Sunday, February 17, 2008

"Shopping" in Antarctica!...and more

(Green=dates, black=comments with pictures, blue=diary entries with additional comments in parentheses)

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8th, 2008

We woke as the ship pulled into Port Lockroy on Wienckne Island at the lower edge of the Gerlache Strait. Off for breakfast and then to a short lecture by one of the scientists from the Port Lockroy British station.



"Rick", the Brit guy from the Port Lockroy station. Funny and friendly. Guess he has to have a sense of humor since he's stuck there with two women for four months at a time.




Then half of us will go ashore to Port Lockroy and the other half to a nearly site, as the number of people who can be at Port Lockroy is limited to 60 at a time. Then we will switch sites.
Went first to Jougla Point--penguins, skuas (rather nasty brown birds who disturb the penguins and eat the eggs and young babies if they can get them), and a lot of extremely treacherous, slippery rocks. I was very careful!


Jougla Point. This is representative of the kind of weather we had nearly the entire trip--some clouds but a lot of sunshine. Our tour staff informed us we were being extremely lucky with the weather and visibility, as sometimes there is heavy fog, preventing many Zodiac landings and making others shorter and with limited visibility. Guess we were livin' right!









Not the best picture in the world, but I wanted to show you that the babies really are as cute as in the movies. The parents are very attentive, but it's funny to watch the little ones chase after them wanting grub. Sometimes they chase their own parents and apparently occasionally they'll take off after any promising looking adult who wanders by.







Then Zodiaced to Port Lockroy and toured the museum and gift shop--last chance for souvenirs! The shop proceeds support the museum, so I bought bookmarks (and other) souvenirs for
friends and joined the "Friends of Antarctica" organization, which supports protection of the environment and wildlife. Also got a free tote bag and a booklet about the station. Took video inside the station, but lighting was dim. (Didn't take any pics with my still camera--very dark inside. The museum is set up like a typical station in the 50's, with all the gear, including canned foods, etc. still set up. Evidently the station's earlier staff wintered over, doing research and monitoring temperature, winds, etc. Now the station is only maintained as the museum and gift shop, but it was very interesting to see how this relatively tiny space was set up and stocked to accomodate several people through the Antarctic year. The staff is due to leave on March 8, which one of the young women in the shop cheerfully informed us is "one week from today!". They will batten down the station for the winter and go out on a cruise ship similar to ours, perhaps even on the Orlova's last tourist cruise. )

Back to the ship and ready for lunch. At 1:30 we entered the Lemaire Channel, a narrow passage between the continent and a series of islands. We saw a leopard seal sunning on an ice floe (unfortunately too far away for a decent picture). Stunning scenery, bright sunshine, rather windy outside on deck 7, chilly--in the 30's-and the wind really bites.




Taken from the bow end of deck 7
as the ship approached the Lemaire Channel, the narrowing opening ahead. The channel is about one mile wide, but with the currents, it's still a very tricky navigation maneuver to get through safely. We were told we wouldn't even know whether or not we'd be able to do it until we approached the area and checked out the wind and swell. Luckily, as you can see, the sea was calm and the captain guided us through very nicely.




Too bad there are so many pictures with bits of my fellow travelers' heads, arms, etc., but it seemed there was always a crowd trying to get "the money shot". That's what I get for being short.

Me again with one side of the Lemaire Channel in the background, and yes it was COLD out there. Under that shocking pink parka was a fleece head covering, a fleece vest, a long sleeved turtleneck knit top, and a long john top, along with the normal "undies"; also two layers of pants. Didn't need the waterproofs since we were not preparing yet for a landing. I also had on two pairs of socks and my feet were still cold. But it was worth it. Don't I look happy?

A little about preparing for landings. First come the under layers: underwear, top and bottom long johns, kneewarmers, a turtleneck, a fleece vest, and fleece pants. Then three pairs of socks, then the waterproof pants, followed by the waterproof boots. Then comes the fleece ear/head wrap, and the parka, which is also waterproof. Then I put on my
life vest, and put on my waterproof backpack with cameras, etc. Finally, I add waterproof gloves and a polar fleece scarf to pull up over my face against the wind, and pull up the hood of the parka. Hopefully after all this I don't have to wait too long to get off the ship, since I heat up pretty fast in all this gear. In addition I had chemical handwarmers, one in each parka pocket, and one in each camera case, both the video and still camera, to keep the batteries warm. I felt like a cross between the Pillsbury Doughboy and the Michelin Tire Man--but I stayed warm most of the time.

Now we're anchoring at Peterman Island and preparing to go ashore. This time we're hoping to see Adelie penguins (named by French explorer Dumont D'Urville after his wife Adelie. I hope she was suitably flattered.)

Saw the Adelies. Had to hike up slippery rocks and then a snowy slope to get to them, but I did it. Got good pictures and video, especially of gentoos belly sliding in the snow. (Gentoos are everywhere on the peninsula, it seems, and live side by side with the other penguin species in relative harmony. )

(This landfall at Peterman Island marked our furthest point south- 65 degrees 14 minutes S. After this we will be cruising northward. In the polar regions each degree of latitude represents 69.4 statute miles. The geographic South Pole is, of course, at 90 degrees S, therefore, we were about 1800 miles north of the South Pole. Since we were also considerably west of the Pole, we were a good little distance away from it. Antarctica is BIG. )

I was almost back to the staging area (where we put on our life vests prior to getting back into the Zodiacs) and lost my footing on the slippery rocks, which actually had algae on them. (It's too cold for algae in most places, but these rocks were wet with fresh water ice melt and the algae took advantage of the short summer to bloom on them.) Down I went in slo-mo, knees, hands, forearms, chest. I was so well padded that nothing was hurt but my dignity! But I decided to return to the ship rather than hike any more.




You may have to enlarge this photo to see the distinguishing mark of the Adelie penguin, the white ring around it's eyes. There were a lot of them, but they were perched high up on the rocks and even zooming in didn't help much.

These rocks are similar to the ones I fell on, except the latter were wet and covered with algae. All things considered I'm glad I didn't get hurt.


Several people were injured during the trip. One woman had five stitches across the bridge of her nose, and another woman had a light concussion. There were a lot of falls like mine, where only a few bruises resulted.

Nice dinner of baked sole, veggies, salad, and chocolate souffle'. Early to bed --9:30 pm.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 9th

Our last day ashore. After breakfast my Zodiac group--"Scott"--and one other headed for share for Almirante Brown Station at Paradise Bay. (A note about the Zodiac groups: They divided us into four groups named after Antarctic explorers: Scott, Shackleton, Larsen and Mawson. We left the ship in shifts according to our groups to avoid crowding at the debarkation area. Each time we left the ship and returned we had to sign out and sign in. No way anyone was going to be left ashore on this expedition!)

We woke up the Argentinians at the station (who should have been up anyway since it was nearly 9:30 am! Well, actually, for all I know they could have been up late the night before doing important research. Yeah.) Short hike, since the snow is slippery and my left knee is a little stiff from yesterday's fall.




This is the Argentinian station at Almirante Brown. I guess they're used to having visitors since there were signs here and there that said "Tourists This Way". You can see the first part of the "path" we could take to get further into the island.


There is an interesting story about this station. Part of the original portions were destroyed by fire in 1984, a fire set by a disgrunted Argentinian physician who had been told that because a replacement could not be found, he was going to have to stay another year instead of return home as planned with all the other members of his group. This made him extremely unhappy.
To prevent him from leaving the island, he was locked into the main station builiding, which he promptly set ablaze. Of course he was rescued and sent packing back home to be put in prison, which he apparently preferred rather than spend another winter in Antarctica!

If you look closely in the center you can see some of my fellow travelers, who had far more spunk and audacity than I to climb way up there above the station. I heard the view was magnificent. Good for them. I also heard to get down they slid on their butts most of the way. Again, good for them. I really don't begrudge anyone who can accomplish more than I can. I'm just so proud and happy to be here at all that I'm tickled at whatever I can see and do.





The shot below was taken at Almirante Brown, just above the Zodiac landing site. I say "landing site" advisedly, since there really was no "land" to climb out onto. The Zodiacs pulled up as close as they could to the shore, which consisted of a rocky ledge under about 12 inches of water. Then one at a time we scooted to the front of the raft and lifted our legs over the side to perch on the rocky ledge in the water. Then we had to scramble up some more rocks which were in a VERY rough semblance to steps to get to the level of the station buildings. My knees were complaining about the steep lifts I was asking them to do, but I told them to shut up and just do it. It was nice there was nearly always a helping hand available for a boost or pull up, sometimes from the staff, sometimes from fellow travelers. When I could, I offered my share of assistance to others as well. It was that kind of group, very pleasant to travel with.






You're looking at the "tallest" land
plant life that grows this far south. It is one of a couple of species of moss. The other plant life consists of a few species of algae, one of which caused my "downfall" the day before.







Back to the ship for a quick cup of tea and then re-geared for Zodiac cruise to the face of a glacier.


This is Kara Weller, our Zodiac driver for this trip, who also happened to be the leader of the entire expedition. What a bright, capable young woman she is. She has a B.S. and M.S in wildlife biology and her research experiences range from studying whales in the Bering Sea to mouflon sheep in Eastern Europe. She told us this was her 30th (I think I am remembering that right) trip to Antarctica. It was pretty obvious she had knowledge and competence to spare. And she was really nice in the bargain!



This is the Petzval glacier. There's nothing in this picture to give you an idea of the scale, but the face of the glacier was about 50 meters high in Kara's estimate (as I recall. Anyone who reads these posts and has more accurate information is welcome to add it via the comments. I couldn't find any references to the specific height of the glacier in my books.)









Colorful deposits on the cliffs near the
Petzval glacier in Paradise Harbor. The blue-green is from copper deposits. The emerald green is moss and the orange, lichens. Most of the rock in the entire area is basalt.












Lots of nesting blue-eyed shags seen along the way. We also had seen a minke whale while coming back to the ship from the Argentinian station, which by the way, is also on the continent, our second footfall on the continent's peninsula. Also noted all who went ashore on the continent got a certificate verifying that we have set foot on mainland Antarctica. (Apparently some tourists complain that if they only visit the islands off the peninsula they haven't really been to Antarctica. That's sort of like saying you went to Hawaii or the Florida keys and weren't really in the United States. A matter of opinion. Anyway, I have now been there and done that and have a certificate to prove it.)

The birds on one of the few rocky beaches are blue-eyed shags, who nest in the cliffs of Paradise Bay .The pink coloration is snow algae, which is very abundant in this area.












Back to the Petzval glacier. Astounding and beautiful. Many interesting ice shapes.
No calving seen today, since this one is presently pretty stable except for an ice tongue that sticks out into the bay.

Beautiful ice formations on the "tongue" of the Petzval glacier that juts into the bay. When it does calve, it will likely be some of these tall sections that fall into the sea. It would be dangerous for a Zodiac to be close
when that happens, as it will generate a large wave which could easily swamp the raft.













Lovely icebergs in Paradise Bay. Don't they look as if they are made from styrofoam or dipped up from the local Dairy Queen? Remember, 85% of these chunks of ice are underwater, so chances are our Zodiac was over the submerged ice where we were.






One of the Zodiacs sighted a leopard seal on a floe and we tried to get there but the brash ice slowed us down, so we had to return to the ship, since two more groups are waiting to cruise now. Lunch in 45 minutes and then we'll sail northward to the Melchior Islands, where we hope to have what will be our last Zodiac cruise.

Incredible last Zodiac cruise! Terrific length--at least 10 to 15 minutes--interaction with a leopard seal who "performed" for us and "played" with us. There were 3 rafts. He acted as if he knew we were watching him, enthralled!


This guy was obviously having a good time diving under our rafts, which were bobbing in a U-shaped pattern, coming up on the other sides, then coming up in the middle to "grin" at us. Leopard seals have a bad rep, partially due to the "Happy Feet" movie, but in reality at least half their diet is krill. Plus, Akos, our ornithologist, told us if the leopard seals didn't eat some penguins (as well as the skuas and petrels making some inroads on the penguin populations), the gentoos would take over the world! I can believe that!



We also saw many cormorants, chinstraps, fur seals, and interesting bergs.




These are fur seals, who were hunted in the 19th and early 20th centuries almost to extinction. Since becoming a protected species, however, their numbers have rebounded to very healthy populations. They are the "cutest" of the seals, with cat-like faces, large eyes, and long whiskers. While most seal species are very clumsy and slow on land, fur seals can use their fused back flippers to "walk" on land, and can actually get up a head of speed if they are startled or irritated. They have been known
to chase humans, and if they catch one, can provide the hapless victim with a nasty bite.






These chinstraps are perched on the rocks above Paradise Bay. Note the rusty old chain embedded in the rock. We were told it is a remnant from whaling days, where ships would use it as a second anchor along with their sea anchors to avoid the wind blowing them around against the rocks.















One more amazingly stunning iceberg for you to enjoy. Paradise Bay.
















A friend took this picture out on the deck as we were cruising around between Dallman Bay and the Melchior Islands. It was a beautiful day, not really chilly, as you can see by the fact that I'm almost bareheaded! We were whale watching and did see quite a few humpbacks in groups of two, three, and four. They were too far away for pictures but wonderful to watch. Note the sunglasses, because of the glare from the ice and snow. We were advised to wear them all the time when out on
deck and on shore. We also wore sunscreen, which seems odd, but the sun relecting off the ice and water can give a nasty burn.

Supper tonight was "Russian Night" with the dining room girls dressed in pretty costumes and serving chilled vodka, but no caviar! We had borscht, beef stroganoff, salad , and for dessert something called "Pavlova", a wonderful fruit dessert. Early to bed since I'm exhausted.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10 th

So far this morning we seem to have the "Drake Lake"! Yay! I took a dramamine just in case. After breakfast a wonderful lecture by Victoria (the historian) on Amundsen's and Scott's race to the pole. Coffee break and now a lecture by geologist Roger on "Is Antarctica Getting Warmer?" (answer: Yes. But in the eastern part it's so much colder that it won't make any difference, since very little will melt. Where we are is a different story. In the Weddell Sea, huge sections of ice shelf have broken off due to a rise in temperature of only a few degrees F, and krill, the foundation for nearly all animal life in the Antarctic, may not be able to survive much warmer ocean temperatures.)
Lunch--good soup and salad but the other choices weren't to my liking. Had "banana split"--sort of--for dessert.
This afternoon lecture by Akos on albatross endangerment due to long-line fishing. Wonderful talk, and he also has published a book of Antarctic pictures, proceeds from of which go to the "Save the Albatross" organization. (I ordered a copy which will be mailed to me.) Colin, our shipboard artist, is also having a silent auction tonight of several watercolors he has done this trip--and proceeds go to the same fund. I'm bidding on several of them.

I missed a lecture to take a shower and wash my hair, probably the last chance to do so, unless I grab a quick shower tomorrow night. I'm nearly all packed and I think everything will fit just fine, especially since I gave away to one of the staff a brand new pair of waterproof pants that were way too long for me. Also sent my second and last email this afternoon, since shipboard accounts close after 9 pm tonight.

Movie tonight is "March of the Penguins". I've seen it but would enjoy it again from a different perspective, providing I can stay awake.

Supper tonight, mushroom raviolli, salad, pumpkin soup, and for dessert a thing called "nut-something" that had no nuts in it, but was a small dumpling with fruit and carmel sance and was very good.

I have managed to stay awake for the movie and enjoyed it--again--very much. Back to cabin and to bed at 10:30. First time Ellie has beat me to bed.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11

Woke up at 7:30 to Kara's PA greeting. Much more ship motion now but I'm fine with it. To breakfast and then off for a lecture on "Hot Subtropical Antarctica". I can't imagine what that will be. I had to swap tops after breakfast, as the heavy sweater I had on was too warm. Luckily I have some clean clothes and am now wearing the polo shirt I bought at Port Lockroy.

I should add I was successful in bidding on 3 of Colin's watercolors last night. I will enjoy having them framed and hung at home. They'll make a nice arrangement.

The lecture turned out to be about geology and the formation of Antarctica. Very interesting. Lunch was good, as usual. Skipped a lecture on the Antarctic Treaty System to finish packing and relax a bit. Got our recap info this afternoon and our debarkation info. It's sad, but I'm anxious to get home. Supper tonight very nice--red snapper, salad, wine, oxtail soup, and "baked Antarctica", complete with sparklers and a march around the dining room! Very yummy.

We're packed and ready for bed.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12 th

Up at 6 am. Suitcases outside the door and off to breakfast. Disembarked to Ushuaia about 8:15 am. Transported by bus with our luggage to Restaurante Nautica, where our bags will be stored until we are ready to go to the airport.

Walked around Ushuaia, ate lunch, and did some more shopping. Got a rhodocrocite (pink
stone mined in Argentina) ring and two little penguins for me and an armadillo for Kim, plus a tee shirt so I can change clothes tomorrow morning if I want to.

At the Ushuaia airport utter chaos--which we now recognize as typical of Aerolineas Argentinas. All outbound flights are delayed. Mine was supposed to leave at 2:04 pm and is now scheduled to leave at 2:30 pm???? We'll see..Flight did leave around 2:30.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13th

Managed to sleep for almost 6 hours on this flight (from Buenos Aires to Chicago). No one in the seat next to me, so I could lift the arm rest and stretch out to some extent. In the Buenos
Aires airport, trying to use up my left over pesos, I bought a neck rest pillow, which proved to be an excellent investment. (I managed to spend down my pesos until I have left 3 pesos and a few small coins totaling about US $1.10. Not bad, and make good, cheap souvenirs.)
It's now 6 am Buenos Aires time, and we're 8 and a half hours into a 10 and a half hour flight, so at this point we're probably flying over the southern USA. At least home is underfoot somewhere. We're due into chicago at 6 am local time, so about 2 more hours or so. I'm awake now, so I guess I'll read a while.


Here ends my travel diary of the trip to Antarctica. I hope you have enjoyed these blog posts. If you have questions, email me or ask in the comments.









2 comments:

Laura said...

LOVED your Travel Journal.

Thank you Vennie!!!!!

Unknown said...

Not only are you good with a camera, you have a wonderful way with words. I enjoyed the style as much as the content. Thanks for sharing.
Bonnie