Our boat trip to Antarctica was actually the very first thing that we booked for our big trip. We were looking in a travel catalog about different tours and trips and started reading about Patagonia. Then we saw that there was a trip that combined hiking in Patagonia and taking a boat trip down to the Antarctic Peninsula. That just sounded so cool to us that we had to investigate. Turns out that trip no longer ran because the season before the boat sank. It literally ran into an iceberg and sank- all passengers on board got off safely in the lifeboats and there were testimonials from some of the people on the trip when the boat sank stating that the trip was still good. Very intriguing.
So, Antarctica became the first official destination of our trip. It was something we were very much looking forward to. When asked where we were looking forward to visiting the most, after replying that we were, of course, looking forward to all of it (we had picked all the places after all), we would generally say Antarctica. The intrigue is that it is so different from anything we had ever seen. It seemed so far away, so pure, and of course, there were penguins.
We boarded the boat after one last delicious meal of king crab and wine in Ushuaia. We cheered when we left the dock (Love Boat style) and had a little shot of Baileys to celebrate the beginning of our journey. It was to take the entire first two days to cross the Drake Passage to arrive at the Antarctic Peninsula where we would explore around for five days before heading back.
The Drake Passage is one of the most notorious waterways to cross (stories of 100 foot rogue waves and all). The water could be from rough, to very rough, known as the Drake Shake, and we just hoped that the Drake would be kind to us during our journey. Everyone was advised to use motion sickness medication during the crossing, so most folks on board had a little patch behind their ear (the latest and greatest in motion sickness medication). It turned out that the Drake was kind to us, so even when it got rough, the staff kept telling us how calm the water was and told stories of how bad it could be. In fact, they had three full dining room sets of back up dishes stored in crates on the boat in case a big wave came during a meal. I have to admit I would have really liked to see an entire dining room of food and dishes go crashing to the floor in one fell swoop, but I was grateful for the calmer waters.
A little background about our boat and our staff is in order. We were on the Akedemic Sergey Valvilov which is a Russian research vessel. They still do some research on the boat periodically, but now it is primarily for tourist trips. There are 110 passengers and tour staff maximum, and a Russian crew of 41 people. Our room on the boat was bigger than expected, but still a small cabin. Unexpectedly we had a private bathroom (we thought we were going to have a shared space). The bathroom was the size of a small coat closet. There was a sink and a toilet and a shower head. The entire bathroom was the shower stall and we needed to remember to put away the toilet paper before taking a shower. On the boat, in addition to the rooms were a lecture room, a dining room, a bar, and a bridge. It was really all quite civilized.
We spent the days crossing the Drake eating big meals when beckoned to the dining room by the overhead announcements: "good afternoon everybody, it is now 12:30 and time for lunch in the dining room. See you shortly." That surprisingly took up a good part of the day. In between meals there were lectures that we attended on birds, animals, history of the continent, etc. There was also lots of time spent getting to know our fellow passengers and sleeping. It was very exciting. Outside, all we saw was water.
The Quark staff was fantastic. They were Australian, English, French Canadian, Chilean, and Spanish, though the Aussi's dominated. The first thing we were told by our expedition leader was that this was NOT A CRUISE, it was an expedition and our agenda would vary based on conditions on the continent. As a whole the group was extremely knowledgeable, animated, and very excited to be heading down south. This was the first trip of the season and they couldn't wait to get back to the peninsula.
When we booked the trip, we knew that we were going to be very early season in Antarctica. We had heard repeatedly that we were going in the wrong season, not going far enough or long enough. We were told there would be fewer animals, fewer if any whales, and fewer numbers of penguins. It was a little discouraging at the beginning, but as it turns out, it also meant an excited and fresh staff, and lots of ice.
Turns out, I love ice. We hit our first patches of ice late morning on the second day. It was amazing. I don't think I ever really comprehended that parts of an ocean can freeze. I understand fresh water freezing, but never really contemplated salt water out in the middle of nowhere freezing. Since moving water generally doesn't freeze, this was a whole new experience. And there are so many different kinds of ice: glacial ice, sea ice, old sea ice, pancake ice, frazzle ice, brash ice, fast ice, rotten ice, and growler ice. Ice is fascinating to watch and we spent literally hours on the bridge (where the captain and crew drive the boat) staring at the ice and learning about all the different kinds. It was pure beauty. We loved the ice.
Our adventure really began on the third day. We were now solidly within the boundaries of the continent and our excursions to land were to start today. We were all itching to get off the boat and get onto the white continent. It turned out that we were so early in the season that we were in fact the first boat in the Antarctic since the summer ended seven months ago. Because of that, there was no data for our captain to gather about ice conditions and it really was an expedition
Our first "scheduled" landing to Peterman Island was unfortunately cancelled as there was too much ice and the boat couldn't safely get close enough to the island and our zodiac boats (to take us from the ship to the land) would not be able to get through the ice. It was a bummer, but it was so beautiful watching the ice scenery that it was hard to be disappointed by anything. As Woody, our fearless Aussi Expedition leader kept telling us, everything planned was only a theory until we actually get there, and even then, the conditions can change moment to moment.
After lunch, we got the go ahead for our first official landing at a Russian research base, the Vernasy Station. They were very excited to have visitors as we were the first that they had since the end of last season. When Woody contacted them by radio they wanted to know if we had beer and cigarettes that they could have. They were also very excited to hear that there were women on board. Clearly it had been a long winter. Anyway, they were excited to give us a tour, have us try their Russian Vodka, and then have us shop at the “most Southern souvenir shop in the world.”
We were finally ready to get "expedition ready." This meant putting on layer after layer of clothes, gloves, hats, jackets, rubber boots, and life jackets to try to stay warm for a 2-3 hour trip. We looked like the little kid in A Christmas Story- we were so bundled up we could hardly move. We headed out to the gangway (that's ship talk for the flight of stairs down from the big ship to get onto the rubber zodiacs to head to our destination). It was cold, clear, crisp, white, and fantastic.
Antarctic beauty is really one that can't be described in words to any satisfaction. It is breathtaking, awe inspiring, mesmerizing, engaging, and something new every moment. We took about 1000 pictures during this trip and hopefully that will give a taste, but to be surrounded by it and to have all senses alert at once is to be in Antarctica. We were officially in love with the white continent.
On this particular landing, we got our first closer views of the gentoo penguins. They are very cute and very fun to watch. We had a celebratory shot of Russian vodka, bought a magnet at the store, had our passports stamped, and then got back on the zodiacs. Before heading back to the ship, we were able to do a short "zodiac cruise" which was just boating around looking. We saw some seals on the ice, some penguins, and more ice. But now the ice was at arm’s length and even more spectacular. It was a great first venture out. The mood on the ship was jubilant that evening as we had arrived and had our first taste of what the next few days were to be like.
The next four days followed pretty much the same routine, but it was anything but routine. We saw lots of ice, icebergs, glaciers, penguins, and more penguins, seals, and gorgeous white views. Each excursion was a highlight in it of itself. In between the excursions we spent the majority of our time on the bridge just watching. There were about eight of us who were always on the bridge, and one of the folks aptly named us the ice geeks (of which we are proud members).
During our land excursions, the highlight was the penguins. We loved watching the penguins. They were at the stage of their cycle in which they were coming back to their breeding grounds (penguins go back to the same place every year- from birth until death) and establishing territory and mating. Yes, we saw penguin sex. Yes, we have some pictures of penguin sex, but this is a G rated blog, so those will have to wait. We spent one excursion watching one group of about 30ish penguins with one of the boat staff who explained a lot of the penguin rituals. They mate for life and even have special greetings just for their mates. They fiercely protect their nesting area and spend a lot time looking for rocks for which to build the nest. And, on occasion, steal rocks from the neighboring nest. The juvenile penguins act like most teenagers and run around causing each other and their parents’ grief. They go to the water to bathe and feed. It is fascinating to watch, and since they are so cute as they wattle around it is just plain fun to watch.
We also saw some chinstrap penguins....
Prior to this trip, we only really thought of penguins as sparkly white and black, but in fact, they are very dirty birds until they get into the water. Covered in dirt, feces, etc, they are not the tuxedo wearing birds we imagined. We started a dirty penguin contest and looked at all of our stops for the dirtiest penguin.
There were a bunch of contenders.
During our zodiac excursions, the highlight was definitely the ice. From the boat we got great views of landscapes and vast expanses of ice, but in the zodiacs at water level we were able to get a close up view of ice above the water, and more impressively, under the water. The water was so clear, that you could see icebergs in their entirety, both above and below water. With that kind of visibility, we were thinking how good the diving would be. People do go diving in Antarctica, but alas, the water is a little cold for our tastes and skill level. Being near the water, we were able to see the contours of the ice, see the different ways in which the ice freezes and thaws.
We had a lot of great moments on our excursion, here are a few of our favorites: On a zodiac cruise, shortly after learning about the way that leopard seals hunt and eat penguins, we were watching a raft (what a group of penguins swimming is called) of penguins and saw a leopard seal poke his head out and just watch the penguins swim by. He must not have been hungry that day, but to see one watching the other was very exciting. It even seemed as though after the penguin realized he wasn’t the next meal, he kind of played with the seal going closer and closer to it.
On one excursion, we hiked along Deception Island, rumored to be the first place that the mainland peninsula was sighted from, as we walked along the bank, we got within less than five feet of a Weddle seal before we realized he was there, we were busy watching a chinstrap penguin who looked quite lost and surprised to be on this island with all these humans. The seals tend to sleep a lot, and this one was almost completely buried in snow. Someone else spotted him at let us know he was there. That was a surprise- for both the seal and for us.
There was another landing in which a giant leopard seal was being tormented by a tiny snowy white sheaf bill bird. The bird would run around behind the seal and nip it on the tail fin. The sheaf bill eats penguin and seal feces, so it was trying to get the seal to move in order to get some lunch underneath. It worked, this tiny bird made the eight foot (or more) seal squirm around until he finally moved. It reminded me of humans and mosquitoes- how something so small can be such an annoyance.
OK, time for a little side story, in addition to the regular Antarctic tourists on our boat, there were a group of skiers. About 10 days before our boat trip, there was supposed to be a trip specifically for skiers with the same tour group on a different boat. There were 100 skiers ranging from excellent recreational skiers to ski racers to the world's elite extreme skiers (think X games). Apparently, if you follow extreme skiing, this was the who's who of the sport. Anyway, they boarded their boat, but then there was some mechanical problem and after trying to fix it for a few days, they cancelled the trip (we are very thankful that wasn't us). So a few of the diehard skiers, mostly those who were professional skiers with corporate sponsors, joined our trip. We met one fellow Coloradan, Chris Davenport, who skied all of the mountains in Colorado over 14,000ft in one year. Check it out at www.skithe14ers.com. He also posted a blog on Antarctica if you want to check it out at chrisdavenport.loopd.com (he's got a couple of really good pictures). At some of the landing sites, while we would be looking at penguins and glaciers, they climbed up ridges and skied down. At one of the landing sites, all at the same time, we could watch penguins, seals, glaciers caving, and skiers coming down the hill. It was quite entertaining to watch the penguins watching the skiers. I wonder what the penguins must have thought.
The highlight of our trip, without question, was seeing our own "march of the penguins." We were at a landing site, watching the gentoo penguins, and we noticed that there seemed to be a whole bunch of penguins walking toward us all of a sudden. One of the staff members let us know that rafts of penguins (a big group of penguins swimming) were landing down by the water. We tried to hurry down there while maintaining our 15 foot radius from the penguins which was the required distance for us to stay away from the animals, though no one let the penguins know this and they frequently would come much closer to us. It was impossible to maintain proper distance as there were penguins walking everywhere. When we got down to the water, we learned that they suspected that this was the first arrival of these penguins to the breeding site for the season. It was amazing. We estimated that we saw 5000 penguins land in a matter of one and a half hours. They would swim around in large groups and test the landing site (checking for seals), and then they would go for it and penguin after penguin came flying out of the water like little torpedoes. They then either proceeded straight to their breeding area following other penguins (little penguin highways) or they would stop and take a break to cool off after a hard swim before venturing up the hill. The videos we have (hopefully they work on the blog) are in actual time, though the penguins look like they are in high speed. It was hands down the most amazing wildlife experience we've ever had. We were just in the right place at the right time. We even forgot (for a little while) about our freezing cold feet. As Jacques, our French Canadian staff member said, it was a "cosmic mind-blower."
One of the things we were intrigued about our particular trip was the option to camp one night on the continent. That sounded like fun to us and a great way to see the area from another perspective. There were three possible nights for camping, and on the last possible night, the night of the Antarctic BBQ (seriously, an outdoor BBQ with grills, picnic tables, etc, on the deck of the boat- it was very cold and therefore our shortest dinner of the week), after being fully briefed on camping, the weather turned and camping was called off. It was a bummer, but that day had been quite cold and we were a little relieved to stay warm the rest of the night. As if on cue, right after the announcement that there would be no camping (well more than half the passengers had signed up), two humpback whales, a mother and a baby, were spotted playing and feeding in the ice near the boat. The captain graciously turned the boat around so that we could watch the whales. It was a good show and we watched them for about half an hour.
After our five full days of landings and zodiac cruises, it was time to head back North. We had completely fallen in love with Antarctica and were a little sad to head north, but we were looking forward to a little warmer weather. The Drake Passage again treated us well and we had very little "Drake Shake." It was a pretty quiet two days crossing the Drake, once we had gotten too far north for any more ice, we spent less time on the bridge. We went to a few lectures, but also spent time just hanging out; we even took a couple of naps.
As we finished crossing the Drake, we had the opportunity to round Cape Horn on our way back into Ushuaia. Cape Horn is Chilean and generally you have to stay 12km away from any land in order to stay in international waters- anything closer is considered part of an individual country. But, we were lucky in two ways. One, there was a Chilean passenger on board. Two, we had a staff member who spoke fluent Spanish who thought she might be able to convince the Chilean authorities to let us come closer because we had a Chilean on board who wanted to see her home country. It worked. We were granted permission to go to a 3km distance from shore. This was closer than any of our staff had been before. It was interesting to see such an infamous place.
We had a final celebratory "captain's dinner" for our last night on the boat. We really liked our captain. He was extremely patient and accommodating of us and tried very hard to make it a great trip. He navigated impressively through patches of ice that looked there was no clear path through. He kept the bridge open during the entire trip and allowed all of us on the bridge at once (we thought that was exceptional). He was very Russian, very serious, very quiet, but very sweet, and we really developed quite a fondness for him.
We woke up very early the morning of disembarkation. We hadn't finished packing and needed to be ready by 6:00am. As a result, we got to witness the most brilliant sunrise we've ever seen. We saw a little of it out our port hole window and ran up to get on deck to see it better. It was spectacular. After breakfast and our goodbye's we left the boat. We would love to go back again and now our desire to see the Arctic is very strong. We want to see ice at the other end of the earth. Maybe on a future trip. For now, we were off to Buenos Aires.
