Gob-smacked What a place!!?! We just got back from the trip of a lifetime - it really was simply amazing. The scenery and wildlife surpassed all expectations by some considerable margin. It felt like we were out in the wilderness with our boat dwarfed by huge icebergs, mountains and glaciers. The penguins are simply awesome creatures, and we saw loads of whales, seals and other sea birds as well. We have created several sections for Antarctica so we elaborate more there - that said, the easiest thing is probably let the photo’s do the talking. Suffice to say this is the [View Full Entry]

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You call this lucky? Not going to write much here other than to say that the Drake’s passage (the sea between S.A and Antarctica) sucks. The passage is where the Pacific and Atlantic meet and are therefore amongst the stormiest waters in the world. As it turns out we were actually really lucky with the weather and got through relatively unscathed but even then I think it is fair to say that we were all pretty pleased to reach the more sheltered waters around Antarctica. Amusingly, all the passengers basically slept for 2 days having scoffed so many sea-sickness tablets (myself [View Full Entry]

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Across the McMurdo Sound and about 50 miles north of here lies one of the rarest and coolest regions in the whole world... Even here in Antarctica, where glaciers and snow-capped mountains are the norm, this region is considered the holy grail of all research locations and the closest place on earth to the conditions we imagine might exist on Mars... The McMurdo Dry Valleys. Everyone eats their heart out over people who get to go to these obscure field camps within the Dry Valleys and the photos never really do the region justice. What's so special about brown rocky mountain [View Full Entry]

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11th to 21st February 2008 [View Full Entry]

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I began my last update by explaining that I had time to write it due to being stuck inside because of 30-knot winds and huge snow drifts. Well, a few weeks down the line and it is time for another update only today it is blowing 50 knots outside and you cant see more than 2 meters in front of you! A pattern seems to be appearing and the only time you get to sit down and write is when you can’t do anything else due to the weather. Today is 19 Feb and generally the ship will always leave here [View Full Entry]

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I just came back from a 10 day cruise to Antarctica on the M/V Polaris. It was one of the greatest experiences of my trip. We started sailing through the Beagle channel, which was quite nice, and we saw lots of sea birds, and a few magellanic penguins. Then, we had two days sailing through the Drake passage, which is infamous for bad weather and rough seas. Fortunately, on the way down to Antarctica, we had great weather and calm seas, and we even got there half a day earlier than expected, and so we were able to land on Aitcho [View Full Entry]

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Sorry for not poppin anything up here for awhile, and thank you to everyone for the e-mails reminding me to do so. With a shakey internet conection and the numerous things going on at all times over here it's been challenging to keep this going, but here's a quick recap...i'll try and include as many random details as possible. - Went to Madrid. Very cool city. Has a park in the middle which used to be the kings hunting ground and which now resembles an enchanted forest. It's a great place to find a nook and relax with a book, or [View Full Entry]

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Carp Shop Foreman: "Hey Betty, have you been to a field camp in a while?" Me: “Not since Granite Harbor and AGAP.” Said Foreman: “Hmmm, we’ll have to see about that.” I HAD noticed that most of my coworkers had been venturing out a lot more frequently than me, but I assumed it was due to skill and seniority and didn't think much of it. The following day, I was summoned into the office and told that I would be tasked on an Environmental Remediation trip (right up my alley!) to Odell Glacier along with another Carp, two people from the [View Full Entry]

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Antarctica After arriving in Ushuaia, which advertises itself as "El Fin del Mundo" (The End of the World), I had a wander about what turned out to be the most tourist orientated place in South America. There are cruise liners and Antarctic ships arriving and departing each day. The amazing thing about being so far south is that the sun sets just before 11pm, and gets up about 5pm. I went on a day tour of Tierra del Fuego National Park, and rode the restored convict railway, the Fin del Mundo railway. I boarded the Ocean Nova for a very pleasant [View Full Entry]

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"If you do not suffer now, you will suffer the rest of your life," David hissed in my ear as I bent painfully backwards as far as my body would allow. David, the Bikram yoga instructor had been transformed the second we entered into the one hundred and twenty degree room. Outside he had been shy and unassuming, and with just about as much presence as pounds on his body. There seemed to be very few of either. Pain coursed through my lower back and knifed its way down to my upper legs. This guy is crazy, I thought to myself. [View Full Entry]

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