“You don’t go to and see Antarctica; you
experience it!"
Our
travel companion, Pam, wrote this in her journal and it captures our travels to
Antarctica.
The
foghorns blew all night - for the third night in a row! After the first night, the fog lifted so we
could enjoy the Falklands. After the
second, it remained cloudy and foggy all day but fortunately we were at sea so
it didn’t matter. We really didn’t want fog
for one of our premier destinations of our trip; however, there was not a thing
we could do. If we saw Antarctica in the
fog, that was the way it would have to be.
I got
up at the usual time to go down to walk the deck and completed about five laps
with the usual sea day nothing to see but water, waves, and maybe a few
birds. When I rounded the deck to the
port side, I looked and saw my first Antarctic iceberg and noticed that maybe
the fog was clearing. Hopefully we might
actually be able to see something. The
seas weren’t rough and the temps were actually reasonable. Soon a hilly mound of real land came into
view; my first glimpse of Antarctica, my sixth continent with only Africa to go,
and that will come later. About 7 AM,
Captain Mercer came on the public address system to tell people it was time to get
up because the fog was lifting and we would have a good day to see
Antarctica! More and more people appeared
on deck with their cameras for their first of what must have been collectively
hundreds of thousands of pictures. I
tried to continue to walk but since they were getting in my way and I was
getting in theirs, I gave up my walk.
However, on the starboard side, away from land, I spotted the first of
what became many sightings of playful penguins in the water.
After
breakfast, we bundled up in our winter garb, going to various locations on the
ship from the walk-around deck, to the aft deck behind the Lido (ship
cafeteria), up to the Crow’s Nest (bar and lounge) which provides the highest
indoor views and located above the Navigation deck, and even out to the bow of
the ship. In the Crow’s Nest, chairs
were set up in rows like a theater for those who didn’t want to venture out
into the freezing cold, to view nature’s awesome beauty. After all, the temps had dipped slightly
below freezing but the wind chill made it cold and extremely bitter. The winds were howling, creating a real
Marcel Marceau “walking against the wind” image. Pea soup was offered on the decks and in the
various ship bars so, along with a lot of the cold Antarctica watchers, I
enjoyed the warm soup on a cold winter, whoops, on a cold summer day.
Antarctica
is an immense continent, consisting of west Antarctica, 2.5 million square
miles and east Antarctica, approximately 3 million square miles. It’s the fifth largest continent, larger than
Europe and Australia. If it were a
country, only Russia would be larger. Antarctica
derives its name as the opposite of the Arctic.
Of course the Arctic is not a land mass and thus not a continent. From the geopolitical point of view,
Antarctica is considered to be all land south of 60° south latitude. Without a permanent population, in 1959 an
Antarctic Treaty was signed by 12 countries to utilize the continent for
peaceful scientific purposes.
The
Antarctic Peninsula is the closest to another continent, South America, so that
was our most logical approach. Besides,
since it extends farthest north, it made for the easiest approach. The open sea is teeming with wildlife such as
the penguins we saw. Late in the
afternoon, the captain steered us into a magnificently beautiful bay which
actually had Esperanza Station, an Argentine research settlement, along the
shore. There were several housing units and a large satellite dish. Close by was a huge Adelie penguin colony,
which made the fourth kind of penguin we have observed (King, Gentoo, and
Magellanic, all in the Falklands). The
shores were teeming with penguins and rafts (as large groups of penguins in the
water together are called) of penguins.
Barb and I commented that we thought we saw more penguins on one day
here than all the previous penguins we have seen combined, including those we
saw in the Falklands!
Near
the Esperanza research base there was a glacial formation and as we sailed
away, we observed icebergs of all shapes and sizes floating in the cold
waters. Some were formed with a jagged
beauty while others were nearly perfect rectangles, known as “tabletop
icebergs”.
The
first of our days in Antarctica was cold and very windy, but at least the sky
had cleared, giving us spectacular views of this amazing continent. As we pulled the drapes to see what kind of
day the second one would be, we were awed by the rocky, snowy mountains passing
close to the ship. It was almost as
though we could reach out and touch the shore and, for those who know the
Norwegian fjords, it reminded me of what I think Geirangerfjord would look like
in winter. Geirangerfjord is my favorite
fjord because of its dramatic beauty.
The difference here is that the beauty went on for hours while
Geirangerfjord is relatively short by comparison. But it least it gives a bit of comparison for
those who have had the privilege of seeing Geiranger. Another difference of course is that the
scenery in Antarctica is nearly pristine with only a few research stations
which show development.
Early
in the morning we passed some snowy mountains that were greenish blue. It was explained that they probably contained
mineral deposits but couldn’t be mined because of the terms of the 1959
Antarctic Treaty. After watching the
magnificent scenery pass by as we ate breakfast, we again donned our winter
gear to “brave” the rigors of standing on the bow. But the ever changing view captivated our
interest as we kept going back and forth between the port and starboard sides of
the ship. After focusing our attention
on one side, we would turn and see what was behind and realize we missed the
awe inspiring beauty that had been visible on the other side. The blue skies and sunshine allowed wonderful
mirror images in the clear waters. (We
were told that it was rare for cruisers in Antarctica to be able to see
mountaintops because they are usually shrouded in clouds, but today we saw the peaks!) There is just too much to take it all
in. The beauty is just impossible to
describe through pictures or in words. We
were out on the bow for over three hours and didn’t want to come in.
The
Antarctic expert on board, John Splettstoesser, would keep us informed through
the ship’s PA and TV station, of what we were seeing throughout the day. This enhanced our appreciation of the Antarctica
experience. We had passed Brabent Island
through the Strait and into Paradise Bay.
In the distance we saw a ship at anchor and kept watching as we came
closer and closer. It was a picturesque
Argentine research station, known as the Brown Station, from which hikers were
permitted to climb the small, snowy mountains behind it. Gentoo penguins and skua birds nested
nearby. Once, a motor boat with a lone
sailor, zoomed out to wave at us.
Shortly after we emerged from Paradise Bay, we observed another station,
the Gonzalez Videla station, operated by Chile.
There were a number of people waving their arms at us and waving the
Chilean flag. Those of us on the
Amsterdam waved back. What was
particularly interesting was that we could see many penguins waddling around
freely as residents there too. I might
comment here that we were told that while there are indigenous water mammals
and birds, there are no native land mammals there. There are no trees or bushes and only two
flowering plants on the continent!
All
along the way we marveled at the unique shapes of the icebergs, commenting on
what they looked like and admiring those with deep blue hues. Everyone on the bow kept an eye out for penguins
and seals which might be hitching rides on the icebergs. Occasionally, penguins would put on a show
for us, continuing to swim and dive near the ship. One in particular swam parallel to the ship
and seemed to keep pace. Literally all
day long we were surrounded by spectacular scenery as we passed through the
area. It got cloudy and we went from the
blue sky, black rocks, and white snow to the gray skies which made for an
artistic study in shades of black and white.
In the evening, we noticed the ship wasn’t
moving. Someone told us that we were trying to wait out a storm to our north. Our
second day in Antarctica over, we prepared for our third and last day in this unspoiled
continent. By morning, we were moving
again and were told that several people from the Palmer Station in the
Antarctic would come aboard for an informational talk. Since it was a last minute adjustment, it
would be in twenty minutes and we were finishing breakfast. By the time we got there, we were fortunate
to get single seats for each of us.
There are 42 researchers at Palmer Station, the smallest of the three
American stations in Antarctica. The
other two are at the South Pole and McMurdo which is the largest and is
supplied through Christchurch, New Zealand.
There are meteorologists, geologists, glaciologists, marine biologists,
and other scientists on base and even a first grade teacher with them. They gave an overview of their station and
what research they are doing. Two remained
on board while the others jumped on their Zodiac (large inflatable motorized
boats) for the trip back to Palmer.
Some of us went back on deck to wave good-bye to the departing
speakers. The clouds had given way to a
mixture of blue and gray skies and we were back to some nice views of
snowcapped mountains with sun reflecting on them.
While we were on deck, the captain came on
the PA system to inform us that bad weather was ahead and that we needed to
brace for storms that we couldn’t wait out or avoid later in the day and
especially Thursday as we headed for Ushuaia, Argentina at the base of South
America. Seas are likely to get rough
and “barf bags” are available. We are
told to secure loose items and valuables like cameras and computers for our
journey through the notoriously rough waters of Cape Horn. It looks like we will get to experience first-hand
the reason that area has such a reputation. It will be quite a contrast after
our placid sail so far.
Our time has not changed through Antarctica
and still remains at 3 hours ahead of Chicago and two ahead of New York.
CT
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