Later in the evening, shortly after dinner (around 10 PM local time), we came across a large and wondrous iceberg. The pictures here are only a few of the 300+ we took. The blues found in the crevices of the iceberg are simply impossible to describe. The visible part of the iceberg was some 70+ feet tall and 150+ feet long. It towered over the ship. One photo shows the full length of the iceberg, another shows the incredible arc in the center and the last shows us in front to provide some sense of scale.
This afternoon we landed on a beach in Deception Cove. Aside from the on again off again snow it was beautiful and the sites were astounding. This was the site of a British whaling station operated until 1931. Some 180,000 whales were butchered here during a period of about 20 years. The site has long been abandoned and the structures stand in a state of decay having been untended for over 70 years. Pictured here is a stand of several enormous barrels that were used in processing whale oil.
During our walk we encountered a number of penguins. The two species we saw were Gentoos and Chinstraps. In the picture is a Gentoo and its mate. The mate (barely visible) is tending their clutch of 1 to 2 eggs. We decided the standing penguin’s name was Bob – Bob the penguin.
I have added one more item to Jim Croce's list of things not to do. Swimming in sub-freezing Antarctic waters has to be just about one of the dumbest things I have ever done in my life. You know that feeling you get at a party when you are reaching into the tub of ice water to pull out the last Corona at the bottom of the tub? That is how my whole body felt. Ouch!
The sun rose at 3:23 AM this morning. Time zones seem to be almost useless the closer you get to the poles. It doesn't seem to really get dark at all here at night. It gets gray - most people would characterize it as dusk. Dusk runs from about 10 PM to 3 AM.
Around 5:45 AM, I spotted land. The first picture is seen here. Just a sliver of a pancake of white in the distance. We are making our way to Deception Island - to go swimming! Got to do it, just to say I swam in Antarctic waters.
More to come.
- Joel
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
I am sitting here on the ship looking out the window. We have had an enormous wandering albatross following us all day. The bird guy says he has an 11-foot wingspan. He’s riding an air stream off the ship that goes right by our window. It is so cool. It really is amazing here – everything they said it would be. The water churned up by the propellers is an amazing teal color, the air is so remarkably clean – event the pictures we take are strikingly clear.
It’s been such a long journey down, by the time we make the first landing tomorrow we will have been on the road for 6 days. It’s hard to believe that such a remote place still exists in our newly small world. The naturalists say the animals have no fear of humans at all – although they did mention one petrel that will protect its nest by projectile vomiting at intruders. Is that a fear response or just an insult? Tomorrow we get to go sea kayaking and swim in Deception Cove – although the guide says it’s more like a wallow in slightly less frigid waters than bathing in the spa-like waters that the brochure promised us. Still, it’s a pretty good way to end the year.
Well, they are announcing cocktails at the Captain’s welcome dinner…..duty calls. Then I am finally going to get a picture of that albatross! He’s been hiding from my camera all day.
Ly and Erin – Love you both, be sure you have coordinated you New Year’s plans and that I won’t need to kill anyone as a result. Hi Alea! You would have loved the seals!
We left our hotel in Santiago this morning at 6:15 AM.(5:15 AM wake up calls should be illegal.)After a quick check-in at the airport onto one of the infrequent flights to Ushuaia, Argentina, we meandered through the airport shopping area to kill time and made it back to our gate in time for our departure.
An interesting note here is that we were told by the staff that we had to limit our personal travel items to a weight of no more than 17 lbs.We spent the better part of an hour last night juggling our belongings between our carry on bags and our checked bags to accommodate this weight restriction.As fate would have it, LAN airlines didn’t seem to care at all.We saw people with bags large enough to carry small ponies board the plane with not even a bat of the eye from any of the flight personnel.So much for being compliant with the travel restrictions.
After about a three and half hour flight to Ushuaia we were shuttled from the airport to a catamaran to be delivered to our icebreaking cruise ship.The bus ride turned out to be an interesting trip through the southernmost national park in the world.We learned that Tierra del Fuego has a significant beaver population problem.Apparently some 50 beavers were introduced to the small island several years ago and with no natural predators the population has grown to over 100,000.This population is absolutely devastating the local wildlife’s habitat.The local naturalists and the government are now working to completely eradicate the beaver population and remove the non-native species from Argentina.
The catamaran trip was likewise fun and educational.The photos here show a species of cormorant that look a lot like penguins and group (or is it a herd) of seals arguing on a small rock outcropping.
Finally after over six hours on a plane, bus and catamaran, we reached our final destination of the afternoon – the National Geographic Explorer.The photos here attest to our arrival as we prepare for the real adventure of cruising through the Drake Passage on our way to Antarctica.
We are now posting our blogs through the shipboard satellite internet access – almost as expensive as three fine Belgian ales at Monks in Philadelphia – and that’s for just an hour!
More to come.
P.S. We will be posting lower quality pictures from here out due to the insanely slow internet speeds on the ship.
Yesterday we spent the bulk of the afternoon and evening meeting several fellow voyagers and visiting historic sites in Santiago. The cultural highlight was a museum with several historic artifacts from the last several thousand years found throughout South America. The collection was quite impressive. Becky snapped a few photos of some of the more interesting pieces. The statues in this picture were about 9 to 10 feet tall and used effectively as tombstones by an ancient indigenous people who once lived in southern Chile.
After returning from our tour we had drinks and dinner with the other passengers. We met several nice people from all over the United States. The majority of the people traveling with us are from the U.S. There are a few from Europe as well.
We leave Ushuaia this morning. From there we board the Explorer for Antarctica. We may not have an opportunity to post again until we return.
First, I want to acknowledge my dear and lovely wife Becky for all of the previous blogs. Second, I take no credit nor blame for anything she posts under my name. (We haven't figured out how to let her post under her own name.)
Having finally stopped flying for a day and settling in for a few hours in Santiago, I wanted a quick reminder of warm looks like. So I snapped a picture of our beautiful pool. I suspect I will pine for a mojito and a Cuban cigar whilst sitting at a table next to this pool in a few days or so. Until then, bring it on...
Finally! We are still not quite there BUT WERE ARE NOT ON A PLANE. And so I am content. Well, not being ona plane, the red wive and carpaccio, the fabulous view, friendly people and the mojitos.
This first picture is my attempt at checking Argentina off my life list. Does a picture taken from a window count? It looked very rural, so I have an observation to go with the air plane window photo AND we spent 2 hours in the airport. So get back to me: to check or not to check. Keep in mind it would take a miracle to get me to make this flight again.
The second photo waaaaayyyy more fun. This is the view of the city we have out our window. The gorgeous pool is right below, the gorgeous lobby bar featuring the perfect mojito is also below.
Tomorrow we meet the people we are going with. We will have actual tourist photos, not planes, bars and red carpet clubs to share.
Well, we haven't made it out of the US, but we have made it to Dulles. Yeah! Only 2 hours late! But we had really super cool seats with personal TVs and they reclined and ooooh it was so exciting. All the entertainment stuff was off because of that near bombing yesterday, but conceptually it was just grand. AND I get to eat the cheap crudites in the Red Carpet Club, so there is that. Are real cookies too much to ask?
Alea - we will be here in a few months with your school. Dulles is in Washington DC, so this is where we will land with your school group.
I think that the adventure begins with a flight delay. We are supposed to board shortly and there is no plane in the little slot where the plane should be if all were right with the world. I remain hopeful. I will not have my enthusiasm dampened! Well, not yet anyway.
So far the highlight of the journey was watching a late arriving traveler try to bully his way onto a flight that had closed. I wonder if the attendants at the counter actually try to push harried travelers into hysterics. I think I would if I worked here, just to break up the day a bit.
I hear rumors of a delay. Poo.
Hi Ly, Alea, Erin and Joel!!!!! Miss you already, hope you're having fun! Don't forget to take the tree down and get it out of the house. XOXOXOXOXO
Late edit: The views expressed here are not necessarily shared by the Hassell family management. (I am sure you all know who that is.)
