Yes, Folks, people really do this!!!

Feb 27

The animals in Antarctica have absolutely no fear of humans, mostly unlike animals in the rest of the world!  How amazing is that?  This place has been so protected and cherished over the centuries that animals no longer remember humans who slaughtered them for the fun of it!  We have been shown videos of Whaler Ships that devastated the whales here back in the day and harvested their carcasses for the Blubber and other attributes.  This practice was stopped almost a century ago and the whales no longer fear us.

This morning we sail through ice flows and watch as our captain expertly avoids danger.  We can only imagine that some of these flows could cause massive and possible catastrophic damage to our ship, but the crew guides us through without so much as a hiccup.  This is where we are impressed with the “Open Bridge” of the ship as all the passengers are invited to visit the bridge at our leisure to witness the navigation abilities of the crew.  All that is asked of us is that we stay quiet and behind the crew as they do their work and perform their magic!

Everywhere in front of us are ice flows and bergs of all different sizes and the crew makes it look like child’s play as they navigate through them.  Our cameras snap happily away and we spot several seals and other wildlife among the flows and bergs.

On a fun note, we find the only area on the ship where smoking is allowed!  Please look close at the photos!

As we walk around the ship, we come across the party deck where the crew readies us for a celebration with Mimosas!  We cross the Antarctic Circle today!  Elee’s first day of Official Retirement! Let the fun and celebrations begin!  Mimosa’s for all as we complete a lifetime landmark.

Next, we watch crazy passengers take the “Polar Plunge”.  Passengers get to put on their bathing suits and jump into the Southern Ocean South of the Antarctic Circle!  A bit crazy, but a landmark for some!  Elee and I ‘Opted Out’ of the Plunge, which we were told was Minus 1 Degree Celcius or 30 Degrees Farenheit!.  So many of the “Plungers” couldn’t get out of the water fast enough! Others tried to swim away, but the crew ‘tethered’ each jumper so they could retrieve them quickly. The ones that wanted to swim away were the most crazy!

So on we go on this great adventure called life as we begin this new chapter called, ‘Retirement’!

Next for the afternoon, the ship sets anchor and we suit up in our dry suits for a kayak adventure.  We kayak in perfect conditions South of the Antarctic Circle!  We find ourselves paddling through actual brash ice and ice flows which becomes a bit of a challenge but fun nevertheless.  While kayaking below the Antarctic Circle today, Zodiac boats came out to greet us and we were instructed to come together and “Raft Up”, side by side, holding each others kayak and, lo and behold,  we were passed coffee cups filled with Hot Cocoa and Bailey’s Irish Cream! Such a treat while floating among the ice floes, sea ice and icebergs in the Antarctic Ocean!

Back on the ship, satiated from the days adventures, the bar and lounge are aglow with exciting conversations and libations.  There is not a dull conversation to be had as we wind down and finally turn in for the evening.

It Exists, it Really Does!

Feb 26

The morning dawns with clear skies, unlike the last few days. No traces of the snowstorm last night remain on the ship.  We have arrived in Orne Harbor.  Five Humpback Whales are feeding in the little harbor around the ship.  So it’s time to suit up and get out on the water and then a hike on the Antarctic Mainland!  I tried to upload a tiny low resolution photo of a Chinstrap Penguin this morning.  It took almost 30 minutes and still not sure if it went through or not.

Sunrise in the harbor is surreal and serene.  Antarctica is a truly magical place.  We are told the hiking trail has been determined as too treacherous.  So we load up in the zodiacs and take a cruise around the point.  Whales in the bays, ice flows, penguins and birds assault our presence as we cruise along the coast.  Porpoising penguins entertain us and cliffside birds  attempt to hide among the rocks but our camera lenses seek them out rather successfully.  But then, they have no fear of us so they don’t hide as well as they likely could!

More whales and porpoising penguins show themselves on the way back to the ship for lunch.  Back aboard, we avail ourselves of food and drink and happy conversations as our day progresses.  The ship pulls anchor and makes its way on to Paradise Harbor.

After lunch we load ourselves back into the zodiacs for an afternoon tour of Paradise Harbor and Base Brown.  A colorful set of red buildings (which I can only guess is a welcome sight in thick fog and poor visibility) that serve as another research station here.

We disembark the zodiacs and hike up a mountain for around 300 vertical feet or more to stunning overviews of the Harbor and the ice flows.  It is such a warm day that several of the passengers strip down to shorts and t-shirts and make the climb that way just because they can.  I, personally, don’t feel like carring all my gear wrapped around me and it is only after I reach the low summit that I see the other passengers have left their gear at the bottom.  If I had only known, LOL.

When we get back down to Base Brown, there are dozens of Penguins showing off for our cameras and making it difficult to walk the trail without getting our boots dirty with guano.

So we climb back down and get back in the zodiacs and take a tour of the Harbor, finding all sorts of seals and icebergs to greet our senses.  Lazy sea Lions and Seals lounge around and act disturbed by our presence (which they most likely were) but they lay back down and bask in the summer sun while lying on their own personal ice flows!  The afternoon sun creates quite the array of shapes and lighting challenges for our cameras.

The afternoon comes to a close and we head back and board our ship.  After dinner we go back out onto the deck to watch a spectacular sunset.  For any of you that have ever heard of the “Green Flash”, I have good news for you.  I grew up hearing of the “Green Flash” but only thinking it was a total myth, something of legend.  But this is not the case.

The “Green Flash” is an effect of the light at the exact moment the sun sets below the horizon.  At the exact moment the sun disappears, it is said it “Turns Green”.  Well, I captured it on film today.  Well at least on ‘digital’ film.  It is a phenomenon that I never thought, for a million years, had any credibility.  But here it is folks.  Look close at the pictures.  I did not change the color.  The “Green Flash” exists.  Maybe it is a function of how slow the sun sets down here.  The “Flash” only lasts a split second.  Back up at the Equator or the middle of the world, it lasts much less.  Maybe that is the key.  But I saw it and I am sticking to it.  I have seen it with my own eyes!

We go back in the ship, satiated with memories and head to the bar for some more cool libations.  It has been a truly wonderful day!  Goodnight all and we’ll see you in the morning!

Stepped foot in Antarctica today!

Day 11 — Feb 25

Even though it’s summer down here, we had a snowstorm last night! But when we got up this morning there was no evidence of it! Did I dream it? I don’t have a hangover, so I’m sure I didn’t ‘drink’ it! It was a raging blizzard when I went to bed! Oh well, chalk it up to a memory!

  Whale sightings galore this morning both on the ship and when we got on the zodiacs for our land excursion.  As we stepped into our zodiac, a Minky Whale swan right under us!  My first time ever seeing a Brown Whale!  Tried to get photos but it was too elusive.  Elee chose to kayak this morning and she had an amazing time also!  Overviews of Portal Point were spectacular!

Stepped foot on the continent this morning in Portal Point, the entrance to Charlotte Bay on the recluse peninsula on the West Coast of Agrahamland.  We are Officially in Antarctica! To date, we have only been on islands off the coast of the Continent!  Had our obligatory photos taken holding the ships flag while standing on the continent.  Then took a hike around the peninsula where elevations rose to a few hundred feet and overviews of the harbor and surroundings were stunning.   Climbed an Ice cliff, fell on my butt (only once) on the way down (not intentional) and encountered a Snowstorm on the way back to our ship!

Suddenly, we heard a huge ‘crack’ and ‘roar’ and I spun my camera around and luckily I was already pre-focused and an iceberg in the bay was exploding and ‘calving’, or splitting in half!  The ensuing ice formed a mini tidal wave that we looked down and watched wash ashore!  At a couple hundred feet in elevation, we were in no danger whatsoever and we stood there mesmerized and were entertained by nature in her purest form!

After, we took a zodiac ride with Humpbacks up close and personal.  The sound and sight of whales breaching is a thing of beauty.  Being right there with them is magical!  While riding with the whales, a snowstorm washed over us and visibility decreased to the point we could only hope our drivers knew where they were.  Our driver showed us his GPS Compass and we were reassured that we were in safe hands!

Back on the ship for lunch and it’s story time again among our fellow passengers and we learn what everyone saw and experienced this morning.  Warmed up again and fed, we relax for a couple hours as the ship moves to a place called Enterprise Island.

Here, we board the zodiacs again for another excursion and we quickly come across pods of whales and are treated to flukes and icebergs and more magical things!  And then we come across a shipwreck that is in a calm water bay and is quite the sight.  Here we come across the kayak group and my wife is able to relinquish her camera to me as it has become in her way for her part of the excursion.

Then it’s back on the ship for the evening and dinner and stories abound once more.  Then into the bar and lounge for libations and camaraderie amongst our fellow passengers and new friends.  Happy conversations ensue and before we know it, we are into the wee hours of the morning and tomorrow looms as a new day so we retire to our rooms.

I look out our window right before I climb into bed and there is a furious blizzard blowing by the window and everything is whiteout! Hey, I thought this was summer! But exhaustion takes over and I crawl into bed to see what awaits us in the morning!

Day 10 — Feb 24

So after having to travel back north yesterday to King George Island to accommodate a medical evacuation on the ship, we are now headed back south. We have arrived at Nicholson Island.  We have reached the 63rd parallel in hopes of getting to the 66 1/3 parallel (Antarctic Circle).

Beautiful scenery and whale sightings keep our eyes and camera lenses busy as we head to breakfast and walk around the ship.  This trip is becoming more beautiful every day!  Everywhere we turn there is another wonderful assault on our senses.

We board the zodiacs for a tour of Spert Island this morning.  Our Zodiac Driver, Dave, one of the Photographer Guides on the Expedition, turns out to be somewhat of a Speed Demon which I like quite well.  We took some Zodiac Rides at high speed through some caves that were exhilarating to say the least!

I have to laugh as we come across a floating iceberg in the shape of a penis that has been nicknamed, “Penis Point”.  Near Spert Island.  Oh my!!!  There are no landing points on Spert Island as it juts 525 feet vertically out of the water, but its many caves and rock formations make wonderful view finder fodder!

We come across Leopard and Fur Seals playing in the water and they don’t seem to mind us being here.  This one seal just kept swimming around and playing near us.  Because of the restrictions the IAATO has placed on all ships to the Antarctic for the last hundred or so years, humans are no longer a predator to these creatures and they no longer fear us.  So we are treated to playful displays by creatures near and far!

Back on board for lunch and story sharing as the ship moves to its next destination.  Uploading photos from here is nigh on impossible. So I’ve stopped trying.  Soon it is time for our afternoon excursion and I have chosen to kayak again!  The ship has set anchor at D’Halnaut Island in Mikkelsen Harbor. This is me in my dry suit!

We kayak in heavy winds and I think I’ve never been this cold.  As beautiful as this is, it is a welcome treat to go back onboard for hot cocoa, wine and dinner.

The ship has moved to Cierva Cove and we’re going back out for a photographers sunset excursion in the zodiacs.  This place was named for Juan de le Cierva, the inventor of the “Autogiro”, the precursor to the helicopter.  Gotta get off the computer and suit up. Thermals, shirt, sweater, fleece lined pants, waterproof ski pants, Antarctic lined jacket, ski hat, neck sleeve, and face protection. It takes quite some time to even ‘suit up’ for these excursions!

We get out on the water and sunset has begun.  I mentioned this before but I’ll remind you that Antarctic Sunsets (like Arctic Sunsets) last for hours which makes for a photographers delight!  We are surrounded by glaciated peaks and valleys up to 2000 meters in depth (7000 feet).  This place is known for its stunning icebergs and somewhere around here is a summer Argentinean research station.

We get up close and personal to some whales and marvel at the icebergs in the sunset.  Then, as sunset finally wanes, we go back on board for warm libations and stories at the bar!

Day 9 — Feb 23

After almost 24 hours sailing back north for the evacuation, we arrive at King George Island.  During the trip north we are treated to many sighting of whales and my camera is entertained with breaches and blows and fluke dives!  The evacuation occurs as planned and all is well, although we never see the evacuation as they wisely put us all in zodiacs and take us for a tour of the area while they load up the ill lady and get her to shore safely.

We cruise around the bay and see an iceberg the size of two city blocks.  Yes, I said TWO CITY BLOCKS…  This Iceberg was about 30 Meters tall out of the water (100 feet), which meant it was likely 60 Meters below water (200 feet).  We rode around it, cameras happily clicking away, Blue, Grey and White Ice grabbing our senses and lenses as we were amazed at the enormity of this floating Berg.

We go back to the ship and enjoy the remainder of the evening in the bar where crew members regale us with stories of their adventures!  Mind numbing concoctions are consumed and stories get more exciting.  We finally turn in for the evening with the assurance that the ship is traveling back south in hopes of making up time.