Blogs from Antarctica - page 16

Intro What will you do when your ship comes in..? For me, I had been a bit lost the past few years so I decided to embrace the opportunity to travel as a means to let go of control and allow myself to enjoy the ride that is life again. Of course there are some amazingly breathtaking places to see along the way and now, after visiting Antarctica, I am sure that I have started with the ¨cream of the crop¨! Just reading this doesn´t do the experience justice and there are no words any writer or poet can write, nor photos or videos that can be taken to describe how the place makes you feel... It is like trying to describe a colour to someone that has been blind their entire life... it just doesn´t ... read more

Antarctica? Het klinkt magisch! Antarctica ! Wat staat ons te wachten? Op 4 januari staan we in de haven van Ushaia, de zuidelijkste havenplaats van Argentinië. Ook onze reisgenoten zijn er. Henk, de schipper van het 17 m lange zeiljacht 'Sarah W. Vorwerk' is Nederlander. Zijn hulp is een Argentijn. Onze mede-zeilers komen uit Australië , de US, Hongarije, Oostenrijk en Italië . Een gemengd gezelschap met verschillend temperament. We varen Ushuaia uit, door het Beagle kanaal langs Cape Horn en beginnen aan de oversteek van Zuid Amerika naar Antarctica. Deze oversteek, de Drake Passage, duurt normaal 3 dagen. Wij vestigen een record, eerst weinig wind, daarna windkracht 8+ pal vanuit het zuiden. We schieten dus weinig op en de onvermijdelijke zeeziekte maakt dat we niet van ieder uur evenveel genieten. Maar alles gaat over, de ... read more

As we gazed out at the early morning sky, a ribbon of white had settled on the horizon, separating the dark sea from the low hanging grayish clouds above. The ceiling was quite low and consistent as it stretched both north and south. I enjoyed my Southwestern Omelet, with added sausage and hashed brown patties, while Sharon had, you guessed it, the American breakfast. There were four lectures scheduled for today, two more historic reviews of characters that participated in the Great Age of Discovery in Antarctica, one on waste management at the American stations in Antarctica, and one on birds (terns to be specific). The first lecture was Wilson on Wilson, Dr. David Wilson talking about his explorer great uncle Dr. Edward Wilson. Edward Wilson had started out as a great friend of Shackleton on ... read more

DANCO COAST, LEMAIRE CHANNEL, NEUMAYER CHANNEL AND HOPE BAY, Tuesday, January 22. Another slow start to the day weather-wise; foggy, cold, rainy and some snow flurries. By 2:OO pm it cleared so we could see the sights. A lot of hardy souls went outside for pictures and to see the view without the windows distorting it, but I chose to stay warm. I saw a lot of penguins, no whales today, but lots and lots of natural beauty. We went through the Antarctic Sound, nicknamed “Iceberg Alley” because of the size and number of icebergs. They are flat, top out about 100 feet above the water and large enough for one to two football fields to be placed on them. Also visible was the Argentine research station and some large penguin rookeries. I did venture out, ... read more

PALMER STATION - JANUARY 21 -Well, what can I say, more beauty and amazement. At one point in the early afternoon the captain reported we had spotted 28 humpback whales. I didn’t see all, but I did catch many of them. It seems like we saw many hundreds of penguins and a few Orca whales. Some of the scientists from the Palmer Station (a US scientific station in Antarctica) came on board for a couple of lectures. I managed to stay awake and found their presentation and the Q & A very interesting. In the morning I went on the bow to observe a little closer to sea level, but it was COLD, so I only could stay there for 30 minutes or so. The crew brought us Dutch pea soup while on the deck. Very ... read more