This trip was not even supposed to happen. If at all, it should have taken us north, into the Arctic Ocean departing from Norway.

It was early 2002 and my father asked whether I’d have time to go on a trip with him that year. Being semi-retired, I replied that anytime in 2002 would be fine, except the second week of August (big sailplane race for me). It turned out that the trip he had in mind was precisely the second week of August with a National Geographic expedition to the Arctic. I suggested that we wait for the following year’s expedition, but later, in a moment of wonderful clarity, I recommended that we postpone only 6 months, and head South instead, with National Geographic, to Antarctica.

That is how, on January 26^th 2003, we embarked on a journey that would touch our souls perhaps more than any other trip either of us had ever taken.

This blog chronicles our voyage in a poor attempt to describe what is indescribable.

26-Jan-2003

Note to self: pleasant memories must be arranged for in advance.

The adventure commences.

We flew from Bogota to Santiago via Lima. I spent most of the day reading Shackleton’s biography. If nothing else, I felt a moral obligation to do it. But it turned out to be excellent reading. A tale of a true explorer.
We crossed the tropic of Capricorn. Haven’t done that in a long while…
As in most long international flights, one of the channels showed real time flight data on a moving map display; papa spent hours (most of the flight) closely monitoring our progress with it. I’d never seen anyone look at that thing for such a long time. Perhaps it surprised me because I am so used to the idea of having a GPS and computers in the cockpit. It was rather amusing to see this on someone who has been around the world as many times as he has.

Descending into Santiago is cool: you go through 23,000 feet and soon enough you can see mountain peaks above you out the window. Santiago seems like a very nice city.

27-Jan-2003

A very nice city indeed. It is midsummer here and the temperature barely reached 90 deg F. We met several people from the National Geographic group. Everyone seems quite interesting one way or another; this is not a surprise, after all their minds are inquisitive enough to bring them on this trip... We did some sightseeing around the city and I continued to be impressed with the height of the mountains in the surrounding areas. Tomorrow we go South.

28-Jan-2003

Ushuaia, in Argentina, is the southernmost city in the world. The suffix “~aia” means “bay”. When our chartered 737 finally poked below the clouds I could see what a beautiful place this is. The surrounding mountains are quite rough, similar to the French Alps. After arriving we went for a quick tour of the adjacent national park. In it there is a place where a paved road ends overlooking the sea. This is the proverbial end of the road. You cannot drive further south. It is the austral end of the Pan-American Highway. The other end is somewhere in Alaska, almost 18,000 Km from here. We saw geese, rabbits, and a beaver dam in the park. Outside the restaurant I experienced an unusually strong and very sudden gust of wind, what at first I thought was a micro-burst. In reality it was probably a katabatic gust, the first of many we would encounter. They don’t call it “La Cordillera del Viento” for nothing.

In the late afternoon we arrived at the port and got a first glimpse of our ship, the Endeavour. It was anchored near a cruise-ship and it looked minuscule by comparison. I was glad since I have no interest in traveling in the former. All 90 passengers fit comfortably onboard, but it was a full-house. We ate dinner and sailed off into the Beagle Channel. We could see albatrosses, Magellanic penguins, giant petrels, sea lions, and other little birds which names I don’t remember. There are several naturalists on board. I have a feeling this is going to be good. Really good.

29-Jan-2003

We are not even at our destination yet and this only keeps getting better. Today after breakfast papa wasn’t feeling very well so he had to stay in the cabin. This, combined with the mandatory emergency drill, and the Drake Passage infamous swell was not what he needed to start the day. By lunch he was feeling better. It is fortunate that the swaying did not affect me since I can be quite susceptible to motion sickness myself.

The albatrosses following the boat are magnificent. They are the masters of gliding. Not a single wing beat, just ridge and dynamic soaring (the ridges are the boat and the waves, and that last term, “dynamic soaring”, refers to the act of extracting energy out of the wind gradient in order to stay aloft, something which albatrosses are innate masters at, and glider pilots only wish they could do). We also saw humpback whales and seals swimming along with the boat. The sun was radiant, reaching us unfettered by any ozone through the hole we all have dutifully created. We attended a lecture on Antarctic birds. I learnt that albatrosses can actually lock their wings in the “open” position by sliding a small bone-wedge into a slot in the joint. They spend extended periods of time over open water and it has been suggested that they can sleep for short periods while flying.

I also got a chance to personally meet Jon Bowermaster (co-author of the book “Crossing Antarctica”) who told me stories of some of his trips. Some people get paid for doing pretty cool things. I must find a way to achieve this.

It is 11:30 PM and there is still some sunlight. Sunrise is in about 5 hours. I better hurry up and sleep.

30-Jan-2003

We started the day with a Zodiac briefing, just to be interrupted by 4 humpback whales that frolicked along with the boat for half an hour. It is amazing to see these animals so close. That said, whoever invented the term “dog-breath” had obviously never been near a whale.

We reached the South Shetland Islands early, sailing through an area filled with icebergs. One of them had a huge arch at its end and I went through half a roll of film on it alone. I had never seen or even imagined anything like it. I suppose icebergs are like clouds in their capricious shapes.

On our first landing we visited a large colony of chinstrap, gentoo, and Adelie penguins. There were also fur and elephant seals, skuas and all manner of petrels. The adolescent penguins, confused, were building nests (it is the wrong time of the year for that particular undertaking). It is amazing how beautiful a place can be before it gets ravished by man, civilization, and the so-called progress. There were a few whale-bones on the beach. Some penguins were standing atop a whale vertebra that must have been the size of a small dinner table.

We had very good success with our Antarctic boots. Our feet stayed dry and warm throughout the day.

Tomorrow I will try to catch sunrise (4:08 AM) to take some iceberg photos with good light.

31-Jan-2003

I got up at 3:50 AM to see the sunrise. It was magnificent, well worth the effort. We rounded the peninsula and landed at Snowhill Island, where the Swedish expedition hut from ca. 1900 still stands. Instead of touring the hut I decided to climb a nearby hill using some ropes. The view from up there was unbelievable. To one side we could see tabular icebergs in the Weddell Sea far in the distance. To the other side there was the bay where our ship was anchored. I found absolutely no trace of any vegetation. It might as well have been the surface of the moon. I think I could stay up on this hill for the whole 2 weeks and be purified. Or maybe just frozen.

We sailed off to a small island called Vega. It is joined to an adjacent island by a natural bridge that has formed between the two due to the waves. While exploring here we heard several sounds like thunder. They were caused by enormous pieces of ice breaking off even larger pieces (a process known as “calving”) that were floating in the bay. The sudden wave that they cause when they land in the water could easily send a Zodiac flying off into the air.

1-Feb-2003

I woke up before sunrise again today but unfortunately it was foggy so I decided to sleep some more. After breakfast we landed in Brown Bluff in the Antarctic mainland. There was blue ice everywhere and hundreds of penguins running around on the pebble beach. I just sat down to watch. The penguins carried on their business seemingly oblivious to our presence, coming within a meter or so from where we were sitting. Now and then a curious one would peck at my leg.
So as not to spread possible disease between the different colonies we have visited, our boots are washed with disinfectant after every landing.

Our next stop was Paulet Island, home to a large colony of Adelies. They were intermixed with blue-eyed cormorants, which don’t actually have blue eyes, but blue eyelids instead. While there we took a trip among the icebergs in one of the Zodiacs. Many of the icebergs served as rafts for penguins and the occasional Weddell seal.

2-Feb-2003

We arrived at Deception Island and landed near a colony of an estimated 250,000 chinstrap penguins. Again, they went about their business largely ignoring us. Like in all other colonies there were also Sheath Bills and Skuas. Afterwards we sailed inside the bay, which is actually the water-filled caldera of a large volcano. Since the area is still geothermally active, the water in the bay is not cold. In fact, it can be too warm at places for casual bathing. In this location we saw the remains of an old whaling station. A disgusting reminder of what people did here a long time ago. We hiked to see another crater and I ventured all the way to the bottom with my GPS to see if its base was below sea level. It wasn’t, but it was fun running down the sandy slope. Now we are in the Gerlache Strait and in the past hour or two I have seen at least a dozen humpback whales swimming near the ship. So magnificent!

3-Feb-2003

Today we woke up in the Lemaire Channel heading south. I can hardly think of better circumstances to wake up to. I was out on the deck before 6 AM. What a spectacle. It is so frustrating trying to describe it! We landed at Peterman Island and went kayaking amongst the (small) icebergs. It was absolutely magical. We saw gentoo and Adelie penguins just about everywhere. Possibly the most beautiful place I have ever seen. Later, as we continued to sail south, we crossed the Antarctic Circle. This was sufficient provocation to consume more champagne. It is now almost midnight and there is still light outside. I better get some sleep.

4-Feb-2003

I woke up before 5 and went out on the deck to find out that we were cutting a path through the sea ice. The boat, although not an icebreaker, is an ice-class boat and can cut through pretty heavy pack ice. This concept was a bit unsettling at first for those of us unaccustomed to it. We continued through a sea that was almost totally covered in ice-floes until we hit the thicker and unmovable fast ice (technically sea ice that is attached to land). This offered a convenient parking spot, and after breakfast, the ladders were lowered and we walked off the boat onto the fast ice. The upper 2 feet of the surface were slushy snow with a thin crust (fresh water taste - I felt obligated to try it). The bottom 2 feet were solid ice. We stayed there for a few hours. Some people went kayaking, some went swimming (!), and some of us just walked about on the ice talking with the naturalists and visiting a crab-eater seal that was laying in the sun in the middle of the huge ice expanse. We got very close to it and it never seemed to mind. It just yawned, turned around, and continued sleeping. A group of us decided to walk until my GPS would show 67 deg south, as far south as any of us had ever been. Unfortunately time flies when you find yourself in such happy moments. We sailed north again and stopped for a Zodiac ride in an area where 2 humpback whales were swimming.

Now the weather has turned foggy and it is 10 PM so I will use this opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep.

5-Feb-2003

We sailed through the Lemaire Channel again. This time it looked beautifully sinister with fog and low clouds. We saw several whales very close to the boat. Then we arrived at Palmer Station (USAP). A station official came to our ship and gave us a short lecture explaining the main research areas that they cover. After that we were allowed to disembark and tour the facility. We also visited their “penguin ranch” nearby. Fascinating! I would love to work here.

6-Feb-2003

This morning we arrived at Port Lockroy station (BAS). Here the curious penguins come and check you out instead of the other way around. Remarkably, just around a rock bluff from the station, a large private sailboat was anchored. If I had an ocean-going sailboat this is definitely one of places I’d like to visit…

Later we went through a narrow pass into a place called Paradise Bay. It was more than its namesake. We explored on the Zodiacs and saw several seals basking on the ice floes. Once again, time flew and we had to return to the ship. After dinner we entered the rougher waters of the Drake Passage again.

7-Feb-2003

No sight of land today. However, we did see albatrosses and whales, and attended several interesting lectures throughout the day. Several people stayed in their cabins in part due to seasickness. The water was much rougher than on our southbound leg. I decided to go out on the third deck for a moment of adventure, and even up there I got drenched by a large cold wave. I never thought the water would reach that deck.

8-Feb-2003

Today the weather was not very good and I took advantage of this to recover from the self-inflicted sleep depravation of the past 10 days. In the afternoon we arrived back in Ushuaia. Our flight was to take us from there back to Santiago and thus conclude the trip, but we hopped off the plane in Punta Arenas for another two weeks of hiking and sightseeing in southern Patagonia. Alas, that is a separate story. For now, there was only one thing in my mind: going back to Antarctica. I must do that.