ANTARCTICA

After spending a day in NYC, we boarded our plane for the 15½ hour flight to Buenos Aires where we saw a bit of the city. The next day we flew to Ushuaia, the City at the End of the World in the province of Tierra del Fuego (which means "land of fire"). The next day we took a tour of the city then went into the Tierra del Fuego National Park. The scenery was spectacular!

We drove to the end of Route No. 3 the Trans-America Highway, a road that runs from the southern most point of the world all the way to Barrow, Alaska. From there we boarded a catamaran which took us through the Beagle Channel back to Ushuaia. We saw so much wildlife on this cruise, we couldn't believe it, some of which are included in our photos.

From here, we boarded our ship, the M/S Disko, which is a Danish Vessel and was built for Greenland, and calm waters (no stabilizers).

After a 12 hour delay due to a SNAFU getting clearance for the ship's doctor, we sailed back into the Beagle Channel the next day. Once out of the channel, the winds picked up and so did the seas. We were in the famous Drake Passage, the roughest seas in the world. The Disko is a small vessel (90 passengers) and, as I mentioned, has no stabilizers!!! A ship has two motions, pitching (front to back) and rolling (side to side). Pitching isn't too bad but rolling is the motion that gets you sick and stabilizers control a ship's rolling. It's funny trying to walk when a ship is in heavy seas. When it is pitching it's like trying to climb a hill. When it is rolling you are literally walking at an angle. The most important words we heard were "One hand for the ship".

Now we took every precaution available for sea sickness (Bonine, ginger, wrist bands) but had to go to my bunk. I was sleeping when the room steward knocked on the door, bringing fruit and crackers to those that were sick. After he left, I got a little sick. Recovered then Dave came to the room and getting up made me sick again, but that was it. Missed a steak dinner, but was fine the next day and never got sick again. The crossing is two days and some people never got out of their bunks. You have to REALLY want to go to Antarctica!!! Two days of this and we have to come back, EGADS!!!!!!!

The next day in the passage was kinder and we were checking the water temperatures on a regular basis to see when we hit the Antarctic Convergence where the water temperature reaches 0º C, which means we are in Antarctic waters.

Our first landing was at Aitcho Island in the South Shetland Islands. I was the third person to get in a Zodiac and I heard the captain over the walkie-talkie say that it was too rough to get 90 people off the ship in such heavy swells (the ship goes one way, the gangway another and the zodiac yet another). Luckily I'm experienced in this sort of thing and had no problem but the last man fell and luckly wasn't hurt. We sailed on through the English Channel heading to Greenwich Island and made our landing at Yankee Harbor. There we visited Gentoo penguins, Antarctic Fur seals and a Leopard seal. A nice introduction to the Antarctica.

The next day we wended our way through the Weddell Sea where we saw huge icebergs - larger than any I've ever seen before. Most were Tabular bergs which are flat on the top. This type doesn't come from glaciers, but broke off the ice shelf. I was surprised by the lack of pack ice, especially after our experience in Baffin and Greenland. It was explained that the Antarctic waters freeze solid over the winter, but the ice is just a year old and totally melts in the summer.

I was on the bridge when we first saw our destination, Paulet Island another island in the South Shetland group. Here we saw our first Adelie penguins which have black beaks and feet and a white eye ring, more seals, a Weddell seal, Shags and Snowy Sheathbills which are the cleaning crew and eat everything they find.

This afternoon we finally reach the purpose of our trip - the Antarctic Continent!!! We landed at Brown Bluff and we all couldn't believe we were there. It's starkness had a certain beauty and is what you'd expect in such a remote area. I imagine when it's covered with snow it would be very forbidding. Here were a kazillion Gentoo chicks in various stages of molting. They are still unable to enter the water because they still have down and are dependent on their parents for food.

The next morning brought us to Deception Island where we went through a narrow opening called Neptune's Bellows because of the high winds that blow through it. The bellows is an opening into the caldera of a volcano that the sea broke through, filling it with water. In this protected area is Whaler's Bay, an historic site that first British, then Norwegian whalers used to process the whales they caught. The area is littered with huge boilers in which whale blubber was rendered, whale bones, boats, abandoned buildings, even an airplane. An eruption of the volcano resulted in a mudslide which destroyed the area in 1969 (can't say I'm sorry). We hiked up to Neptune's Window, another area opened in the caldera by wind and/or water which is the place an American sealer is said to have first spotted the Antarctic continent.

Our last landing was back at the beginning, Aitcho Island and what a spectacular day it was. Sunny and warm and the best was saved for last. Here were thousands of Chinstrap penguins seeming to be enjoying the sunny day. On the other side of the island were the Gentoo and their chicks who are, in my opinion, at the funniest stage. They are now bigger and fatter than their overworked parents who have to work their buns off trying to feed these relentless babies. They chase the adult, squawking all the way, and the parent runs to the ocean with baby in hot pursuit. When they get to the water their baby stops dead, afraid of the water - me thinks the parent is glad to get away from these little brats. It was just hysterical.

GULP, time to enter Drake's Passage again (double gulp). The first day Neptune smiled on us and it wasn't very bad but he made up for it the next day. Thankfully, we didn't have any problem but some people weren't seen for two days. This evening we were excited to see the fabled Cape Horn. I can't believe it. Around the Cape we're back to Beagle Channel and on our way to Ushuaia, the end of our great adventure to the White Continent and the end of the world.