A ten day cruise to Antarctica

Greetings from someone who has visited all seven continents.

On the 18th of January, I boarded the M/V Ushuaia, registered out of Panama to an Argentinean company with a mainly Chilean crew for its Classic Antarcica trip. I boarded the ship and was shown to my cabin. I met my roommate, Christian. He is from Switzerland, but worked around the world as a nurse for Doctors Without Borders. For the past five years, he has worked as a paramedic in French Guiana in South America. He told me that most jobs with aid agencies are in logistics and not for specialists.

The first couple of hours of sailing were through the Beagle Channel. Most of us stood on the deck and watched Chile pass by on the right and Argentina on the left. In the evening, we had the introductory talks and safety drill.

Sometime in the middle of the night we left the calm passage and entered the Drake Passage. The Drake Passage is famous for being very rough and unforgiving on the stomach. The boat started to rock. It was not enough to make me sick, but it did wake me occasionally. It was a strange feeling to be pressed down into my bed one second and then feel like I was floating over it the next. Also, everything in the room that was not bolted down ended up on the floor by morning.

On the morning of the 19th, I felt well enough to have breakfast and hang out on the ship. I met some of the other passengers as well. It was nice to be back among what I think of as 뱈y own people? There were well over a dozen countries represented by the 65 passengers, including two people from Japan. I think the average length of trip for the various passengers was about six months. It was nice to be with people who agree with my opinion that my current four month trip is really too short to do much more than get a quick taste of the area and visit a few of the highlights.

The two Japanese people were interesting as well. Etsuko is a 22-year-old woman who somehow has managed to save enough money for a year and a half trip around the world. She spent the first two months of her trip studying in New Zealand, so she speaks decent English. The other Japanese person is 62 years old and can barely communicate in English. As I was one of the only two other people on board who could talk in Japanese, I spent a lot of time talking with him and helping him talk to other people. Mr. Yamamoto was eager to communicate with everyone despite his communication difficulties and quickly became one of the most liked people on the tour.

Mr. Yamamoto has spent much of the past five years riding his bicycle around the world from East to West. He is now at the start of his attempt to ride around the world from South to North to South. Because his hands hurt sometimes, his doctor told him not to ride for more than 50 days at a time. So, Mr. Yamamoto takes three 45-day trips per year. As you can imagine, he has some great tales to tell of life on the road. Everybody felt sorry for him when his request to bring his bicycle to shore for a ceremonial picture was turned down for environmental reasons.

My Japanese is almost as good as it was when I stopped studying in July and my Spanish is the best it has been for a few years. Usually when I travel, I don't hang out with too many other people, but I really enjoyed sharing a table with people from eight different countries. I even invented a new game. We all took turns saying the same word or phrase in our native tongues.

The whole of day two was spent in the relatively calm but certainly not flat Drake Passage. We had a lecture on Antarctic History and another one on Penguins. By the next day, the movement of the ship was getting to me a little bit. I went to the lectures on Antarctic History and to the mandatory pre-landing briefing. Other than that, I slept most of the day and could not even manage breakfast or lunch.

By dinnertime, we had entered the channel between Anvers and Brabant Islands, not too far from the long peninsula on the continent of Antarctica. The seas became flat and I felt much better. After dinner we all went outside or up to the bridge to watch the glacier-covered mountains pass by. I decided to test my clothing. I bundled up and spent about three hours standing in the wind at the front of the ship. Eventually, my hands got cold and I had to come in. But, since I had spent the whole day sleeping and it was still light out, I decided to go up to the bridge and watch the scenery some more. By about two in the morning, I decided that even though it was still pretty light out and I was not tired, I should go to bed, so I did.

On the 21st of January, we started the day with a landing on Wienke Island. We took the small zodiac boats to Damoy Point in Dorian Bay. We had a nice little walk around, but the wind started to pick up and we had to race back to the ship before it got too windy to safely use the small zodiac landing boats. In the afternoon, we visited Torgenson Island and looked at some Adelie Penguins. There were two scientists there to help explain things to us. Eventually, we crossed a small bit of water and visited the US Palmer Station, of the three permanent US Antarctic Research Stations. We were given a tour and learned about the science they do there and the support staff that makes it all possible. After the tour and a teasing glimpse of the hot tub, we went to the small gift shop and I got to use my credit card in Antarctica. The tour ended in the dining area with tea and brownies. I spoke with the Station Manager and learned that the managers of all the US bases have a background in Geography. Something else to think about.

On the morning of the 22nd, we attempted to sail through the Lemaire Channel. We had a beautiful blue day and spent the morning looking at seals relaxing on the icebergs. The scenery was more of the spectacular blue and white glaciers pouring into the sea. Eventually, the ice became too thick and we were unable to pass through the channel as planned. It was here that we reached the most southerly point of our trip ?nearly 65 degrees south of the Equator. We turned around and cruised through some more nice bays on the way to Orne Island. In the afternoon we went ashore and looked at the Chinstrap Penguins. Some of our walk took us over large patches of ice and, after asking permission from the other party, started the first snowball fight of the trip. It was a shorter one, but after everybody was done looking at the penguins we started a much larger snowball fight. I dug a hole in the snow and sat in it. Then I built a protective wall in front of me and launched my projectiles from the safety of my small fort. When I stood up, I discovered that my pants were not exactly waterproof and that my short underwear, long underwear, fleece pants and heavy winter pants were all soaked through. Plus, my butt was wet.

We went back to the ship for some hot chocolate and dinner. The rooms were kept warm and Antarctica is a very dry place, so everything dried before the 10:00 pm landing at Paradise Bay. This was our first landing on the actual continent of Antarctica, not one of the small islands just off the coast. We visited the Argentine station Almirante Brown. This station was occupied until 1984 when the Doctor went a little loopy and burned the place down so that he could be evacuated back to Argentina. We climbed the hill behind the station, broke out the large plastic bags and enjoyed sliding back down the hill. I was able to climb quickly and managed to slide down a record five times. I cannot remember the last time I was properly dressed for the weather and spent hours playing in the snow. Naturally, I had a great time.

We returned to the ship shortly after mid-night. The next morning, we returned to the continent proper at Neko Harbor. We spent a few hours looking at Gentoo Penguins and a seal, as well as the scenery. I climbed up a hill and spent some time watching big chunks of ice calve off of the glaciers and plunge into the sea. When it was time to go, I found the steepest section of the mountain and slid down. In a continent that is 98% covered in snow and ice, it is always easy to find a slide.

Since it was such a nice day, we had a barbecue on the deck of the ship. After lunch, we landed on Danco Island and looked at the Gentoo Penguins. I climbed a hill and spent some time watching the ice falls in the mountains across the water. It was even warm enough to take off all of my jackets and shirts and run around for a couple of minutes. The hillside was full of penguins, so I had to walk down carefully, instead of sliding down dangerously. On the way back to the boat, our zodiac drivers took a detour and we cruised around a bunch of big icebergs. We went slowly by the big hunks of ice and admired all of the intricate shapes that the wind and water have carved.

Monday, the 24th of January was the day I have been looking forward to for several years. We sailed through the Neptune Bellows and entered the circular island known as Deception Island. We landed in Whaler's Bay and looked at the whale bones, airplane hanger, buildings, cemetery and other things left over from its time as a whaling station and a research station. We also hiked up to the Neptune's Window viewpoint. Then it was time for the highlight of the trip. As we walked back to the zodiac, snow was falling from the sky and steam was rising from the geo-thermally heated beach. At the landing site, a large hole was dug and very, very hot water came out of the sand and ran down to the very, very cold ocean.

I joined a seal in the wind shadow of a big piece of metal and stripped down to my shorts. Even though it was only a few degrees above freezing, I managed to calmly stroll down the beach to the water's edge. It always takes me a few minutes to work up to a cold plunge, so I stood knee deep in the Antarctic Ocean until I was ready. I waded out a little further, dunked down into the heat-sucking ocean and immediately popped up freezing and panting. I quickly made my way to the point where the hot water run-off from the beach met the cold water of the ocean. I joined the others in seeking the delicate balance between freezing and burning. We lay down on our stomachs in a couple of inches of water. Our backs were exposed to the wind, our fronts to the too hot water and our legs to the too cold sea. It was hard work making sure that nothing froze or burned, but I managed to hang out there for about an hour.

It may not have been the most relaxing hot spring experience of all time, but it was definitely one of the most memorable.

After lunch, we moved on over to Hannah Point on Livingston Island. This was the highlight of the trip in terms of penguin and seal sightings. We walked among the colonies of penguins and managed to find a few of the rare Macaroni Penguins. They have big yellow eyebrows that sweep back from their heads and were fun to watch. There was also a large colony of Elephant Seals nearby. They occasionally let out some loud moans, but mostly just sat around and stunk.
Our final day of landings was on the 25th of January. In the morning, we landed on one of the Aitcho Islands. We spent a couple of hours watching the penguins and seals. Between watching the seals on land and spending hours every day on the bridge watching them swim in the water I have come a way very impressed. On land they can do their funky waddle for long distances and are pretty good at climbing rocks. In the water, they look like they are rocket-propelled. It is amazing how fast they can move. When they are commuting someplace, they scoot along just under the surface and then shoot out and fly over the water for a second. A bunch of them all out of the water at the same time reminds me of a school of flying fish. At one point I was lucky enough to see a penguin approach the shore inside of a wave. When the wave got to shore and began to recede, the penguin shot out the front of the wave, tilted from horizontal to vertical in mid-air and landed on its feet, ready to walk. They sure look like they are having a lot o fun.
I also learned that when a penguin is standing still and then suddenly leans forward, you better not be standing too close. They squirt a large quantity of smelly white stuff out of their butts. It makes a line on the ground about two feet long. Their individual nests are all surrounded by white streaks heading off in every direction. From above, an empty nest looks like a sun with its rays.

After lunch, we landed on King George Island and visited the Argentine Jubany Station. We took a long walk on the beach. The tide had gone out and deposited hundreds of car-sized chunks of ice on the beach. It felt like walking through a sculpture garden. At the end of the beach, we climbed up onto a glacier for a brief stroll before heading into the dining area of the station for some tea and cookies. Their shop and post office were open, so I sent a few post cards from Antarctica. They promised that they would take at least a month to get to their destinations.
On the 26th of January, we left the shelter of the islands and returned to the Drake Passage. It was a little bit rough, but I felt well enough to attend the various lectures and play games with my fellow passengers.

Yesterday, we got back to the Beagle Channel and parked there for the rest of the day. I went to some of the lectures and wore my same dirty clothes to the Captain's Dinner. He did not seem to mind.

Today, we got to Ushuaia, ate one final breakfast on the ship and then returned to civilization. I remember thinking when I got here the first time that Ushuaia was at the end of the world. Now it seems like the beginning of the world to me.

I will miss spending my days alternating between playing in Antarctica and watching it for hours on end from the bridge was we sailed by. But, I am eager to get back to hiking. I have booked a flight to Mendoza, Argentina and will soon be gazing up at the tallest non-Asian mountain in the world.