The Penguin Papers

  I got a minor case of Nirvana blues (when you are sad things are going too well and that disaster must be imminent) when yet again I spotted my luggage on the belt at Bariloche airport.    I was greeted by a lovely driver who gave me a good introduction to Argentina’s version of Switzerland.     Bariloche is in the northern part of Patagonia,     with snow covered Andes in the distance and a beautiful wavy lake in the foreground.     I could well have been in Zurich except everyone speaks Spanish and not German, and I was unlikely to be told off for jay walking. I checked into the Cacique Inacayal Hotel, an establishment which was trying hard, and failing miserably to be classy.    The setting is stunning, but the staff are surly and the fittings and furnishings in serious need of a refurb.    Regardless, my room overlooks the lake and the scenery well compensates for the picadillos of the hotel. I quickly dumped my bags...

Both Sadie and I were very happy to see the end of the Drake Passage, but pleased to have chalked up adventure points for the final leg of the Antarctica experience.  I can say with absolutely no reservations that the past two weeks have been the most exciting, fulfilling, thrilling, splendid, glorious (and a whole bunch of other adjectives) of my travel portfolio. I felt quite emotional saying goodbye to the crew and fellow passengers, knowing we shared something quite extraordinary for a brief period of time.  We will each now go back to real life, but should we ever meet again, we will greet one another with a knowing look that words will not convey.   Upon waking yesterday, Sadie discovered that her flight from Buenos Aires to Miami had been cancelled, and I swelled with pride as I watched her calmly deal with the situation and book alternative  flights to Miami and then on the NY.  She was not in the least bit phased, but only felt guilty that she might be ...

 Remember an earlier blog where I said we were sad because the Drake Passage was so mild on our trip south?  We take back very word.  Despite applying our Scopolamine patches before things got rough, both Sadie and I were knocked on our bums by the return voyage. In my case, quite literally as I got thrown across the cabin on a short but necessary trip to the loo. The ship’s doctor was kindly doling out Dramamine which had the excellent effect of putting us to sleep for 12 hours. It is the strangest sensation-not really nauseous but more like being super drunk. Luckily he seas are calmer this morning, but we are both looking forward to dry land tomorrow!

 The photos are from the top of Deception Island Yesterday was our last full day of activities, and we ended with a new entry into my list of possible ways to die in Antarctica.    Deception Island is a crescent shaped island surrounding the caldera of a still active volcano.    The last eruption was over 10 years ago, and average is every 50 years, so I guess we were pretty safe.    There are several monitoring stations as well so    we would have some warning of potential explosions.    We entered by way of a narrow passage known as Neptune’s Bellows and anchored in the middle of the caldera.    I’m sure that there is a proper name for a sea filled volcano, but I’m not sure what that is.    Lunacy, perhaps?    Regardless, this is one time I really didn’t want to be in the position of shouting “Thar She Blows!”. We took zodiacs to a shore which was vastly different from previous landing sites.  ...

  Yesterday morning we had a zodiac landing for a walk around Planeau.    There were penguins aplenty, all of the gentoo variety.    Many were nesting, and I had the great privilege of seeing a chick for a very brief moment.    The challenge in Antarctica is to not become blasé about what we see everyday. Each penguin colony, each oddly constructed iceberg and each whale sighting should be treated as the wondrous experience that they are. I refuse to let familiarity breed contempt.  After lunch, 12 of us were summonsed to the “boot room” to collect our kayaking clothes - wet suit, booties, jacket and special life vest.    We returned to our cabins to get dressed (base layers under and fleece over wetsuits) plus hats, gloves, etc.    The weather had been excellent for previous excursions, although Sadie’s group had encountered a bit of wind and wave.    I confided to Nick, our fearless kayaking guide, that I was actual...

  About 40 intrepid campers were loaded onto zodiacs at 8:30 for the short trip to Damoy, our home for the night. Well, I say night, but it was really only until 3:45 hen we had to return to ship so that we could make our way to the next location.    I wore a base layer, fleece leggings, waterproof trousers, two fleeces, two pairs of socks and my waterproof parka.    I packed an extra top, trousers and socks but ended up not needing them.    As we boarded the zodiac, we were each handed a large dry bag which contained our bivvy bag, insulated base pad, inflatable Thermarest mattress and 4 season sleeping bag.    Climbing up from the landing point to the camping area carrying all that gear was not entirely straightforward. At the top we rested the kit on a large tarp (remember - nothing can touch the ground that hasn’t be thoroughly sterilised), and we were then issued a shovel to dig our “graves”.    We were instructed to dig out a ...

  Every day we are offered two outings, even if we aren’t signed up for something special like mountaineering or kayaking.    These take the form of either a zodiac “cruise” to look for wildlife or a zodiac transfer to a landing site where we can walk and explore within a defined range.Typically, the night before a landing, we are treated to a talk on one of the animals we will be searching out. So far, we’ve learned about whales and seals and gone in search of both.    We were phenomenally lucky in getting to hang out with two humpback whales whose dipping and diving in search of food resembled a most elegant water ballet. Because I now know that markings on whale tales are as unique as fingerprints, we could easily keep track of who was who, despite their best efforts to trick us by appearing randomly in different places. They have a very helpful early warning system by spraying through the blowholes on the tops of their heads before more fully surfacing....