The Magic of Antarctica

It turns out there is at least one place on this planet where you can actually get away from it all. It turns out this place has stolen my heart and soul and I would do anything to head back there as soon as possible. It turns out there is magic at the bottom of the earth, and pure joy can be found with every moment spent in Antarctica. 

As I sit melting in the heat of a Buenos Aires summer night, I can't help but feel homesick. I'm used to that feeling, but not used to missing a place I've only spent 10 days of my life in. With no Internet, no telephone, and no television, one could be worried about being bored. However, it's amazing to actually be a part of the life taking place around you. There is nothing to miss with the loss of these luxuries of life when the thrills this continent has to offer are never ending. To think when asked why I would spend that kind of money to travel to a place covered in ice, all I could think to respond was "it's my last continent." Well it was, and I clearly saved the best for last.

There are so many reasons all of us should be traveling to Antarctica. First of all is the pure silence generated at night when all are asleep and only the stars are out. Second for me, was the fearlessness of the wildlife. They are as interested in us as we are in them. In fact the sight of about 100 people climbing ashore dressed in matching yellow parkas and waddling from the layers of clothing would cause any wildlife to pause, and most likely, give a little chuckle. Third are the pristine glaciers untouched by anything but the native wildlife. They go on for miles and miles and can be blinding in the bright sunshine. Fourth is the unadulterated fun to be had zipping around the Antarctic waters in tiny, but stable zodiacs, following the path of gigantic whales or tiny penguins. Fifth is the people you meet on the journey. It takes a special kind of adventurous person to actually take the step to head down south, deep south and explore an such a special area of the world. Making friends, and sharing the bond of visiting this place will keep a lot of us in contact for the rest of our lives. The question I now have is why wouldn't you go to Antarctica?

We had a pretty extraordinary trip. Our expedition crew were all thrilled with how well our journey went. They were quick to tell us not to brag too much as there's no way they would be able to reproduce it all again. We were blessed with amazing weather. We had sun for 5 out of the 6 days we completed our landings. We only missed one landing due to 60 knot winds that made anchoring our Clipper Adventurer icebreaker impossible. We had only a few flakes of snow one day. To be honest, it was almost a bit disappointing to miss out on the freak blizzards we were continually warned about! (I can only say that now that we're no longer there and we didn't miss out on anything!!) We had an amazing captain who has been navigating the Antarctic waters for 40 years and was willing to try anything to give us an incredible adventure. He even took us through the Lemaire Channel, continually breaking ice and dodging huge icebergs so we could enjoy sunset with hot chocolate and Bailey's on deck with an amazing view. We were also so fortunate to visit 4 research stations! We made it as far south as Vernadsky, the Ukrainian station where the men had been there 11 months with no resupplies because the ice was too bad. They were so happy to see us and the cigarettes we brought, we all got free vodka shots! We toured two Argentinian bases, one inside and one just the area around it. As well we made it to Port Lockory, the British base on the Peninsula. We were saddened to hear of a Brazilian base burning down and losing people in the South Shetland Islands, just after we had been there. It is a dangerous life those researchers live. We were lucky to have a few crew members who had lived at some of the stations and could fill us in on what life was really like living in Antarctica.

For me the epic part of the experience were our encounters with the wildlife. Our first landing in the South Shetland Islands took my  breath away and left tears rolling down my face. It was almost too much. We landed on the beach and there were penguins everywhere! And they were curious. One jumped right into the bag we were supposed to put our life jackets in. Some went about their business while others approached for closer looks. Our 3 metre rule to keep away from the wildlife only works if they can measure as well! I have a bruise on my knee from one overly friendly guy who wanted to know what I tasted like. We stumbled upon huge elephant seals on that island as well, only to be told they were babies at 2 years old and told how big they can really get!!  


From there our excursions continued to get more exciting in terms of wildlife. We had one amazing day that started at 6am as our zodiac discovered Ocras who seemed to be chasing Humpback whales. We watched from afar, but when the Humpback saw us he must have seen an opportunity for a diversion and came straight at us. As we barely recovered from him heading under our zodiac and resurfacing on the other side, giving us a wave and a splash, we turned and realized the orcas were following. We were very up close and personal as one came under the boat and took a good look at us leaning over the other side. The action was literally all around us. Taking photos at this point was impossible, but no one can take that experience away. We watched for hours and our marine biologist, Jimmy, explained that it was a pod of 80-90 Orcas in the area hunting penguins. They don't usually eat Humpback whales, but had come upon about 15 of them and so decided to play with them a little. The penguins in the area were panicing and I have video of loads of them trying to jump on an iceberg.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GqVK_dvS80&context=C341872aADOEgsToPDskLX5ldTN5KvvosTfAZ-wGN7

In the afternoon of this amazing day, as we were still trying to recover from our whale experience, we found leopard seals. These creatures are amazing, and deadly, second only to the Orcas as hunters in Antarctica. We ran into a few playful ones during our excursions, and have some thrilling underwater video of them trying to chew on the zodiacs and figure out what we were up to. And the seals were everywhere! Fur seals, Weddel seals, Elephant seals, Crabeater seals. They were amazing to watch as well. Some were rather aggressive. Most of us were always quick to give them at least their 3 metres!  The bird life is also plentiful, even in the Drake Passage with no land for two days! The birds can be massive or teeny tiny little creatures. My favorite landings were always when a number of different animals were just chilling out together. 

I have literally thousands of photos. Maybe one day I'll get around to sharing them. I can honestly say though that there is no way any amount of photos or video will be able to capture even a fraction of what I've experience during my time in Antarctica. (There are even a a number of party photos that can't be shared ;) Believe me when I say it was pure magic. And I won't rest until I can get back there and experience it all again!