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Published: January 12th 2008
Of course the question we always get is, “Why Antarctica? Why did you get married there?” Well, as you can guess…Jason and I are not conventional people. We thought it might be fun and wacky to do something a bit different. Another alternative we considered (or as Jason would argue, “Another alternative Katie considered…” hehe) was to marry at the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro. We settled on Antarctica, though, because Antarctica was our 7th and final continent to visit. We figured it would be quite fitting that as we “completed” the journey of exploring all the continents, it would be appropriate to launch another “journey.” (Of course, another great benefit was all our penguin guests were already donning tuxedoes!!)
As a disclaimer (too lawyerly? hehe), no blog entry will ever do Antarctica justice… it had all the factors that play into an absolute perfect trip. It exceeded the label of “Trip of a Lifetime” between the beauty, uniqueness, people, surprises, vistas, the laughs, the colors, the landscape, the wildlife…I can’t think of a more beautiful spot.
We started our Antarctic journey in the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia, Argentina. We spent our days in Ushuaia hiking Marshall Glacier located on
7 continents!
Antarctica was our final continent to visit!the outskirts of town, enjoying some very inexpensive (our US dollar is still worth something in Argentina!) Argentinean steak and wine, admiring the surrounding mountain ranges and visiting Tierra del Fuego (Ring of Fire!) National Park - so named in 1520 by Magellan when he spotted the island and the Indian’s bonfires from a distance.
Our ocean journey began on the Lyubov Orlova, a 330+ foot Yugoslavian-built ice-breaker ship carrying 100+ passengers and 50+ crew members. To get to the continent of Antarctica you have to spend multiple days on the open ocean - - particularly, on the infamous Drake Passage (the rough crossing where early explorers crashed most of their ships!). To give you an idea of the magnitude of the ship’s rocking: tablecloths are wet to hold down the tableware, glasses are put in special holders so they don’t fly off, and there are railings & handles everywhere on the boat to grab onto!! I guess the most telling sign was 60+ of the 100 passengers paid a visit to the ship’s doctors on the Drake Passage to request seasickness help! During this portion of the trip, we had a concentration of educational lectures led by a slew
Gentoo
Petermann Island of incredibly knowledgeable, passionate experts - - a resident ornithologist, marine biologist, glaciologist, historian (who actually lived in Antarctica in the 60s), artist, etc. Imagine a group of people who are doing what they love and speaking on topics that excite and inspire them. I really admire and respect their passion & dedication to their disciplines.
Once through the brutal Drake Passage, our first stop was on one of Antarctica’s islands, Danco Island. This was our first exposure to the incredible wildlife - - obviously, the penguins are ridiculously adorable (You’ll see my enthusiasm for the penguins by the quantity of penguin pictures!). This time of year there is an abundance of newborn chicks and they are very, very curious! Of course, you can’t approach or disturb them but if they approach you…you can just sit back and observe. The chicks are not only very cute and fluffy but very well-fed - their parents go out to sea on food-collecting missions for days & don’t feed themselves in order to fatten up their chicks (selfless parenting at its finest!). We saw multiple types of penguins while in Antarctica (Gentoo, Adelie, & Chinstrap) but the majority being Gentoo Penguins (including a
very rare black Gentoo!). Although penguins steal the show with their charm, we saw a plethora of other Antarctic birds - - Skuas (that feed on sick and/or young penguins), Sheathbills (Jason likes to yell, “Sheezbills!” - who feed on penguin poo! Eek!), Petrels, and the Wandering Albatrosses (credited with the largest wingspan & longest flights in the world).
Our next stop, Neko Harbor, was to be our first landing on the actual continent of Antarctica (our previous landing was on an outlying island) and the site of our wedding!
The crew treated us as VIPs -- escorting us on the first Zodiac out to Neko Harbor. En route, a beautiful woman serenaded us with an Italian wedding song. The wedding party, all clad in gum boots, followed Jill, the glaciologist, who led a hike for us up to the most beautiful spot imaginable atop a glacier looking down to the Harbor. Our tuxedoed little penguin friends looked on as we scaled the hike to the top! We were also escorted by Paul, a volunteer videographer and Tyler, assistant expedition leader & volunteer wedding photographer and self-proclaimed bridesmaid. As expected, the ceremony got the best of Katie and a few
tears were shed (shocker - not!). Even Jason was a bit choked up as the vows were exchanged. Right after the ceremony, the craziest thing happened - - the people below (and I’d like to think penguins!) started clapping, and right then, Devil’s Glacier just below calved (broke off!) in a magnificent show. It was unbelievable! In fact, it created such a wave that a few unknowing passengers were knocked down from the resulting waves! Jill said it was the biggest calving she had ever seen to date (I hope this isn’t just global warming - Al Gore will be after me in no time!!!). In fact, you can have a peek at the calving (and a shortened wedding video) on our Lonely Planet TV debut. As a surprise, Paul loaded the mini wedding video clip onto Lonely Planet at: http://www.lonelyplanet.tv/Clip.aspx?key=F1AC744C0AB7F7CA (Thank you, Paul!)
After the ceremony, we were surprised with a decorated Zodiac for a wedding party iceberg cruise (surprise champagne included!) - Being Antarctica, it was the coldest (and best tasting!) bubbly I’ve ever tasted.
I can’t even begin to thank all the people that made our special day (and our entire trip!) so incredible. First, to our
friends who were crazy enough to follow us to the ends of the earth (they can truly say they attended a “Destination Wedding!” hehe) - - Our Reverend, Jackie Bird…Best man, Shekels Seltzer…Co-Maids of Honor, Smurphles and Debba-Lynn…The endless sweet things they did (parties, bouquets, secret wedding cards brought from home, etc.), the highlight of which had to be the rag-tag band they put together to play, “Here Comes the Bride!” Who would have ever thought that a Jew’s Harp/Kazoo/Bottle/Can combo would be used to play a wedding song atop a glacier on the continent of Antarctica!! Thank you peeps - - We love you!
The crew and passengers of the boat were spectacular too - - Jill, the glaciologist who hiked us up to Neko Harbor viewpoint, Tyler who took pictures, Paul who made the full-length video, Jan who surprised us with a decorated Zodiac iceberg cruise after the wedding ceremony (I’m not sure if the crew had a hand in this as well!), my lovely serenader, the kitchen staff for special cakes made for us and all the other crew & passengers for their well wishes and sweet words! I also want to thank everyone from back home
for the wonderful well wishes. You were definitely all GREATLY missed - - but you were with us in spirit and always in our hearts! Also, Cricket wanted me to mention how great she looked in her wedding boa and barrettes! Of course, multiple shots of this are found on the blog.
Even though we’d already had a pretty busy day, our day was only starting! After Neko Harbor, we made our way to Almirante Brown where Chilean and Argentinean bases are located. We spent time sliding down a crazy-high snow hill on our backside (yes, wedding veil flowing behind as I sped down the ice slope!) and admiring the Fur Seals & Antarctic Jellyfish. A visit to Paradise Bay brought more gorgeous scenery and views. Our evening was filled with a fabulous meal, many congratulatory toasts, desserts, and cards from homes (many tears!) and many kisses.
As if the wedding day wasn’t exciting enough, the following day we were scheduled to cross the Antarctic Circle! After making this momentous crossing (and spotting some Humpback & Minke whales en route!), we spent time on Detaille Island - the southernmost point of our trip! Besides the residents of Detaille Island, Adelie
Penguins and Fur & Weddell Seals, there is a “time warp” hut that had been frozen in time where in 1959, a British unit had to abandon this station immediately - - literally leaving everything - - tins of food, clothes left on pegs, tools scattered about and telegrams from the 1950s. A gorgeous sunset in Crystal Sound capped off yet another perfect day.
One of the highlights of the trip (okay, after the wedding! hehe) was a sunrise iceberg cruise in Pleneau Bay (aka “Iceberg Graveyard”) - - with the morning mist, the massive blue ice formations were simultaneously beautiful and somewhat eerie. We spotted Leopard and Crabeater Seals lounging on the ice (and some stalking the boats!)
With the white images of Antarctica, you would think it’s all ice and snow but we only hit snow falling when we landed on Petermann Island - - where we watched more penguins frolicking around on land and in water. When penguins swim, they leap through the water, and can almost be mistaken for mini dolphins.
With the internet now, it’s obviously much easier to keep in touch around the world but it’s still fun to get the rare written letter.
We went to the southernmost post office in the world, Port Lockroy. From Port Lockroy, we mailed postcards and they made it home with a 100% success rate!
The last landings of our trip were on Deception Island, which has an active volcanic center. Two of the many advantages of our relatively small boat size included maneuverability into smaller bays (like those of Deception Island’s Whalers & Telefon Bays) and having more Zodiac landings because of the manageable amount of people to transport back & forth. On the island, Whaler’s Bay (a former whaling station) is no longer home to whalers but rusting boilers, dilapidated buildings, and lots of Antarctic wildlife, including seals and penguins. It is here that we (perhaps, foolishly!) decided to do the Polar Plunge. Against our better judgment, we stripped down and jumped into the freezing Antarctic waters…luckily we could console ourselves by laying on steaming volcanic sand post-swim. To cap off the Polar Plunge, a fellow passenger, Dave Ford followed, donning a real Brazilian bikini!!!! (Note: Dave Ford is also traveling around the world & has a funny blog that includes a great Antarctica entry - - check it out!
http://www.daveforddoesearth.com/2007/03/06/the-south-pole-part-deux-the-penguin-poo-express/ and his hysterical Polar
Plunge video is also on Lonely Planet TV!)
We warmed ourselves up and the Orlova moved to another area of Deception Island near Telefon Bay. I nicknamed it Oreo Island because the contrasting white snow on the black volcanic soil. We all hiked to the rim of the volcanic crater. Hiking in Antarctica - wow!
I’m still looking at pictures, videos, journal entries from the trip and it’s like each time is the first. They make me laugh and cry and thank every day for this incredible journey.
I have to apologize beforehand for so many pictures on the blog but between the trip with such great friends, our wedding, it being our 7th and final continent and the fact that penguins (and their curious chicks!) are so dang cute - - I couldn’t resist!!!
Again thank you to all the crew & friends - - the cheerful gals that tidied up our cabins, the Zodiac drivers who kept us safe, the Russian crew that kept us on route, the smiling kitchen staff who kept us very well-fed, the poor guy whose job it was to check that your gum boots were clean before embarking and re-boarding, our adopted parents
Curiosity
Penguin inspects Eryn, Andy & Katie who called us “the kids,” Linda and Phil, who had us over for many drinks and wonderful conversations (and Phil turned a sprite 50 on the trip!) , our San Diego friends, Sue and Bill (see you in SoCal!), Bird, Shekels, Murphles, Debba - no words can capture it…we’ll be 90+ and still be say, “Remember Antarctica?!” - Love you guys! xoxo
Next stops: More of Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil
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