Well, there were many highlights to the trip, including wildlife and scenery, and even though I don't want to state the obvious, I have to: it was just the most pure and isolated place I've ever been. I felt like I was in one of those I-spy books where you can only see one corner of the world and you just have to imagine the rest of it out there. This feeling of isolation was probably exaggerated by all the fog and low cloud ceiling that seemed to envelope us constantly. Also, the lack of culture and people helped. At first I couldn't put my finger on why, but it was strange how this place could feel so lifeless and deserted, yet there was wildlife all around (penguins, seals, flying birds, and whales). I think what was throwing me off was the lack of flora (obviously, not much more than moss and snow-algae can grow there!) as well as creepy-crawlies. Not until the 8th day did I realize I hadn't seen a single insect--no mosquitoes, no flies, no spiders, no moths. It was sort of creepy not having any creepers around.That being said, the wildlife and flora that did exist were spectacular! Many of you know I don't like birds, but darn it, I adore penguinos! I even forgive them for the absolutely horrendous smell of their guano (aka penguano). But maybe that is just because I am now so far removed from it. My favorite is definitely the Chin-strap penguin because they look like they know they are bad-asses (maybe they just remind me of the penguins from Madagascar).
We didn't see too many small babes because it was pretty late in the breeding season, but there were older chics just about to lose their baby-down and they were always hungry. We often saw the two chics chasing their fathers around squaking for food while the father would just run around trying to dodge them and get away--those suckas have pretty big strides!Seals were the next animal we saw most often: Weddle-seals (sp?); Fur seals; Elephant seals; Leopard seals. Elephant seals are beautiful--the females have great big eyes like stuffed animals, and the males can weigh up to 4 tons!
But by far the most amazing thing we saw was a group of Humpback whales who flirted with our boat for over an hour! I think my brothers took 300 pictures and quite a bit of video! They were SO close to the boat, you could see them right through the top of the water as they were swimming alongside and then under to the other side. They were magnificent and it was definitely the best valentine's day present we could have asked for!
Of course the scenery was another highlight. I am in love with icebergs. the end. see pictures. and try to come close to imagining it in reality. good luck.
(Yes, I am an anthro major and proud of it...so yes, I am going to talk about the "c"-word). I was really interested in how the culture at the present day stations and the history of old whaler/sealer stations added a twist to the isolation aspect.
One second you are in this untouched corner of the world, snapping pictures of penguinos and seals, and you come across an old wooden ship, or a penguin building its nest on the vertebrae of a whale at an old hunting station. Of course there are no native people in Antarctica (unless you count the few people that have been born there--only the Chileans and Argentinians allow pregnant women to stay if they are stationed in Antarctica), and even though the continent in itself is a symbol of international cooperation and peace, each station brings along a little bit of the culture from its homeland. The Chilean station was stereotypically tidy and organized (I loved the sign off of the path from the dock to the front of the living quarters that read something like: penguins only beyond this point) and I'm sure you're not surprised that the Ukrainians built a bar on top of their station and serve home-made vodka! (trust me and try following your next shot of vodka with an orange or grapefruit slice dipped in coffee grounds and sugar. Sounds nasty right? That's why we are going to call it the "Nadsky." Just kidding, we are going to call it that because it was Vernadsky station. It's actually quite good!)As for the boat itself, the Drake passage was not too bad on the way down, but the way back was pretty rough, though only one woman fell hard enough to warrant an x-ray when we got back to land. Most of the passengers were quite a bit older than us, so I was surprised that no one else got hurt! I was the second youngest after a 19 year old German boy--Martin, what a sweetheart! That is if you don't count the Ice-captain's daughter. Seriously, we had an Ice captain. I know, bad-ass, right? Anyways, I guess I shouldn't complain because it was because of the generation gap between us and the majority of the passengers that I ended up befriending the crew...the kitchen staff in particular (yes, Katie, in true fat-kid style, an effort 100% dedicated to you!).
Anyways, I suppose I'd better wrap this up if y'all are still with me, so here are just a few more highlights (of course I'm leaving some out...gotta save some good stories for my return!):
-SWIMMING in the ocean! We were one of 8 passengers that pleaded insanity and went for a dip in the 36 degree water! Just kidding. Well, not entirely. We did run out into the cold water for just a second, then retreated to the very edge of where the tide was coming in.
The island was the edge of a volcanic crater that had been flooded by ocean water a long time ago but is still partially active. So, if you dig a shallow ditch in the sand near the edge of the tide you get a little hot spring. Digging too deep actually burns....but then you get cooled off by a cold wave!-reaching our SEVENTH continent! Of course my brothers were competitive and I had to count to three so they would get off the zodiak at the same time so that I wouldn't have to hear one bragging forever that they got to their seventh first. Oh brother. (pun intended).
Though we definitely WILL make fun of Matt forever for only putting six fingers up in all the pics Katie took. oh brother, again![As for my delay in writing, I have been busy chasing down the car through miles of red tape and paperwork for 4 days (a process we found out is supposed to take 3 hours, not done by us, and while the shipment is in transit)--but after an extreme amount of frustration we finally have our car!! We got it late last night and we started out of Santiago this morning and made it down to Valdivia for the night. We are going to meet up with my other brother tomorrow in Bariloche, Argentina :) The real adventure begins! Probably won't update as much in March because I have this little thing called a Master's Thesis upon which I need to work...]
