Tao 21: Antarctica (1)

I didn’t fare as well in the two days at sea following South Georgia.  Once the ship entered Drake Passage, the pitching and rolling increased by a few orders of magnitude.  From the dinning room window, one second you will see only the ocean, the next only the sky.  The medication I took did not seem to help much.

Once, we attended a session where each were given a piece of paper and pencil to paint penguins.  It was a fun session, and we each did quite well.  However, Tracy got seasick toward the end and we had to retire to our cabin.  For dinner we just had some salad and fruits.

Fortunately, lying down worked well.  Tracy was generally less affected, so she still went to the dining room to eat.  I mostly eat in the cabin.  We spent most of those two days on our bed in a semi-conscious state.

Once the ship left the deeper waters most seasickness-stricken people reemerged, with myself amongst them.  The weather also cooperated.  We reached Elephant Island on December 1st under a beautiful blue sky and puffy white clouds.

Elephant Island and the first Iceberg we saw

Elephant Island lies just about 200km from the northern tip of the Antarctica Peninsula. This was where Shackleton’s crew regrouped after their ship was crushed by ice.  The water is visibly calmer close to the island, everyone went out onto the deck to enjoy some fresh air. We were all excited that we’ll see Antarctica soon.

Like a primordial giant monolith from ancient times, this iceberg is a sight to behold.

On the morning of December 2nd, we were greeted with a majestic view of snow covered peaks and icebergs at South Shetland Islands.  Although we were not technically in Antarctica, we were awfully close.

As we sailed slowly toward our first landing site on Half-Moon Island, we passed an Argentinian Research Station. It does not look like it was active at the time.

No one is home

Pristine snow illuminated under a lazy Antarctica sun

South Shetland Islands in the morning

Iceberg under a dramatic sky

Closer look of the iceberg

Half-Moon Island is a small sickle-shaped island.  We would have our first sightings of Chinstrap Penguins here.

Ship anchored at Half-Moon Island

A lone penguin at the beach

The ground here was covered in deep snow, a sure sign that we were almost in Antarctica. We would sink to our knees in the soft snow.  If a penguin fell into one of these foot holes, it would be hard for it to get out.  So we walk in a single file and try to stay within the trail.

Looking at our ship from the beach.

The BBC crew on board at work

Walking toward a small Chinstrap colony

It’s easy to see why they are called Chinstrap Penguins.  The dark line below the eyes is a dead giveaway.  They are a bit smaller than Gentoo Penguins, and just as good at jumping over obstacles.

Jumping chinstrap

Chinstraps have pink feet like the Gentoos

A crabeater seal sunning on the snow, they have lighter colored furs

Colorful lichen

From the front, these penguins look like little soldiers with a chin-strapped helmet.

ATTENTION!!

Our intrepid ornithologist Simon the Birdman

A nesting chinstrap calling

Like their Gentoo cousins, Chinstraps collect pebbles to build nests.  However, pebbles are a rare commodity in this mostly snow covered land.  The industrious ones will carry little pieces of rocks all the way back from the beach.  The lazy ones tend to steal as much as they could from neighbors.

A Chinstrap Penguin carrying a small piece of rock home

Chinstrap resting

Checking us out

Mesmorizing patterns on a piece of sea ice

The wave is slowly carrying it away

A Weddell Seal enjoying the beach, their fur is darker with light colored spots

The wind is strong on the beach, but the temperature is mild

Visiting a chinstrap colony at the top of the ridge. The darker colored trail is a penguin "highway"

The seals here were not threatened by people.  They did not escape into the water when we got close.  nevertheless, they wanted to know where we were.

The weddell seal tried to stay aware of our whereabouts

Heading back to the landing site

They tackle this little drop by "power sliding"

The penguins will sometimes glide on their belly on the snow.  They could go much faster this way.

Prime real estate

Back of the seagull's house

Half-Moon Island beach

They make in downhill in half the time

Daisy photographing penguins

It's a long hike up home

In the afternoon, we sailed further south into Deception Island.  If you look at Antarctica Peninsula on Google Map, you will see something that looks like a small circle a bit north of the tip of the peninsula.  That is where we were.

We are in the middle of that circle right now.

The island has this peculiar shape because it is an active underwater volcano.  We were sailing inside the crater.  The last eruption was in the 60s, let’s hope we do not make history here.

The dark sand was from volcanic rocks

We landed under heavy cloud cover.  In the hazy sun light, this place is completely devoid of color.  Everything is a different shade of gray.  It’s unreal.

The scenery looked remarkably like a traditional Chinese painting

Even the water looked grayish

Add some color to the scene

More painting-like landscape

All this will probably look very different following the next snowfall

Nature is a master sculptor

We joined a group of hardcore hikers that went all the way to the top of the island, struggling through knee deep snow and slushy black mud.  Thank God for the rubber boots.  The top of the hill was both foggy and windy, but the sun finally peeked out as we descend.

A bit of sunlight on the ocean. The dark spot was our ship.

On the other side of the hill, sun shines on the still frozen ocean.

Taking in the view on our way back

The beach is littered with pieces of broken ice

"Black Ice" on the beach

All the other passengers were already back on the ship.  Two zodiacs patiently waited for us stragglers.

The zodiacs were waiting for us

After everyone’s aboard, the ship raised anchor and headed further south toward Antarctic Peninsula. Dinner was good.  Our chefs were all from Argentina.  Their lamb chops were to die for.

There was a lot more floating ice in the water now

racy taking pictures on the deck crowded with Zodiacs

Tomorrow we will be really close to the continent.  Close enough to see it on a good day.  But we will not land on it till the day after.  This tantalizing goal kept everyone excited.