We have truly been blessed so far on this trip. Today has been glorious. Who thought I’d come to Antarctica and sweat. Shoot, for Liz it’s warmer here than back in Wisconsin. First thing this morning out on the deck though while the ship was moving, I was freezing! The temperature was definitely lower and the wind made it COLD!
When we first looked out our window, all you could see was fog which actually turned out to be very low lying banks of clouds. After we sailed through the bank, I was gob-smacked by the pristine blue water and snow-clad mountains arching into an achingly blue sky. It defies description. It was like being in a postcard. The scene was picture-perfect.
Before going down for breakfast, Doug spotted our first iceberg and called it in to Reception hoping to win the iceberg competition. Liz had him beat. She saw it a bit after 6 and snap a picture that was time-stamped. She didn’t turn in her entry until breakfast.
Green group was going out first today on our excursions so after eating, we headed back to the cabin. I put on my parka and headed out to our deck to check out the scenery from Deck 7. Dang, it was cold up there! The wind froze me to the bone. But the view was worth every second of discomfort. Off in the distance I could see a whale spouting. It looked like there was more than one. I barely caught the tail of a tiny one. Against one snowy mountain, in stark relief were two cruise ships. One was too large for the passengers to disembark on the continent. They had to be happy with merely seeing this impressive land mass. The other ship was smaller and we could see zodiacs zipping folks back and forth. That would be us shortly. I stayed out marveling at the beauty drifting passed me for as long as I could stand the cold. It was going on 9 which is when we were suppose to reach Danco. I needed to start getting ready for the first adventure of the day.
You really do have to start preparing early. It takes a while to climb into long johns, fleece leggings, two pairs of socks, fleece shirt, fleece jackets, parka, life vest, boots….. Of course as soon as I got into it all, I had to pee. Doesn’t that always happen! I managed though. With everything on, it was too hot to stay inside so I went out to the deck. Then I headed down to the bar to take a photo of the map where they are plotting our journey each day. I thought that would be a good way to document our journey. I’ll take one every day. However, in reality it was difficult to get a good picture because everything kept reflecting on the map. I’ll try it again later when the sun is in a different spot. Maybe then it will work better.
Since I was already out on Deck 4, I checked the view from outside the lounge. Not a soul was out there which I found amazing. I had that glorious view all to myself. It was just me, the sun, the sea, the sky, and the magnificent mountains of snow and ice. I was in heaven.
I flitted around over the entire ship and finally landed outside on Deck 3 where we go to board the zodiacs. I found Liz there and we watched a small humpback as he/she came up to breath. We were patient and were finally rewarded with the flukes. That is always so special, no matter how many times you are privileged to see it.
It felt like forever before we were called to start loading up. The fog this morning had slowed down our progress to Danko Island. I probably started getting ready too soon as well but you hate to wait until the last second to start putting on all of the various layer. But now it was finally time to load up. Liz and I had come into the lounge through the door which we would now exit through so we stayed by the scanning machine. You have to get your card scanned before you go out and then again when you come back in so they can keep track of who is off the boat and who has made it back onboard. The only bad thing about the system is that you had to figure out a place to keep your card that was easily accessible but where it wouldn’t accidentally get lost. I could just see me pulling gloves out of my pocket once on land and losing my card. Doug had discovered a small pocket on one side at the top of the parka. It wasn’t really big enough to be useful but was good place for your key card. It’s just a bit hard to get to it when you are wearing the mandatory life vest.
Anyway, since we were right there, Liz and I were scanned first and thus were first on the zodiac. Before we climbed onboard, Neil the cruise director, made sure we all had on our life vests correctly and told us when to go down to the zodiac. Once down to the zodiac level we had to step into a shallow pan of pink disinfectant. We are trying hard not to contaminate the continent. And because of avian flu, we couldn’t sit on the continent either like we did last time. If we fell or placed a bag on the ground, the expedition crew had to disinfect the area.
I’ve been on so many zodiac rides by now that getting on and off are a breeze. I did my four steps to get on, plopped my fanny down, and scooted. Easy peasy:-). The ride to Danko was easy as well. The water was like glass—smooth. There was no wind at all except what the zodiac created. The day couldn’t have been better. The fog and clouds had burned off and we had glorious sunshine dazzling our eyes as it reflected off of the ice. It couldn’t have been more beautiful.
The zodiac ride was over in a jiffy and it was time to flip the feet and legs over the side of the zodiac and splash our way onshore. There was a small gravel beach at the base of a snowy incline. Along the right side of the beach were bunches of gentoo penguins. Surprisingly several of them had built nests there and a few had small chicks. The expedition people said this was quite unusual. And we knew from our previous trip that chicks born this close to winter have almost zero chance of survival. They won’t be big enough once winter is here and they take to the sea. It was really sad. Nature isn’t alway fair. However, in order to not disturb the nesters, we had to be very quiet. You could take pictures but you just had to keep the noise down. You could stay on the beach or you could follow the path of poles and orange chain up a slope to get a view of the island and see another rookery.
All of the expedition people told us that the path was slippery. They were not exaggerating. The path was literally ice. It was a bugger. I truly didn’t think I was going to make it. I felt like such a wimp. The first part wasn’t too awful but by the time I reached where Pablo was standing, I was slipping more than making progress. He helped me up further along the trail but he was sliding as well so I could just see both of us sliding down the incline because of me. At a bend in the trail, I stopped. There was still a good way of uphill to climb and I didn’t think I could make it. Plus I was worried about coming downhill in this slippery mess. Oy vey! Doug was ahead of me and went on up. He successfully navigated his way further and yelled down to me that it wasn’t so bad. After watching 70 year-olds heading up the icy path, my pride took over and Pablo and I continued up. We did reach a point where there was enough snow rather than ice that I felt confident enough to strike out on my own, I warned Pablo I would very likely need assistance again on the way down. I’m sure he wasn’t surprised 🙂
I did make it all of the way. By then I was sweating like a pig. I had stripped of my hat, unzipped a good deal of my parka. It didn’t help. I was still sweating. I made a decision then and there that this afternoon I was going to wear much less! Whoever heard of sweating in Antarctica!!!
Anyway, I finally made it up the slope under my own steam. I was tired by the time I reached the final destination. It took several minutes of deep breathing to get back on an even keel. I did enjoy the rookery up there. Here, too, there were tiny babies. It made me want to cry knowing that they had virtually no chance to survive. Two were so tiny that they perched on mom or dad’s feet and huddled in the warm of their parent. Most of the other babies were actually juveniles and were either molting or had already molted and were ready to take on their status as adults.
As always, the penguins were loud and smelly. They would kick up a fuss if another penguin came too close to their nest. They are quite territorial. I didn’t see any penguin building a nest here like yesterday. I was intrigued watching them waddle down their stone rookery (they do not make nests on ice. They have to find a rocky area to nest on). How they managed to do it, I’ll never know because penguins aren’t the most graceful thing on two feet. Of course I’m sure I didn’t look so hot climbing up the trail either. Anyway, I saw two of them navigate the way down the rocky pile and then make the jump to the snow where the penguin highway began.
The view from up at the rookery was fabulous. You could see the path which I had labored up and then the ship anchored out in the water. The sun was still shining (the weather can change rapidly here so you never take the sun for granted). I looked at the path down and inwardly sighed. I knew I was going to have to try to make it down without falling. I had touched the ground once with my hands coming up. Oops! My goal was to make it down in one piece with no mishaps. After I had enjoyed the penguins and the view, I began slowing and carefully making my way down. We had been given an hour on land and I knew I would need plenty of time to slip and slide my way down the slope.
Fortunately Lori from the expedition team had told us that we could walk in the fresh snow at the side of the trail if that made it easier. I took her advice. The upper most portion of the trail was okay just like it had been going up. I was making better time that I thought I would. However, I knew when I spotted Pablo that the real fun was about to begin. It got difficult before I reached him. The snow was like rock and I couldn’t find much purchase at all. I tried digging my right heel in but that generally didn’t work either. Pablo was at the point of the trail where it became extremely icy. Even the people with trekking poles were struggling a bit. I reached him and didn’t even say a word. He just looked at me, took my hand, and we started down. Actually I held onto the back of his life vest. That worked better. He and I slipped and slid until we were through the worst of it. Then I sent him back up the slope to help somebody else. Bless him. I just love Pablo. He has earned my undying gratitude 🙂
I made it to the bottom with no real issues and boy, was I happy to hit the beach area! We didn’t have too long to wait until a zodiac arrived to take us back to the Hebridean Sky. I could feel the dampness of my clothes as we made the quick ride back to the ship. Once onboard, a crew member gave us a small bit of spiced tea which was lovely. Then we made our way up to the cabin and began the disrobing process.
I went outside to the deck area like I did yesterday. Once again nobody was out there. It was great. I managed to get my boots off although that is a challenge. Then off came the parka. Unlike yesterday I stayed in my waterproof pants until I got in the cabin. Peeling them off proved a bit more difficult because my fleece leggings were drench as were my cuddl dud pants. My shirt was wet, my cuddl dud top was wet. I was one big ball of sweat. Even my socks were wet from sweat. I kept my fingers crossed that they all dried out before I needed them again.
I was exhausted after this excursion. I hadn’t sleep well last night. Don’t know why. Too excited about being here, I guess. Anyway, I was tuckered out so I wasn’t moving very fast. By the time we got undressed and dried off, it was time for lunch. I had seen that the menu said there was a BBQ hamburger but I didn’t see it anywhere on the buffet or the chef’s area where they do speciality items. Instead I had salad and left it at that. Nothing else tripped my trigger. I found out later that you have to order the burger from your server. Live and learn.
After lunch we started sailing through the Gerlache Straits to our next landing at Neko Harbour. I was keeping my fingers crossed. In 2015 when we first tried to land at Neko, we couldn’t make it through because of all the ice in the water. On our way back through that area, it had finally cleared enough so we could make a landing.
As we sailed through the strait, I was enthralled with the beauty around me. There was so much ice in the water. It was incredible. Tiny bergs up to Big Mac daddy bergs floated passed our ship. The ocean was literally a sea of ice itself as we maneuvered. At one point I saw a small iceberg literally exploded into hundreds of small shards of ice as we sailed next to it. That was crazy.
The scenery one either side of the channel was a winter wonderland painted in brilliant whites and shades of blue. For such a harsh environment, it’s beauty was so ethereal. We passed some larger chunks of ice and you could see the turquoise color of the water around it. That has something to do with the refraction of sun coming through the ice. At points we lost the sun and it was like looking out onto a black and white photograph. All color had been leached out of the water and ice except for the deep blue of the old and very compact ice in some of the icebergs. It was breathtaking and I couldn’t take my eyes off of it. I spent a good portion of the afternoon enjoying the scenery. I would stay out on our balcony until I got too cold and then I would come in and sit in a chair, staring out the sliding glass door. I was simply mesmerized by the sheer majesty of what I was so fortunate to be seeing. It truly was a gift. I snapped so many pictures and shot so much video. I couldn’t help myself. Chances are I will never be back this way again and I was going to take advantage of being here while I could.
I watched the scenery until it was time to get ready for our afternoon outing. Since the weather hadn’t changed appreciably, I ditched the long john bottoms and just wore my fleece leggings underneath my waterproof pants. I didn’t wear the log john top either, just my fleece shirt. I eschewed my fleece jacket as well. My jacket was still a bit damp from this morning’s adventures.
Green team went out first this afternoon as well. The zodiac ride was interesting. We had motored out a short way from the boat when all of a sudden, the engine died. Okay, it happens. Our driver changed the fuel tank thinking it was lack of gas. Still wouldn’t start. He tried a few other things. Still wouldn’t start. Meantime we are floating further and further always from the ship. Finally he walkie talkied back to the bridge and told them we needed rescuing. Oy vey! The bridge said they would send somebody out to help us. However, Bryan (the NBC producer) suggested that he try one more time. Lo and behold, it started and we were fine. Despite the rocky beginning to the ride, in no time we had landed at the rocky beach. As usual, Diego met our zodiac and briefed us. Because of the amount of calving that occurs here, we were to immediately leave the beach and head up to where Pablo was taking the 7th continent photos. We were actually on the continent, not an island. Yes!!!! Last time we had the picture done at the Chilean Research base but we can’t go there this time. Diego also told us to be sure and check out the weddell seal on the rocks. It was hidden among the boulders and looked like another boulder, just softer. These seals can get quite large. I’ve only ever seen them lying on the ground at our landings. They have such large, liquid eyes. You just have to love them.
From the zodiac we had noticed all kind of red and green colors on the snow. Lisa told us that it was algae, not penguin poop. It was all down the side of one hill. Not something you would expect to see here in the white wilderness. You expect everything to be this pristine white color but it isn’t. The penguins are surprising as well. They are always nice and clean when you see them in the zoo but here in their natural habitat, they are pretty darn grimy. They get covered with mud and poop and goodness knows what else. I’ve seen some literally covered from top to bottom with mud. I’m sure their cleanliness depends on how muddy the rookery is. So far these weren’t too bad but they still needed a dip in the sea.
After Diego finished his briefing, we did the zodiac swing and hustled off the beach and up to the photo area. There was snow and ice here as well as sand which coated some of the ice and helped give me more stable footing. I appreciated it :-). Pablo snapped our photo and then a few more of Liz and Chris with us. Liz had her 7th continent photo with the small sign upside down since we are at the bottom of the world :-). Didn’t even think about that! It was cute.
Here we had another uphill slog but not as much ice. At least I could dig in my right heel and get some traction. That gave me a little bit of confidence. I don’t remember having any doubts about making it up the hill eight years ago. Of course back then if you fell, it was no big deal. You picked yourself up and continued on. Not so this time. Anyway, slowly but surely I made my way up. I think the other three were ahead of me. I was the slow and steady one. I made it with a good deal of sliding. On the last bit I slipped several times and whoever was behind me (It was Bryan who works for NBC) grabbed me by my life vest straps and kept me from falling for the remainder of the way up the hill. By the time we reached the rookery, I was once again sweating and had unzipped and discarded my hat.
It was worth the hike. And I remembered the view. It was magnificent. The ship was like a little toy floating in the bay. You could hearing cracking as snow avalanched and we did see a couple of small calvings but nothing as spectacular as what we had seen in the Chilean fjords. They were so small we didn’t have to worry about a tsunami. Of course we were up high so wouldn’t have had to worry anyway.
We could see two large rookeries from our vantage point. The closest one was the smaller one. The penguins were fussing at each other, feeding their babies, sleeping, molting, and just living their lives. The other rookery was a distance away but you could hear their cacophony as well. Penguins are loud as well as smelly. The colonies here at Neko Harbour were all gentoo. None of my beautiful chinstraps here. It fascinated me how all of a sudden a penguin would stretch its bill skyward and begin vocalizing. Maybe they DO have a heart song.
We saw more young penguins here. I heard one of the expedition people explain that the snow messed up penguin breeding this year. They can’t breed on ice and snow. They have to have rock or actual land. It took a while for their old rookeries to thaw out from the abundance of winter snow that they had gotten. That pushed the breeding season way back. It’s not good for the babies but what can you do? Mother Nature doesn’t always play nice.
I enjoyed my time up at the rookery and then slowly made my way back down. Because of the tsunami danger from calving, we had to wait up on the hill for our zodiac. Once a new one arrived, they sent us down to board. I managed to snag some video and photos while waiting on the zodiac. I even got a few snaps of the seal although it wasn’t doing much. Actually by the time we left, it looked like its head was hanging in the water. We know it was alive because every so often you would see its tail flippers move. I tried to catch the penguins porpoising but that is so hard to get. I did capture a group of six or seven penguins swimming onto shore all together. They were cute and awkward at the same time.
We boarded the zodiac and made it back to the ship without any mishaps. Thank goodness :-). After more spiced tea we climbed up the four flights to our cabin and began the strip down. I was not quite as drenched with sweat this time, but I was still damp. Doug and I both took showers before heading down to the lounge for the Cocktail Hour and daily recap.
I splurged today and got the cream stout. It was a splurge because we had to pay for it. Only Corona is the house beer. I wish it was Quilmes instead. We enjoyed everybody’s company until the recap. As usual with the recap came a couple of mini lessons :-). I enjoy them. Anyway, tonight we learned that snow algae is what we saw today in Neko Harbour. It is pink and green. The pink color comes from the keratinoids which proved sunscreen for the algae. This keritinoid actually causes the snow to melt but the algae doesn’t wash away in the runoff. It has special mucus which causes the algae to stick. Snow algae has always been there but it is increasing in amount. It has special glycoprotein that acts like antifreeze to keep it from freezing to death. Interesting little suckers.
Meru gave the second talk which was on one of the Antarctic expeditions. I hadn’t realized until tonight that Antarctic expeditions were known by the name of the ship. Hence Shackleton’s was known as Endurance because his ship was named the Endurance (totally an appropriate name). This particular expedition was carried out by Belgians. I didn’t quite catch the name of the ship/expedition (the Argentine accent messed me up). The leader of it was Andries Gerlache. He learned how to sail in ice in the Arctic which was smart. On Gerlache’s expedition, he happened to have a young man named Amundsen. I thInk we’ve all heard of him :-). Gerlache had a difficult time getting scientists for his expedition. I’m not quite sure why. He hired one man named Frederick Cook who later claimed he reached the South Pole before anybody else. He lied. Gerlache also had to hire a man who couldn’t cook as the expedition cook. He couldn’t find a real cook.
The trip was not without it’s tragedies. At one point a Belgian fell overboard and drifted away. He obviously died. They named the nearby island after him—Wienke Island. Gerlache hadn’t planned to overwinter in Antarctica but the party stayed too long and got trapped by the ice. Can you imagine? They didn’t have enough supplies nor were they prepared for the rigors of winter. And yet they survived. They ate penguin and seals. The cook who wasn’t a cook knew that fresh food helped fight against scurvy which was a real problem as well as polar anemia which was a type of depression. Who wouldn’t be depressed spending day after day in the cold and dark with howling winds? Frederick Cook wrote a book and said that their cook fed them a great deal of soup. He cooked that okay because all he had to do was add water to the seal or penguin. Another member of the crew was named Danko like the island we landed on this morning. This gentleman died in June of 1898. The island was named after him. In March of 1898 the ship was freed from the ice. As soon as possible, the remaining crew sailed to South America. A book entitled The Madhouse at the End of the World was written about this expedition.
That wrapped up our debriefing. From there we were on to dinner. Because of where we sit in the lounge, we are generally the last to get to the dining room which makes finding a table a bit of a challenge. Chris is usually the first in so he has been excellent at finding us one. Tonight was no expedition. We were seated in Edwin’s section and it just happened to be his birthday. Neil and the crew made a big deal out of it and we all sang happy birthday to him. He was literally in tears. It was really sweet.
The food itself was good. It’s always very tasty. I had a pasta dish with spicy tomato sauce. I didn’t notice it being spicy but I enjoyed it as it also had peppers and other veg as well. I skipped the appetizer and dessert. Frankly, the desserts just haven’t sounded good enough to indulge in the calories. The pasta filled me up so I was good. I did splurge after dinner and got an Irish coffee. THAT was my dessert 🙂
Tomorrow is a sailing day. We are full steam ahead for the Antarctic Circle. We are suppose to get there sometime late in the morning. Until we arrive and see what the weather conditions are like, we won’t know what our options are. We might have a landing or maybe a zodiac ride. At this point, nobody knows. We just all have to be patient. In the mean time, I’ll have a lovely night’s sleep on our rocking ship 🙂
Tales from the Trail 