, but it's hard to do these scenes justice.
With all the penguins gathered along the riverbank, it reminded me of thescenes of the Ganges River (I think) in India where millions of people makea religious pilgrimage.
Other random observations… we've been seeing more elephant seals, which areenormous compared to the little fur seals. But we are seeing only adultfemale elephant seals… if there were any males on the beach, we would not belanding; adult males are aggressive and dangerous.
The weather continues to be amazing… broken clouds and sun, an occasionalshower… and of course the ever-present wind, but not as bad as the gale weencountered a couple days ago.
One thing I've noticed at South Georgia and Falklands has been how manyseals and penguins inhabit the tussock grass above the beaches. We'll benegotiating our way through the hummocks and constantly encountering sealpups and penguins.
Our next landing was Grytviken Whaling Station – the station was inoperation for over 50 years in the 20th century, and is now preserved as ahistorical site… the whale processing equipment, tanks for whale oil,church, dorms, and old whaling ships. There is also a British AntarcticSurvey research station, which houses most of South Georgia's residents(about 12). They also have a post office, so I mailed a few postcards.
The staff on our boat is crazy about Shackleton (and with good reason). Themain reason we came to Grytviken was to pay respects at Shackleton's grave. Shackleton died of heart failure en route to another Antarctic expeditionseveral years after his amazing survival tale, and his wife instructed thathe should be buried on South Georgia. It was a small cemetery with about 60graves, surrounded by a white rail fence to keep the elephant seals out. Wetook a group photo at the grave and the staff brought ashore a bottle ofwhiskey and cups so we could all raise a toast to Shackleton.
Also in the museum at Grytviken is a reproduction of the James S. Caird… thelifeboat that Shackleton sailed from Elephant Island over 800 miles to SouthGeorgia. This boat was the one used in the IMAX film, and was actuallysailed on the same journey. The staff on our ship was particularly excitedto see this boat on display, as they had delivered it here to the museum onboard our ship, the Shokalskiy, in 2008. It was pretty amazing to considerthat Shackleton had sailed this 22-foot lifeboat on the same seas that havebeen tossing our 215-foot ship about so fiercely.
To finish off the day, the staff had arranged a BBQ on deck for dinner,which was fun, but brief – we were anchored but it was still too windy andcold to stay outside long. In the evening, a young researcher from the BASstation came on board and talked about fisheries science and research, andlife at the station. He'll be here for 33 months… that will include 2winters.
Thursday, January 29
We had another early wakeup, and went straight to a landing at Gold Harbor –our last beach landing on South Georgia. Another beautiful morning; justenough clouds to create the right light effects on the icebergs drifting acouple miles off shore. Relative to the last few days, this was a smallking penguin colony. The unique feature at this site was the hangingglacier (a glacier face perched several hundred feet above the coastline). However, there was minimal calving or icefall. So as everyone went off tohike to a vantage point for the glacier, I decided to find a spot to sitamong the penguins. I sat down and let the penguins get comfortable with mypresence, and then every few minutes inched my way a little closer. At thesame time, the penguins started filling in around me; just a foot or twoaway. Some were curious and stopped to check me out; others just marchedright past... soon I was surrounded by adults and chicks. The chicks inparticular seemed oblivious to me. They are molting, so they spend a lot oftime just standing still. Then several sheathbills (white birds, about thesize of a large pigeon) showed up. Sheathbills are not shy. They startedpecking on my pack, my boot, even my (gloved) finger. And so I sat therefor more than an hour, watching and listening and taking it all in.
Later in the day we did a Zodiac cruise around Cooper Bay, where we saw ourfirst Macaroni Penguins, and then our last experience of South Georgia was acruise in the Shokalskiy up Drygaliski Fjord, which offered close-up viewsof glaciers and waterfalls. The wind was howling, which was dispersing someof the waterfalls into mist before it hit the ground. After DrygaliskiFjord, we rounded the south end of South Georgia and headed into the openseas toward the Antarctic Peninsula.
Friday, January 30
Today was an open water day, and I spent the whole day fighting seasickness(and losing the battle). I was trying the pills again, and they weren'tworking… the only thing that worked was sleeping, and the pills made meplenty sleepy anyway. I did make it to a couple lectures about glaciers (byDan) and Antarctic geology (by Phil), and a documentary about Amundsenwinning the race to the South Pole. I also attended a briefing session forkayaking, and received my drysuit and other kayak gear. And I worked on myjournal/blog in short bursts (prolonged time on the keyboard isn't good forseasickness).
Sometime late in the evening or wee hours of the morning we crossed 60degrees south latitude… the second definition of Antarctica. The only onethat remains is to stand on the continent itself.
Saturday, January 31
We arrived today at the Orkney Islands, a small group midway between SouthGeorgia and the Peninsula. We were supposed to do a landing to see AdeliePenguins here (probably our only chance to see Adelies) and also do ourfirst paddle in the kayaks. However, the wind was howling again, so Dancalled off the kayaking. Then when we landed, the Adelies were nowhere tobe found. The staff was very surprised that the Adelie colony was gone;apparently, they should be here at this time of the year in this location. There were only a few fur and elephant seals on the beach. So we hiked up aglacier… it was interesting to see the glacier up close, but we weredisappointed to miss the Adelies.
After the landing, we are back on open water; due to hit the ShetlandIslands (just off the peninsula) tomorrow. I'm feeling less seasick today…maybe a combination of less rough seas, the walk on solid land, and tryingthe patch again instead of the pills.
Sunday, January 25
Open water day… rough seas. Ate breakfast, then rode the exercise bike downin the lecture room (almost went over the handlebars due to the pitching ofthe ship). Felt good to get some exercise, but soon after, I startedfeeling seasick. Tried to eat lunch, but was only able to eat some breadbefore I felt nauseous. The only thing that seemed to help was laying flaton my back, and so that is how I spent the day. Thankfully I wasn't missingmuch, as the only activities were lectures and movies. Tried to eat dinner,but same results… only bread and some broth before the nausea hit again, soback to bed I went. Finally, I decided to give up on the scopolaminepatches, and went to talk to Dr. John. He gave me some pills that seemed todo the trick; only problem is they make me a little sleepy. Went to bedwith a warning from Shane that tomorrow's landings didn't look promising dueto weather conditions. Somebody mentioned they'd heard that the Orlova(another ship doing a similar route, a few days ahead of us) had scrubbedall of its South Georgia landings and headed on to the Antarctic Peninsula. For the cost and effort to get here, and now the seasickness, I was feelingpretty disheartened about the prospects of the next few days.
Monday, January 26
After a discouraging start, today turned out to be one of the days that Iknow will be the most memorable of the trip.
Shane (our expedition leader) called off our first stop at Elsehul Bay onSouth Georgia Island due to rough weather, so we went on to Right Whale Bayto attempt our next landing after lunch. As we pulled into Right Whale Bayand the shoreline became visible through the fog, I saw what looked like adirty glacier coming down from the mountains to a rocky shoreline… then Irealized the "glacier" was a multitude of penguins, and the "rocks" wereseals! We anchored a couple miles offshore, and even from there we couldhear the cacophony from the animals on shore. We watched anxiously from thebridge as the staff sent a Zodiac ashore to see if a safe landing could bemade, and we were happy when Shane decided to make it a go.
By the time we got into the Zodiac to head to shore, the sun was shining,but it started raining again before we even got to shore. As we weregetting out of the Zodiac on the beach, a sneaker wave drenched us. Then Iwas walking a little too low on the beach, and a couple more waves washed inand splashed into my boots… so I spent most of the shore time with wet feet.
However, the cold/wet feet hardly mattered. When I was booking myAntarctica trip, Joy, my travel agent enthusiastically recommended includingSouth Georgia (thanks Joy!). And here on our first landing, I understoodwhy. The beach was covered with tens of thousands of king penguins andthousands of fur seals. As soon as I jumped out of the Zodiac and turnedaround on the beach, there I was face-to-face with several curious penguinsand seals.
The small seal pups were like little puppies… they would excitedly run alongside you or right at you, with a gurgling sort of growl, staring up witheyes way too big for their little heads. The older juvenile seals wouldfeign ferociousness and charge at you, only to retreat immediately to a safedistance when they realize you're not afraid of them.
This was a breeding and molting ground for king penguins. Young chicksstart out covered by feathers that look like a very fluffy brown fur coat –it makes them look bigger than the adults. Some of them had their "coat"intact, while others were starting to molt… in some cases making them lookpretty scraggly. Likewise many of the adults were also undergoing theirannual molting. Many of them were trumpeting.
The penguin chicks are very curious, and if I stood still, they would walkright up to me with an inquisitive look, sometimes tilting their head atfunny angles or flapping their flippers to get a reaction.
We followed Jonathan down the beach to the best viewing point near theperimeter of the main part of the colony. There was a light drizzle and anincreasing wind the whole time we were on shore. Eventually the wind becamecause for concern… a violent gust nearly knocked me off my feet and I swearI saw Nico (who is my size) lifted off the ground momentarily. When Iturned around, Johann, Lay Chin, and Claire were flat on their backs on themuddy ground… I found out later each had minor injuries as a result. Everyone gathered behind a rock outcrop and in stages made our way back tothe landing site as the Zodiacs ferried us back to shore… I heard one of thestaff estimate the winds at 60-knots. The really dicey part was gettingfrom the Zodiac to the gangway platform as the ship and platform rolled withthe swells, while wind and smaller waves tossed the Zodiac back and forth…gladly, everyone made it safely back on board. Obviously, there was realcause for concern during this whole episode, and I'm sure the staff was onedge, but they handled it all calmly and that kept all of us calm, too… andin the end everyone felt that it was all part of the adventure.
By the time I got back to the ship, I was completely chilled, so I wentstraight to the shower. Then I had enough time to relax in the bar for afew minutes before dinner, when someone called out an iceberg (a first forme, as I had apparently missed a previous sighting)… I grabbed my camera anddashed outside in my t-shirt. It was surreal… this massive piece of ice,many times bigger than our ship, floating out there. Although it was mostlyfoggy, a shaft of sunlight found its way through the clouds onto the ice,casting shadows and creating a diffuse glow in the foggy air.
Over dinner, in our evening recap, and going to bed, I was thoroughly happywith this day's incredible adventure, not realizing it would only getbetter.
Tuesday, January 27
We had a 5 a.m. wakeup call at Prion Island on South Georgia. The weatherwas beautiful – mostly sunny and relatively calm… the complete opposite ofthe night before.
Prion Island is one of the few places to see nesting Wandering Albatrosses. I'm not keeping a tally or taking note of all the bird we're seeing, butthe Wandering Albatross is an impressive bird. It is the world's largestflying bird, at 20 lbs, with a wing span up to 13 feet. There have been alot of them following our ship on the open seas.
We also saw the South Georgia Pipit, a little brown bird (the only nativesongbird in South Georgia). We also saw more king and gentoo penguins andfur seals. Then back to the ship for breakfast.
Our next landing was Salisbury Plain… at yesterday's landing the kingpenguins numbered in the tens of thousands, today they numbered in thehundreds of thousands, covering the beach and the grassy plain above thebeach. More fur seals too, and today also a few (enormous!) elephant seals,wallowing in the mud and making all kinds of rude noises.
Again the king penguin chicks would come up and check me out. The sound wasamazing, the air full of the trumpeting of king penguins and barking ofseals. And then there is the smell of penguin guano and seal wallows… acrid is the best word I can find.
The key to not disturbing the penguins and seals – and to getting the mostout of the experience – is to walk slowly and deliberately, and if an animalis moving, to not cut it off. As Jonathan puts it, we're doing it rightwhen the animals don't change their behavior on account of our presence. When we do this, we can walk right among the animals and they barely react,other than approaching out of curiosity. This is getting easier now thatwe've had a few successful landings… I feel like I can take it at a morerelaxed pace and really appreciate the scene without having to
After Salisbury plain, back to the ship again… nap, lunch, and another nap.
Before and after every landing, we all go through a boot wash station, toscrub any traces of mud or seeds from our boots… this is to preventtransporting any non-native species between locations.
We did our third landing of the day at Fortuna Bay. From there, we hikedthe last steps of Ernest Shackleton's epic 1916 journey. Shackleton hadcrossed 800 miles of ocean in a small lifeboat to reach South Georgia, butlanded on the west side of the island; all inhabited areas were on the eastside. So he set out on foot, climbing the 5,500-foot mountains and glaciersover the island. Our hike followed the relatively-easy final 5 miles ofthis journey – from Fortuna Bay over a low pass to the Stromness WhalingStation (now a ghost town). It was a sunny and relatively warm afternoon,perfect for the hike. The terrain transitioned from grass to rough shalewith sweeping views of the surrounding mountains and glaciers. After wewent over the pass, we descended into a wide grassy valley to the oldwhaling station. At several points along the hike, Phil read excerpts fromShackleton's own writings of the journey, describing the places we wereseeing.
Along the hike we saw reindeer, which were an odd sight in this part of theworld. The reindeer had been imported by Norwegians during the whalingperiod of the early 20th century, and a population of several thousandanimals still exists.
We could not go closer than 200 meters to the abandoned whaling station(asbestos hazard warning signs) but it was still a striking image, the ghosttown on the bay surrounded by the windswept mountains. At the perimeterwhere it was safe to walk, there was an assortment of huge propellers andother ship parts, which added to the scene.
During the last half of the hike, Roy (one of my shipmates who I've clickedwith; recent retiree from South Africa) had to take it slow because his kneewas bothering him. Everyone else hiked ahead while I stayed back withJonathan (of the staff) to keep Roy some company. Everyone made it backfine.
Back on the ship, there was an incredible sunset over the peaks and glaciersof South Georgia rising up from the ocean.
I'm enjoying the daily flow of things… wakeup call, landings, naps, meals,evening recaps. And I'm feeling like I'm clicking socially with myshipmates and the staff… I like everyone, although there are certain peopleI tend to spend more time with. I'm glad I chose the smaller ship size (48passengers) instead of a larger ship, as the trip feels more intimate andshared.
Things are going smoothly with my cabin mates, too. Wayne (from Calgary) issuper easy-going. I've figured out that Alexey (Russian) is an interpreterfor a couple other Russians on board (a fat older man and a youngerattractive woman; not sure about their story) who don't really fit. Apparently they thought everything would be in Spanish; Alexey is extremelyfluent in Spanish, less proficient but passable in English. In any case,Alexey is a great cabin-mate – friendly, neat, and quiet.
Wednesday, January 28
Woke up feeling like hell – headache and tired all over – probably frombeing dehydrated. We aren't supposed to pee on shore, so I'm only drinkinga fraction of the water I usually drink. Still, I wasn't about to miss alanding.
This morning we landed at St. Andrews Bay. Every day just gets moreamazing… at this location there are 500,000 king penguins. I'm running outof superlatives to describe the experience… we hiked up to a vantage point,from where we could see a flat expanse of a river delta flowing into thebay, and every square foot was covered by penguins. It's hard to describethe sight and the noise (and the smell). I've been taking hundreds ofphotos, but it's hard to do these scenes justice.
With all the penguins gathered along the riverbank, it reminded me of thescenes of the Ganges River (I think) in India where millions of people makea religious pilgrimage.
Other random observations… we've been seeing more elephant seals, which areenormous compared to the little fur seals. But we are seeing only adultfemale elephant seals… if there were any males on the beach, we would not belanding; adult males are aggressive and dangerous.
The weather continues to be amazing… broken clouds and sun, an occasionalshower… and of course the ever-present wind, but not as bad as the gale weencountered a couple days ago.
One thing I've noticed at South Georgia and Falklands has been how manyseals and penguins inhabit the tussock grass above the beaches. We'll benegotiating our way through the hummocks and constantly encountering sealpups and penguins.
Our next landing was Grytviken Whaling Station – the station was inoperation for over 50 years in the 20th century, and is now preserved as ahistorical site… the whale processing equipment, tanks for whale oil,church, dorms, and old whaling ships. There is also a British AntarcticSurvey research station, which houses most of South Georgia's residents(about 12). They also have a post office, so I mailed a few postcards.
The staff on our boat is crazy about Shackleton (and with good reason). Themain reason we came to Grytviken was to pay respects at Shackleton's grave. Shackleton died of heart failure en route to another Antarctic expeditionseveral years after his amazing survival tale, and his wife instructed thathe should be buried on South Georgia. It was a small cemetery with about 60graves, surrounded by a white rail fence to keep the elephant seals out. Wetook a group photo at the grave and the staff brought ashore a bottle ofwhiskey and cups so we could all raise a toast to Shackleton.
Also in the museum at Grytviken is a reproduction of the James S. Caird… thelifeboat that Shackleton sailed from Elephant Island over 800 miles to SouthGeorgia. This boat was the one used in the IMAX film, and was actuallysailed on the same journey. The staff on our ship was particularly excitedto see this boat on display, as they had delivered it here to the museum onboard our ship, the Shokalskiy, in 2008. It was pretty amazing to considerthat Shackleton had sailed this 22-foot lifeboat on the same seas that havebeen tossing our 215-foot ship about so fiercely.
To finish off the day, the staff had arranged a BBQ on deck for dinner,which was fun, but brief – we were anchored but it was still too windy andcold to stay outside long. In the evening, a young researcher from the BASstation came on board and talked about fisheries science and research, andlife at the station. He'll be here for 33 months… that will include 2winters.
Thursday, January 29
We had another early wakeup, and went straight to a landing at Gold Harbor –our last beach landing on South Georgia. Another beautiful morning; justenough clouds to create the right light effects on the icebergs drifting acouple miles off shore. Relative to the last few days, this was a smallking penguin colony. The unique feature at this site was the hangingglacier (a glacier face perched several hundred feet above the coastline). However, there was minimal calving or icefall. So as everyone went off tohike to a vantage point for the glacier, I decided to find a spot to sitamong the penguins. I sat down and let the penguins get comfortable with mypresence, and then every few minutes inched my way a little closer. At thesame time, the penguins started filling in around me; just a foot or twoaway. Some were curious and stopped to check me out; others just marchedright past... soon I was surrounded by adults and chicks. The chicks inparticular seemed oblivious to me. They are molting, so they spend a lot oftime just standing still. Then several sheathbills (white birds, about thesize of a large pigeon) showed up. Sheathbills are not shy. They startedpecking on my pack, my boot, even my (gloved) finger. And so I sat therefor more than an hour, watching and listening and taking it all in.
Later in the day we did a Zodiac cruise around Cooper Bay, where we saw ourfirst Macaroni Penguins, and then our last experience of South Georgia was acruise in the Shokalskiy up Drygaliski Fjord, which offered close-up viewsof glaciers and waterfalls. The wind was howling, which was dispersing someof the waterfalls into mist before it hit the ground. After DrygaliskiFjord, we rounded the south end of South Georgia and headed into the openseas toward the Antarctic Peninsula.
Friday, January 30
Today was an open water day, and I spent the whole day fighting seasickness(and losing the battle). I was trying the pills again, and they weren'tworking… the only thing that worked was sleeping, and the pills made meplenty sleepy anyway. I did make it to a couple lectures about glaciers (byDan) and Antarctic geology (by Phil), and a documentary about Amundsenwinning the race to the South Pole. I also attended a briefing session forkayaking, and received my drysuit and other kayak gear. And I worked on myjournal/blog in short bursts (prolonged time on the keyboard isn't good forseasickness).
Sometime late in the evening or wee hours of the morning we crossed 60degrees south latitude… the second definition of Antarctica. The only onethat remains is to stand on the continent itself.
Saturday, January 31
We arrived today at the Orkney Islands, a small group midway between SouthGeorgia and the Peninsula. We were supposed to do a landing to see AdeliePenguins here (probably our only chance to see Adelies) and also do ourfirst paddle in the kayaks. However, the wind was howling again, so Dancalled off the kayaking. Then when we landed, the Adelies were nowhere tobe found. The staff was very surprised that the Adelie colony was gone;apparently, they should be here at this time of the year in this location. There were only a few fur and elephant seals on the beach. So we hiked up aglacier… it was interesting to see the glacier up close, but we weredisappointed to miss the Adelies.
After the landing, we are back on open water; due to hit the ShetlandIslands (just off the peninsula) tomorrow. I'm feeling less seasick today…maybe a combination of less rough seas, the walk on solid land, and tryingthe patch again instead of the pills.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
I've reached Antarctica! (sort of)
Today was open water all day… Dan and Jonathan taught us about whales andicebergs, and we spent time on the top deck tallying different seabirds andlooking for whales (which of course showed up later when I was napping). Wealso heard an interesting talk about Ernest Shackleton, from Phil. Thisevening we watched part 2 of a drama about Shackleton's incredible journeyto bring rescue to his men, after his ship got trapped in the ice.
Even with no landings, they keep us busy all day, so even the open waterdays go by quickly.
We're about two thirds of the way between the Falklands and South GeorgiaIsland, due to arrive at South Georgia Tuesday morning. Rough seas areforecast for the next 24 hours. I'm wondering if it will be worse thanWednesday – the crew records the ship's motion, and we apparently were 45degrees from vertical at some point on Wednesday.
The most significant event today passed around 10:00 p.m. Saturday withlittle fanfare, even though I felt like it was kind of a big deal. Wecrossed the Antarctic Convergence – a distinct line between colder Antarcticwaters and the relatively warmer South Atlantic Ocean. This is onedefinition of Antarctica: everything south of the Convergence. So I cansay that I am in Antarctica now! (The other two definitions are everythingsouth of 60 degrees south latitude, and finally, the continent itself).
Even with no landings, they keep us busy all day, so even the open waterdays go by quickly.
We're about two thirds of the way between the Falklands and South GeorgiaIsland, due to arrive at South Georgia Tuesday morning. Rough seas areforecast for the next 24 hours. I'm wondering if it will be worse thanWednesday – the crew records the ship's motion, and we apparently were 45degrees from vertical at some point on Wednesday.
The most significant event today passed around 10:00 p.m. Saturday withlittle fanfare, even though I felt like it was kind of a big deal. Wecrossed the Antarctic Convergence – a distinct line between colder Antarcticwaters and the relatively warmer South Atlantic Ocean. This is onedefinition of Antarctica: everything south of the Convergence. So I cansay that I am in Antarctica now! (The other two definitions are everythingsouth of 60 degrees south latitude, and finally, the continent itself).
Friday, January 23, 2009
Ushuaia to the Falklands
Tuesday, embarkation day, I took a nice long walk from the hotel to downtown Ushuaia and stopped by an internet/phone shop... in addition to a call and email there, I also watched the inauguration, as they had it on TV there. I was flummoxed when the broadcast switched from English to dubbed-over Spanish 7 minutes before the inauguration. I even dashed out onto the street to look for a place nearby that might have had it in English, but no luck. So I went back to the internet place... in the end, I found it fitting to watch it in Spanish – from most people I talked to, the whole world is following the story of our new president. Even the main tourist street in Ushuaia was nearly deserted during the inauguration.
We met our bus at 3:30, and were driven a very short distance through the Port to the pier where our ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy was waiting. Like several other boats in this part of the world, Shokalskiy is a Russian-owned boat with a Russian crew. So in addition to announcements from the Staff over the PA, sometimes we also hear the captain, in Russian, alerting the crew to some issue or other. I like the ship. It was built in the early 1980's as a research vessel used by several institutions, including Seattle University. The ship is clean and basic. The staff are enthusiastic, friendly, and knowledgeable, and very safety-conscious.
At 5:43 we were underway. As we sailed down the Beagle Channel, we met fellow passengers (46 passengers total), checked out our cabins, received our parkas and loaner boots, had a welcome session, did a safety briefing and lifeboat drill, had dinner and, stood on the deck watching birds and scenery. We can also visit the Captain's bridge anytime; later that evening, I went up to the bridge and looked out and saw dolphins "bow riding" – swimming along in the wave off the bow. I ran to get my parka and camera, but by then, the dolphins were gone. I would be frustrated for the next 36 hours as I missed the appearance of the dolphins every time I took a nap.
My cabin mates are Wayne from Calgary, Canada, and Alexey from St. Petersburg, Russia. I am in one of the two triple cabins on this ship, with a shared loo and shower… very tight quarters, and getting in and out of my top bunk is awkward – but the cabin-sharing seems to be working OK. Plus we don't spend much time in the cabins anyway… we're usually on a landing, a briefing in the classroom, or hanging out in the bar.
Every day we get a flyer with the day's scheduled activities and times… landings, lectures, mealtimes, etc. We'll typically do two landings per day. Everything seems to happen efficiently, and it all feels well-planned. And the food is good and healthy.
Wednesday, we were on open ocean all day. And it was crazy… big swells kept the boat rocking and rolling all day. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and couldn't fall asleep again, as I was getting tossed about by the movement of the ship. Walking anywhere was a challenge, and mealtime was also interesting, trying to keep things from flying off the table. A surprisingly few people got seasick, but I felt OK – probably thanks to good meds (scopalomine patches) but maybe I'm not sensitive. The staff kept us busy all day with lecture sessions about wildlife, history, and photography. Plus we spent more time on the bridge looking out for birds and other wildlife… I was happy to be the first to spot a whale; not sure what species it was because we only saw the spouting and one brief glimpse of the dorsal fin. For being on open water, the day went by quickly. Later in the evening, we stood on the top deck and Dan pointed out various constellations, including the Southern Cross, and explained a little about how mariners used stars to navigate.
Thursday we awoke with the ship anchored at our first landing site. After an early (6:30) breakfast, we "kitted up" as Shane the expedition leader says – donning parkas, rain pants, boots, etc. – and then got into Zodiacs to be transferred to shore. Boarding the zodiacs was an exciting process in the rough seas – the rubber Zodiaks get tossed like toys on the waves, while people are trying to get off the gangplank and into the Zodiaks. Our first landing was at New Island, which is one of the Falkland Islands. On shore we visited a bird colony… I got to see my first penguins in the wild… rockhopper penguins. Also blue-eyed shag (a species of cormorant), and black-browed albatross. We were told if you sit down and stay still long enough, the birds come to you – sometimes taking a nibble at your boot to check you out, or even hopping right up on you. I had some close encounters with a couple rockhoppers, but more notably I was approached by several albatrosses, including one that climbed up on the rock a foot above my head.
We came back to the ship, had lunch, and cruised to our next location, Carcass Island. On the Zodiac ride to shore, we were followed by two Commerson's dolphins that swam along side the Zodiaks, almost close enough to reach out and touch – wow. On Carcass Island, we saw Magellanic Penguins and Gentoo Penguins, nesting near the shore. Then we did a hike up a long ridge on the island. Great views, and a surprise as we crested the ridge and found a gentoo penguin colony on top of the mountain! Seemed very odd that the penguins would choose to make that location their breeding grounds, but there they were. We ended the hike at the home/farm of the only two permanent residents of the island, where they served tea and pastries. Then back to the ship.
Also Thursday, I finally met the other Seattle people… Barbara and Rick, a recently-retired couple. Additionally, Dan, our kayak guide, is originally from Seattle. And Gordon, another fellow passenger, is an engineer who used to live in Seattle and knows several people at R.W. Beck, where I work. The people on this ship are from all over the world, so I'm kinda proud that there are four Seattleites out of about 50 passengers and staff.
I'm on the younger end of the age range among the passengers. The majority are in 50-60 range… several are recent retirees. There are people from United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Hong Kong, and Australia, and probably other countries.
Today (Friday), we woke up in the Port of Stanley, really the only proper town in the Falklands, and the capital. It is a quaint little town… they have preserved the historical feel of the place, although I'm not sure whether that is by intent, or simply because it is so absolutely remote. We Zodiaked to shore, and a few of us jumped in a taxi and went down the road to the nature preserve, where we did a hike that was considerably longer that I expected… saw more Magellanic penguins, mostly in their burrows. Betty-Lou and I fell behind the rest of the group because we were stopping frequently to take photos (she is a professional wildlife photographer). At one point, we just sat down and watched an adult and chick sunning themselves in front of the burrow.
At the end of the hike, I flagged down what I thought was the taxi, but it turned out to be a private vehicle. As soon as I realized my mistake, I apologized, but the driver cheerfully invited us to ride with him. We made it back in town, and went to a pub called the Globe. Had excellent fish and chips (so good I had to order another plate) and a few beers (ah, yes, beer before noon). Walked around the waterfront a little… saw more dolphins swimming in the shallows near the pier, and stopped at the post office. Then back aboard.
The ship tends to be quite warm (I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt as I write this), but that is better than being too cold. It is usually quite cold standing on deck, largely due to the wind. On land, the temps have been pleasant… I was down to a t-shirt today.
There are lots of fun little details about being on the ship. We scrub and disinfect our boots before and after each landing to prevent the introduction of non-native species between islands. We have a little tag board that indicates when we are on or off ship (which I still need to remember better). Another rule is "one hand for the ship," meaning keep one hand free to grab rails or to brace against walls as the ship rolls about. And we wake up each morning to Shane's mellow voice over the PA, with a cheery good morning, and news on weather, breakfast time, and the first planned landing.
Wildlife sightings are good for camaraderie on board… everyone, staff and passengers alike, really gets into comparing what's been seen. I am keeping general track of the interesting/big ones, but not keeping a detailed check list. Plus I have taken photos of just about every species I see.
Once we were all back on board this afternoon, we were quickly underway. It'll be two days of open ocean to reach the South Georgia Islands – wildlife mecca!
We met our bus at 3:30, and were driven a very short distance through the Port to the pier where our ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy was waiting. Like several other boats in this part of the world, Shokalskiy is a Russian-owned boat with a Russian crew. So in addition to announcements from the Staff over the PA, sometimes we also hear the captain, in Russian, alerting the crew to some issue or other. I like the ship. It was built in the early 1980's as a research vessel used by several institutions, including Seattle University. The ship is clean and basic. The staff are enthusiastic, friendly, and knowledgeable, and very safety-conscious.
At 5:43 we were underway. As we sailed down the Beagle Channel, we met fellow passengers (46 passengers total), checked out our cabins, received our parkas and loaner boots, had a welcome session, did a safety briefing and lifeboat drill, had dinner and, stood on the deck watching birds and scenery. We can also visit the Captain's bridge anytime; later that evening, I went up to the bridge and looked out and saw dolphins "bow riding" – swimming along in the wave off the bow. I ran to get my parka and camera, but by then, the dolphins were gone. I would be frustrated for the next 36 hours as I missed the appearance of the dolphins every time I took a nap.
My cabin mates are Wayne from Calgary, Canada, and Alexey from St. Petersburg, Russia. I am in one of the two triple cabins on this ship, with a shared loo and shower… very tight quarters, and getting in and out of my top bunk is awkward – but the cabin-sharing seems to be working OK. Plus we don't spend much time in the cabins anyway… we're usually on a landing, a briefing in the classroom, or hanging out in the bar.
Every day we get a flyer with the day's scheduled activities and times… landings, lectures, mealtimes, etc. We'll typically do two landings per day. Everything seems to happen efficiently, and it all feels well-planned. And the food is good and healthy.
Wednesday, we were on open ocean all day. And it was crazy… big swells kept the boat rocking and rolling all day. I woke up at 4:30 a.m. and couldn't fall asleep again, as I was getting tossed about by the movement of the ship. Walking anywhere was a challenge, and mealtime was also interesting, trying to keep things from flying off the table. A surprisingly few people got seasick, but I felt OK – probably thanks to good meds (scopalomine patches) but maybe I'm not sensitive. The staff kept us busy all day with lecture sessions about wildlife, history, and photography. Plus we spent more time on the bridge looking out for birds and other wildlife… I was happy to be the first to spot a whale; not sure what species it was because we only saw the spouting and one brief glimpse of the dorsal fin. For being on open water, the day went by quickly. Later in the evening, we stood on the top deck and Dan pointed out various constellations, including the Southern Cross, and explained a little about how mariners used stars to navigate.
Thursday we awoke with the ship anchored at our first landing site. After an early (6:30) breakfast, we "kitted up" as Shane the expedition leader says – donning parkas, rain pants, boots, etc. – and then got into Zodiacs to be transferred to shore. Boarding the zodiacs was an exciting process in the rough seas – the rubber Zodiaks get tossed like toys on the waves, while people are trying to get off the gangplank and into the Zodiaks. Our first landing was at New Island, which is one of the Falkland Islands. On shore we visited a bird colony… I got to see my first penguins in the wild… rockhopper penguins. Also blue-eyed shag (a species of cormorant), and black-browed albatross. We were told if you sit down and stay still long enough, the birds come to you – sometimes taking a nibble at your boot to check you out, or even hopping right up on you. I had some close encounters with a couple rockhoppers, but more notably I was approached by several albatrosses, including one that climbed up on the rock a foot above my head.
We came back to the ship, had lunch, and cruised to our next location, Carcass Island. On the Zodiac ride to shore, we were followed by two Commerson's dolphins that swam along side the Zodiaks, almost close enough to reach out and touch – wow. On Carcass Island, we saw Magellanic Penguins and Gentoo Penguins, nesting near the shore. Then we did a hike up a long ridge on the island. Great views, and a surprise as we crested the ridge and found a gentoo penguin colony on top of the mountain! Seemed very odd that the penguins would choose to make that location their breeding grounds, but there they were. We ended the hike at the home/farm of the only two permanent residents of the island, where they served tea and pastries. Then back to the ship.
Also Thursday, I finally met the other Seattle people… Barbara and Rick, a recently-retired couple. Additionally, Dan, our kayak guide, is originally from Seattle. And Gordon, another fellow passenger, is an engineer who used to live in Seattle and knows several people at R.W. Beck, where I work. The people on this ship are from all over the world, so I'm kinda proud that there are four Seattleites out of about 50 passengers and staff.
I'm on the younger end of the age range among the passengers. The majority are in 50-60 range… several are recent retirees. There are people from United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, UK, Hong Kong, and Australia, and probably other countries.
Today (Friday), we woke up in the Port of Stanley, really the only proper town in the Falklands, and the capital. It is a quaint little town… they have preserved the historical feel of the place, although I'm not sure whether that is by intent, or simply because it is so absolutely remote. We Zodiaked to shore, and a few of us jumped in a taxi and went down the road to the nature preserve, where we did a hike that was considerably longer that I expected… saw more Magellanic penguins, mostly in their burrows. Betty-Lou and I fell behind the rest of the group because we were stopping frequently to take photos (she is a professional wildlife photographer). At one point, we just sat down and watched an adult and chick sunning themselves in front of the burrow.
At the end of the hike, I flagged down what I thought was the taxi, but it turned out to be a private vehicle. As soon as I realized my mistake, I apologized, but the driver cheerfully invited us to ride with him. We made it back in town, and went to a pub called the Globe. Had excellent fish and chips (so good I had to order another plate) and a few beers (ah, yes, beer before noon). Walked around the waterfront a little… saw more dolphins swimming in the shallows near the pier, and stopped at the post office. Then back aboard.
The ship tends to be quite warm (I'm wearing shorts and a t-shirt as I write this), but that is better than being too cold. It is usually quite cold standing on deck, largely due to the wind. On land, the temps have been pleasant… I was down to a t-shirt today.
There are lots of fun little details about being on the ship. We scrub and disinfect our boots before and after each landing to prevent the introduction of non-native species between islands. We have a little tag board that indicates when we are on or off ship (which I still need to remember better). Another rule is "one hand for the ship," meaning keep one hand free to grab rails or to brace against walls as the ship rolls about. And we wake up each morning to Shane's mellow voice over the PA, with a cheery good morning, and news on weather, breakfast time, and the first planned landing.
Wildlife sightings are good for camaraderie on board… everyone, staff and passengers alike, really gets into comparing what's been seen. I am keeping general track of the interesting/big ones, but not keeping a detailed check list. Plus I have taken photos of just about every species I see.
Once we were all back on board this afternoon, we were quickly underway. It'll be two days of open ocean to reach the South Georgia Islands – wildlife mecca!
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Embarkation Day! Inauguration Day!
We board the ship today! I'll just have time to catch the inauguration at a hotel lobby somewhere in town (2:00 p.m. local time) and then we meet at the Pier at 3:30. A couple hours later we'll be sailing east down the Beagle Channel, bound for our first stop in the Falkland Islands. Based on the wind today, I'll be applying the seasickness med patches immediately. I don't know if I get seasick, but I've heard enough stories that I don't want to find out. We'll have some long open water crossings at first... time for lectures from the staff about ice and ecology and climate, and reading, relaxing, and getting to know my 45 shipmates.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Even if I wasn’t leaving for Antarctica in less than 24 hours, I could return home now with happy memories. The last few days will be among the highlights of my trip.
To preface: prior to and during this trip, I have been reading the book Uttermost Part of the Earth, by Lucas Bridges, published in 1949 (thanks to Mike DiGioia for recommending this book). It’s an amazing true history, and superbly-written – one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone. Lucas’ father, Thomas Bridges, an English missionary, was the first successful European settler here in Tierra del Fuego in 1871. The book describes how Thomas started a family here in a place that was remote and wild and inhospitable. The Bridges family became friends of the native people, and they eventually left mission work to try to save the natives from being annihilated by advancing European civilization in Argentina. Sadly, they were only able to delay the inevitable, and the native cultures are all now extinct. However, the Bridges family, and their descendants, the Goodalls, still live here on two of their original estancia (ranch) homesteads. The estancias are still working farms.
Before I’d even heard about this book, I had made reservations to stay at Estancia Viamonte… which, it turns out, was the last and largest estancia that Lucas Bridges founded, in the early 1900’s, in large part to provide a refuge for the Ona people (one of the native tribes) to live and work. As I started reading the book, prior to the trip, I realized what an amazing opportunity this would be, to experience a living piece of history.
Thursday evening I arrived in Ushuaia, now a town of about 60,000 people, and the port from which my Antarctica cruise departs. Although the city of Ushuaia is unremarkable (growing rapidly with no thought to urban planning), the setting is breathtaking. The mountains, 7,000 feet high and dusted with snow (even now in “summer”), rise straight up from the ocean to ring the city. Ushuaia was the site of Thomas Bridges’ first mission village with the Yaghan people, a coastal tribe who lived by fishing and hunting seals.
Thursday and Friday I stayed at a little B&B owned by a woman named Silvia. An architect, she had built the house… modern and clean, but fairly Spartan. Silvia was something of an odd duck, but it was a decent place to stay.
Friday I did an 8-mile hike in the hills and on the coastline of Tierra del Fuego National Park… along the Beagle Channel, near Ushuaia. It was a damp and windy day and so I encountered only a few other people on the trail, even though this is the high season. Again, this all feels like home to me… the geology and setting (mountains and coastline), climate (damp), plants, even the smells. I saw some interesting birds and the setting was beautiful, but the most interesting thing was seeing the middens at the Yaghan village sites at each little bay along the trail… the distinct circular mounds of shells and bones and other refuse that built up around the huts over thousands of years, very clearly described in Lucas Bridges’ book. There are no interpretive signs or anything to even protect these sites… in fact, I would guess most people don’t even notice them, since they’re just grassy mounds now. And so I could walk right among them and imagine the people that had been there 100 years ago.
On the bus back to town, I met an ornithologist named Anniche, from Switzerland, who was getting ready to work her third season as a naturalist on an Antarctic expedition ship (not mine). I scrolled through all the bird photos on my camera and she was able to identify every one.
Friday night, I walked a long way (much longer than I bargained for, especially after having already hiked 8 miles) to a restaurant far away from the touristy areas. It was right on the water, and I had a superb meal and drinks. It was a little odd, though, because I literally had the place to myself – at 9 p.m.… apparently it is the place where the young local crowd hangs out, but not ‘til much later. My waiter said there would be a great scene at midnight, but I was wiped out and went home.
Saturday I rented a car and drove up to Estancia Viamonte. The highway (surprisingly good roads here) went through beautiful valleys and moorlands surrounded by snow-capped mountains, over a low pass, and then along a lake. The landscape transitioned to the windblown coastal rangelands where there are numerous estancias. I took a detour off the highway on a gravel road through rolling rangeland out to the coast… along the way I saw many sheep, as well as numerous wild guanaco, which are closely related to llamas.
On the coast, I saw the rusty remains of a ship that wrecked in the 1980’s… a surreal scene and a good photo opportunity.
Back to the highway, I traveled on up to the estancia… a homestead and farm right on the coast, extending into rolling hills interspersed with grass and scrubby trees. When I arrived, it was apparently siesta time (as with many Latin countries, Argentines take siesta seriously) and so I had to let myself in through the front gate and wandered around the place before finding the right house, and then was greeted by another couple of guests waiting for our hosts. Soon, however, our hosts turned up, and gave us a warm welcome… we sat and chatted over drinks and they were very pleased when they found that I was reading Uttermost… I asked Adrian, the great-grandson of Thomas Bridges (now a grandfather himself), to sign my copy of the book. We were given a tour of the estancia... among the things we saw was the “company store” complete with dusty old account books, with entries by Lucas Bridges and full of other names I recognized from the book. In the evening we had a wonderful dinner. We stayed in the house on the estancia that was Lucas’, and I think I even slept in the original master bedroom.
The Goodalls were amazing hosts… Adrian, Simon (his son), and Simon’s wife Carolina. Even their beautiful little girls greeted me with kisses on the cheek.
Sunday, I got up, had a great breakfast and chatted with the other guests (only two other couples here besides me… one couple from Denmark and one couple from Brazil, with an adorable baby daughter). Adrian gave me a key to a part of the estancia down the road aways on the coast – the original homestead site – and so I drove down there and walked around and took some photos. I came back, read a little, took a siesta (when in Rome…) and later met the only other guest for the evening – a gentleman who is a member of Canada’s parliament.
It was an incredible experience, seeing the places described (and illustrated) in the book, but even better to be so warmly welcomed into the home of this “first family” of Tierra del Fuego. I felt like I made new friends.
On the way back to Ushuaia today (Monday) I stopped in Harberton, another of the Bridges/Goodall family homesteads. I took a tour of an excellent little museum the family started there with skeletal specimens of many of the marine species, then another tour of the estancia. And Natalie and Thomas Goodall (also fourth generation, at Harberton) signed my book, too.
Back to Ushuaia… found my hotel, showed up a little late for the briefing meeting but got the basic info for embarking tomorrow. Met several of my fellow shipmates, including one of my cabin mates, Wayne from Calgary. Then went back into town to return the rental car and find dinner. I queried the group if anyone wanted to join me and was joined by Faye from Hong Kong… she’s the director of the World Wildlife Fund branch in Hong Kong, and we hit it off… lots of good discussion about environmental issues and science. Finally taxi back to the hotel and now blogging and listening to CNN abuzz with inauguration coverage.
To preface: prior to and during this trip, I have been reading the book Uttermost Part of the Earth, by Lucas Bridges, published in 1949 (thanks to Mike DiGioia for recommending this book). It’s an amazing true history, and superbly-written – one of the best books I’ve ever read, and I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone. Lucas’ father, Thomas Bridges, an English missionary, was the first successful European settler here in Tierra del Fuego in 1871. The book describes how Thomas started a family here in a place that was remote and wild and inhospitable. The Bridges family became friends of the native people, and they eventually left mission work to try to save the natives from being annihilated by advancing European civilization in Argentina. Sadly, they were only able to delay the inevitable, and the native cultures are all now extinct. However, the Bridges family, and their descendants, the Goodalls, still live here on two of their original estancia (ranch) homesteads. The estancias are still working farms.
Before I’d even heard about this book, I had made reservations to stay at Estancia Viamonte… which, it turns out, was the last and largest estancia that Lucas Bridges founded, in the early 1900’s, in large part to provide a refuge for the Ona people (one of the native tribes) to live and work. As I started reading the book, prior to the trip, I realized what an amazing opportunity this would be, to experience a living piece of history.
Thursday evening I arrived in Ushuaia, now a town of about 60,000 people, and the port from which my Antarctica cruise departs. Although the city of Ushuaia is unremarkable (growing rapidly with no thought to urban planning), the setting is breathtaking. The mountains, 7,000 feet high and dusted with snow (even now in “summer”), rise straight up from the ocean to ring the city. Ushuaia was the site of Thomas Bridges’ first mission village with the Yaghan people, a coastal tribe who lived by fishing and hunting seals.
Thursday and Friday I stayed at a little B&B owned by a woman named Silvia. An architect, she had built the house… modern and clean, but fairly Spartan. Silvia was something of an odd duck, but it was a decent place to stay.
Friday I did an 8-mile hike in the hills and on the coastline of Tierra del Fuego National Park… along the Beagle Channel, near Ushuaia. It was a damp and windy day and so I encountered only a few other people on the trail, even though this is the high season. Again, this all feels like home to me… the geology and setting (mountains and coastline), climate (damp), plants, even the smells. I saw some interesting birds and the setting was beautiful, but the most interesting thing was seeing the middens at the Yaghan village sites at each little bay along the trail… the distinct circular mounds of shells and bones and other refuse that built up around the huts over thousands of years, very clearly described in Lucas Bridges’ book. There are no interpretive signs or anything to even protect these sites… in fact, I would guess most people don’t even notice them, since they’re just grassy mounds now. And so I could walk right among them and imagine the people that had been there 100 years ago.
On the bus back to town, I met an ornithologist named Anniche, from Switzerland, who was getting ready to work her third season as a naturalist on an Antarctic expedition ship (not mine). I scrolled through all the bird photos on my camera and she was able to identify every one.
Friday night, I walked a long way (much longer than I bargained for, especially after having already hiked 8 miles) to a restaurant far away from the touristy areas. It was right on the water, and I had a superb meal and drinks. It was a little odd, though, because I literally had the place to myself – at 9 p.m.… apparently it is the place where the young local crowd hangs out, but not ‘til much later. My waiter said there would be a great scene at midnight, but I was wiped out and went home.
Saturday I rented a car and drove up to Estancia Viamonte. The highway (surprisingly good roads here) went through beautiful valleys and moorlands surrounded by snow-capped mountains, over a low pass, and then along a lake. The landscape transitioned to the windblown coastal rangelands where there are numerous estancias. I took a detour off the highway on a gravel road through rolling rangeland out to the coast… along the way I saw many sheep, as well as numerous wild guanaco, which are closely related to llamas.
On the coast, I saw the rusty remains of a ship that wrecked in the 1980’s… a surreal scene and a good photo opportunity.
Back to the highway, I traveled on up to the estancia… a homestead and farm right on the coast, extending into rolling hills interspersed with grass and scrubby trees. When I arrived, it was apparently siesta time (as with many Latin countries, Argentines take siesta seriously) and so I had to let myself in through the front gate and wandered around the place before finding the right house, and then was greeted by another couple of guests waiting for our hosts. Soon, however, our hosts turned up, and gave us a warm welcome… we sat and chatted over drinks and they were very pleased when they found that I was reading Uttermost… I asked Adrian, the great-grandson of Thomas Bridges (now a grandfather himself), to sign my copy of the book. We were given a tour of the estancia... among the things we saw was the “company store” complete with dusty old account books, with entries by Lucas Bridges and full of other names I recognized from the book. In the evening we had a wonderful dinner. We stayed in the house on the estancia that was Lucas’, and I think I even slept in the original master bedroom.
The Goodalls were amazing hosts… Adrian, Simon (his son), and Simon’s wife Carolina. Even their beautiful little girls greeted me with kisses on the cheek.
Sunday, I got up, had a great breakfast and chatted with the other guests (only two other couples here besides me… one couple from Denmark and one couple from Brazil, with an adorable baby daughter). Adrian gave me a key to a part of the estancia down the road aways on the coast – the original homestead site – and so I drove down there and walked around and took some photos. I came back, read a little, took a siesta (when in Rome…) and later met the only other guest for the evening – a gentleman who is a member of Canada’s parliament.
It was an incredible experience, seeing the places described (and illustrated) in the book, but even better to be so warmly welcomed into the home of this “first family” of Tierra del Fuego. I felt like I made new friends.
On the way back to Ushuaia today (Monday) I stopped in Harberton, another of the Bridges/Goodall family homesteads. I took a tour of an excellent little museum the family started there with skeletal specimens of many of the marine species, then another tour of the estancia. And Natalie and Thomas Goodall (also fourth generation, at Harberton) signed my book, too.
Back to Ushuaia… found my hotel, showed up a little late for the briefing meeting but got the basic info for embarking tomorrow. Met several of my fellow shipmates, including one of my cabin mates, Wayne from Calgary. Then went back into town to return the rental car and find dinner. I queried the group if anyone wanted to join me and was joined by Faye from Hong Kong… she’s the director of the World Wildlife Fund branch in Hong Kong, and we hit it off… lots of good discussion about environmental issues and science. Finally taxi back to the hotel and now blogging and listening to CNN abuzz with inauguration coverage.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Ushuaia
Made it safely to Ushuaia, found my B&B... cozy little place with a view of the harbor. Walked down here to the main strip to get online and check details for a couple reservations. Weather is rainy and 50 degrees (I feel right at home), but just as I walked out the front door of the B&B, there was a brilliant rainbow over town. I´d like to think it´s a sign of good luck. Actually, I´ve had several strokes of good luck so far on this trip... including today boarding the plane. I was taking a quick pit stop in the lavatory on the plane before we took off, and heard my name on the PA. Uh oh, I thought, this can´t be good. Turns out my travel diary had fallen out of my bag in the waiting lounge, and thankfully I had written my name in it, and someone was kind enough to give it to the flight attendants.
More later when there is more interesting news to report.
The Mountain at Fitz Roy and the Perito Moreno Glacier
Monday morning I took the bus to El Chalten, the town at the base of Fitz Roy -- probably Argentina's most well-knonw mountain; their version of Mt. Rainier. It is a massive vertical spire, capped with ice... if you're familiar with the Washington Cascades, imagine Mt. Index multiplied by 2 or 3. I got to El Chalten by 11:00. It was a spectacular day -- sunny, warm enough for shorts, and not much wind. Apparently some climbers will wait a few weeks for such a day. Wanting to take full advantage, I was on the trail by noon. The great thing about El Chalten is that the trailheads are all right in town. The hike was 14 miles roundtrip with 3,300 feet up to a low peak that offered a stunning panorama of Fitz Roy and the nearby peaks and glaciers, as well as the large lake leading out into the open steppe to the east.
I stayed in a little guest house in El Chalten; only 4 rooms. Eduardo, the owner, was gracious and took good care of me.
Tuesday, I experienced more typical El Chalten weather... overcast with a steady 25-30 mph wind. I still got in a good hike, but this was a shorter one, and there were lots of people on the trail. Had to laugh at a t-shirt I saw a kid wearing as I passed on the trail... Mr. Spock (from Star Trek) doing the Vulcan peace sign, with "Fo' Shizzle" underneath. Got back to town embedded in dust, packed up, and caught the evening bus back to El Calafate.
Wednesday I took the bus up to the Perito Moreno glacier (as if I'm not going to be spending enough time around ice on this trip). What a sight! The glacier is 22 miles long and rises 300 feet above the lake at its terminus; it's one of the few major glaciers in the world still advancing. I did a little boat trip to view it from the lake and then spent a couple hours on a viewing platform watching the calving... huge chunks of it falling off and shattering into the lake. The sounds of the creaking, popping, and booming were as impressive and surreal as the visual experience.
I had an agenda of things I wanted to see in the first three days (which I did), but I had to go non-stop... diet and sleep suffered a little. The last 24 hours has been a nice breather, and I feel like I'm starting to get into the rhythm of traveling and how to get around here (including the ATMs, thankfully). Today is rainy and 50-something degrees. I went for a walk in a little wildlife refuge on the edge of town and am now preparing to head to the airport to move on to Ushuaia.
Thankfully, I do not have to rely on my rudimentary Spanish here. Since these towns are so geared for tourism, most people speak some English (certainly better than my Spanish). I am getting the hang of a few useful Spanish phrases... like ordering food. My favorite thing is the empanada... little pastry pockets filled with meat or veggies. Portable, cheap, and tasty. The food is all pretty good... except I had the worst cup of coffee in my life a couple days ago. Which reminded me of the best cup of coffee I ever had in Ethiopia. Perhaps a trivial example, but a good illustration of how you never know how good or how bad something can really be until you travel... whether to another City or another country.
I stayed in a little guest house in El Chalten; only 4 rooms. Eduardo, the owner, was gracious and took good care of me.
Tuesday, I experienced more typical El Chalten weather... overcast with a steady 25-30 mph wind. I still got in a good hike, but this was a shorter one, and there were lots of people on the trail. Had to laugh at a t-shirt I saw a kid wearing as I passed on the trail... Mr. Spock (from Star Trek) doing the Vulcan peace sign, with "Fo' Shizzle" underneath. Got back to town embedded in dust, packed up, and caught the evening bus back to El Calafate.
Wednesday I took the bus up to the Perito Moreno glacier (as if I'm not going to be spending enough time around ice on this trip). What a sight! The glacier is 22 miles long and rises 300 feet above the lake at its terminus; it's one of the few major glaciers in the world still advancing. I did a little boat trip to view it from the lake and then spent a couple hours on a viewing platform watching the calving... huge chunks of it falling off and shattering into the lake. The sounds of the creaking, popping, and booming were as impressive and surreal as the visual experience.
I had an agenda of things I wanted to see in the first three days (which I did), but I had to go non-stop... diet and sleep suffered a little. The last 24 hours has been a nice breather, and I feel like I'm starting to get into the rhythm of traveling and how to get around here (including the ATMs, thankfully). Today is rainy and 50-something degrees. I went for a walk in a little wildlife refuge on the edge of town and am now preparing to head to the airport to move on to Ushuaia.
Thankfully, I do not have to rely on my rudimentary Spanish here. Since these towns are so geared for tourism, most people speak some English (certainly better than my Spanish). I am getting the hang of a few useful Spanish phrases... like ordering food. My favorite thing is the empanada... little pastry pockets filled with meat or veggies. Portable, cheap, and tasty. The food is all pretty good... except I had the worst cup of coffee in my life a couple days ago. Which reminded me of the best cup of coffee I ever had in Ethiopia. Perhaps a trivial example, but a good illustration of how you never know how good or how bad something can really be until you travel... whether to another City or another country.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
El Calafate, Part 2
I´m here in El Calafate again. Had planned to write a longer entry about my adventures tonight, but I´m operating on a bottle of wine... so instead I´ll write about some of the people I´ve met so far.
Tonight I had the first decent sit-down dinner since I got here, and ordered a bottle of wine. Didn´t finish it by myself.... so as I was waiting for the check, I offered the remainder of the wine to a young couple who were waiting for a table. They sat down at my table, and I ended up chatting them all through their dinner. Their names were Coulie (sp?) and Martina... 29 and 21 years old, working here, as a glacier trekking guide and hotel clerk. Of course, they ordered wine too, and shared it... and so here I am doing my best on the keyboard.
I also stayed up late a couple nights ago in El Chalten when a 20-something German sat down with me as I was making dinner of empanadas on the front porch of a little bakery. He lives and works here in Argentina, and was extremely chatty. The one beer I had by myself turned into several beers, a late night... and a killer hangover the next morning. Watch out for those Argentinian beers... stronger than you might think.
And then yesterday, on the bus from El Chalten back to El Calafate, I randomly sat down next to a retired gentleman from St. Louis. He works for a publishing company, and he was personally involved in producing a local history book about my hometown of Centralia, Illinois. Small world, indeed. He´s been traveling and hiking in many countries, so it was great to connect with him.
So... given that I´m traveling solo and kinda shy (particularly considering my rudimentary Spanish), I´ve been happy that I´ve been able to connect with other travelers and even locals... and grateful for their ability to converse in English. The nice thing is that it´s all happened without much effort on my part.
Tomorrow is a much-welcome off-day, so I´ll write more about mountain hikes and spectacular glaciers... hoping to upload some photos, too.
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