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Published: March 16th 2007
Other Experiences:
We visited a Chilean Airbase called Paradise Bay which became a running joke. First because the airbase had no airstrip and no airplanes. When the aircraft mechanic was asked what he did he pointed to two diesel generators and said his job was to keep those going….
The second reason it was a joke is because the three small buildings were sitting on a couple of big rocks covered with 2” of slimy penguin guano and penguins everywhere. You could smell it a mile away as perfume de rotten anchovy. “Paradise Bay? I beg to differ.”
We figured those guys had made someone high up in the Argentine military really PO’d to get sent there for a 15 month stint. They’d probably smell like that for the rest of their life.
On the flip side of jobs was an amazing deal struck by Yuri, one of the Russians on our ship who often guided us on zodiaks. Yuri could have been in any James Bond movie. He was bald, muscular, and never wore gloves in the icy water. He said he was like Terminator but he was The Yurinator.
His regular job title? Air conditioner repairman. Who
do you have to know to get assigned to do that in Antarctica?
Last days
Our final day was in a beautiful bay beginning to cover over with sea ice. Our zodiac would motor through the ice as we visited fur seals, leopard seals, and one crab-eater seal on the ice flows. We spent all morning traveling around looking at wildlife and watching their antics. We were very sad to have to leave Antarctica and considered ourselves lucky; in less than three weeks this bay will be frozen over. The two day trip back was uneventful with more lectures, poker tournaments, and an Iron Penguin Challenge race around the ship with some, shall we say, unusual events. We were again blessed with good weather all the way as our Russian Captain violated the 12 mile Chilean territorial limit by about 9 miles to investigate the tip of South America.
The crew collected the best questions they had gotten from passengers over they year. I don’t know if any of ours made the following list:
Does this island go all the way to the bottom?
Why do they call the crew Russians? (cause they get really pissed if you
call them Chechnians)
Do penguins bury their dead?
If penguins can have two eggs does that mean they have two nipples?
Are there female sperm whales?
What elevation is this beach?
Is this the same moon we have in Texas? (no, yours is bigger)
What religion are the people with the patch behind their ear?
Does the crew sleep on the ship?
Does the ship generate its own electricity?
Do these elevators also go up?
At what latitude does a seal turn into a walrus?
If humpbacks have gills why do they come up for air?
Can you call me 10 minutes before the next whale sighting?
Why do they call them the Seven Islands?
Are there any undiscovered islands?
And my favorite:
Why do the birds only sit on the white rocks?
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