November 25th - Hitting Our Stride

The sound of the expedition leaders voice on the intercom was thoroughly unwelcome at 7:30AM. My body was pretty sore and I was feeling a bit hungover. I struggled through breakfast and pounded a few cups of coffee, but it wasn´t helping much.

The morning activity was a stop at an Ukranian research facility called ¨Verdansky Station.¨ It was what you might expect; a bit spartan research facilities that look like they are straight out of the 80´s. However, when you get upstairs you find the pride and joy, what they claim to be the southern most commercial bar in the world serving vodka made onsite in the station. So the story goes...It used to be a British station that they later sold to the Ukranians as a favor for 1 pound. When the British built it they hired a carpenter to fit-out the place. The guy blew the entire budget on the spectacular bar and was then simply fired and the replacement finished the rest of the station.

We had a couple shots of the fine spirits(Ukranian style vodka made fresh in Antarctica) and my hangover disappeared completely. I was feeling much better and after a cruise around the surrounding area on the zodiaks highlighted by a couple of leopard seals, we headed back to the boat for lunch.

After lunch we had our second ski adventure. Getting to the ski location was much easier this time around, and I was feeling a little stiff, but excited. The weather had been pretty iffy all day, in fact it was more or less a blizzard during the morning activity. By the time we had set out, it had at least stopped snowing, but the conditions were less than ideal.

We were up and on the skis in no time at all and we made a pretty good pace up the glacier. After and hour and a half or so we were nearing the saddle of the mountain and the cloud line. The very top was a bit precarious, icy and steep, and more than anything I wondered how we´d make it down. After skiing across the top of the peak to a point where we could see the water on the other side through the dense cloud cover we turned and headed down. I followed lockstep behind the two people in front of me and made it through the hard bit with surprising ease.
Something truly magical happened then. As we came down the main face, the weather shifted and cleared completely; soon the sun was blazing down on the fresh white snow and the panorama of the the light hitting the the surrounding bays, snow covered peaks and icebergs was beautiful beyond description. I was by myself on the face at this point and I stopped often just to stare in amazement and take it in. ¨This is the view I came for,¨ I told myself over and over again. It was a truly amazing and emotional moment for me. It justified everything about the trip for me and had I left Antarctica just after that I would have left totally satisfied.

We made it back to the ship feeling great and very tires. Following dinner there was a final activity, a zodiak cruise around the icebergs in the back where we were anchored. The weather, as it does in Antarctica, had turned again and it was pretty cold and windy. It was nice, but relatively uneventful and pretty cold. Upon returning to the ship, I slept right away.

November 24th - The Real Day 1

We moved from the South Shetlands to the Antarctic Peninsula and the surrounding islands for the next days activities.

After breakfast we quickly prepared for another shore landing. There was no walk this time so there was plenty of time to be spent among the large colony of Gentoo penguins. Also, the bay that the beach was on was filled with icebergs large and small. I am sure i´ll be sick of penguins by the end of this trip, but I don´t think the unlimited variety in shapes and beauty of the icebergs will ever get old.

The penguins were everywhere, thousands in every direction. I was in the first boat ashore and I decided just to sit for awhile and enjoy them. I found a nice rock and plopped myself down in silence and let everything happen around me. The penguins went about their business waddling around and coming in and out of the water just inches away from me; this surely beat the hell out of any zoo experience. I sat there for a half an hour or so enjoying the intimate experience and then headed down the beach. As I wandered, I practiced my penguin call and even got a few to respond to me in kind.

I continued along the beach then went up the bluff trudging through near waist deep snow to visit the nesting areas of the colony. About this time, the sun burst through the clouds, up to this point it had been a largely cloudy day. The light on the surrounding mountain peaks and the back full of glimmering ice was awe-inspiring. Pretty soon I was down to my t-shit surrounded by penguins in Antarctica taking it all in.

The afternoon held many more surprises of its own. My original ship did not offer any adventure activities, but the boat I ended up on did. All of the activities were signed up for months in advance, but I added my name to the waiting list and was added to the cross-country skiing roster. I think I was expecting leisurely skis around the landing sites, but it turns out they really mean adventure activities.

The spot chosen for out first ski was a location our intrepid guides Milton and Jeremy had never tried before, more than likely no person ever had stepped foot there before. They simply saw a glacial face that they thought looked cool from the ship on the last trip down and we went for it. The landing was a bit more than they were expecting, they thought it looked like a gradual slope up to the ridge, but we found a meter of snow atop a steep embankment and had to trudge up it with all the gear. It was a good hour before we were able to put the skis on.

I couldn´t believe the sheer size of this thing; a meter of fresh powder snow covering an enormous glacier. It was to be quite an introduction to cross country skiing. It was beautiful on the way up and I was amazed at the ease of going up the face. After some time we arrived at the summit of the glacier and the view of ¨Paradise Bay¨ and our ship below was incredible. We were running tight on time however, and had to turn around quickly and head for the bottom. Little did I know that cross country skiing is one of a very few activities where going up is easier than coming down. We started down easy enough, I was even helping out others who were having trouble, but the next thing I knew I was on my ass 3 times in a row and had a broken ski pole. I even walked without the skis for a short while, but eventually pulled it together and made it back to the boat safely. For the first time on cross country skis it was the ultimate trial by fire learning experience.
Feeling exhilarated and exhausted when we returned to the ship a little late during dinner, my roommate Charlie and I cracked open my largest bottle wine and then headed up to the lounge for a couple of well earned doubles. We went to bed pretty late and probably a bit drunk and dehydrated.

UPDATE December 6

Hello ALL:

I know I said I´d try to get everything caught up this week, but it seems that is not going to happen. I am heading out to go camping in Patagonia, Southern Chile for the next week. I promise to finish uploading my completed Antarctica entries as soon as I can when I get back. Until then, safe be the journey...

November 23rd - Arrival

The sea continued to cooperate on the evening of the 22nd and I decided to discontinue my sea sick meds as they seemed to be greatly affecting everyone´s energy level and the seas just werent so bad. I had a drink and played some cards with a couple of fellow passengers, but slep early that evening.

We a awoke to find similar conditions the next morning. It is the so called "Drake Lake," from what we are told very rare and fortunate conditions. We were briefed the previous evening that if the good sea conditions persisted we may arrive early enough to squeeze in a bonus landing that afternoon in the South Shetland Islands.

We spent the day similarly to the previous, at lecture. However, since I was no longer drugged up I didnt feel the need to sleep in between. We also watched the GPS screens t

o see our location and our eyes peeled for icebergs that could´ve appeared at anytime; we were certainly getting close, south of one the Antarctic borders 60 degrees south.

The energy onboard continued to build as around 3:30PM we got first sight of land in the hazy distance; it was very exciting. The rocky shores of the South Shetlands 

we approaching quickly and be

fore I knew it we were in their midst. Everyone was buzzing with excitement and felt like we had truly arrived!

When we anchored, we quickly

 prepared to head ashore for the first time. My roomate Charlie and I dawned our n

ew bright yellow expedition jackets and headed for the boats. When we arrived on shore we were met by two colonies of penguins, Chinstraps on the beach and Gentoos on the bluff above. We wanted to hike to the other side of the island, however, so we could not be distracted by the thousands of cute birds. We headed down the beach and up the hill to the saddle of the island. There was a nice rocky beach and a fresh water lake on the other side below. As we headed down 

we saw the huge bones of a whale that had been left by turn of the century whalers as well as a couple of really cute Wedell seals. What we missed amongst the sensory euphoria was two enormous elephant seals that we couldn´t have been more than 2 meters away from.

When we had our fill of the view from the end of the beach, we headed back up to look at the elephant seals and get back top the landing beach to enjoy the penguins. On or walk back a staff member alerted us that a lone king penguin had been spotted on the beach near the landing site. King penguins look nearly identical to the famed emporer penguins and weren´t supposed to see either species on this trip. We made haste back to the beach and spent some time admiring the penguin; where the thousands of smaller penguins were enbearably cute, the king penguing was strikingly majestic. When we had had our fill we headed back to the ship blown away by our first Antarctic experience.

The high of the landing lasted well into the night. Alcohol was consumed and many laughs were had amongst new friends before it was time to sleep. The next day would be even bigger.

November 21st - 22nd - Out to Sea

The mighty Drake Passage is undulating out of my cabin window on the M/V Ocean Nova. The vessel is rolling rhythmically from side to side. It seems we have had good luck so far in terms of conditions. The Drake is infamous as being one of the roughest stretches of ocean on the planet and the 2 day passage we are in the middle of is billed as an integral part of the overall experience. Sea sick tablets are strongly recommended and dolled out like candy. Though I probably wouldn´t need them I taking them anyway, the weather could kick the swells up to 5 meters at any moment.

After the day and a half of waiting in Ushuaia for it to be time to board, it was finally time at 3PM on the 21st. I spent the morning taking care of last minute shopping and preparation including doing laundry, buying booze, waterproof pants and a adapter for onboard electricity. We met altogether near the ship and after all the logistical nightmares (my original ship was cancelled just days before I was due to depart while I was in BA, I had to kick and scream to get on a boat leaving just a day after my scheduled departure) I had been through I was relieved to be finally going through the motions of actually getting on the ship. We rolled by bus the 500 meters or so into the port and passed through an absolute joke of a security stop and before I knew it I was being escorted to my cabin.

The boat is nice, relatively modern and fully kitted out with creature comforts. It is setup and looks much like a cruise ship only much much smaller. There are 72 passengers on board and almost that number of crew. I unpacked quickly and we all gathered for small group ship tours in the main salon. Following the brief intro to the boat we gathered together once again for a safety and muster briefing. When the briefing was finished the excitement began to build like a steamroller and as we knew in just moments we would push off. Everyone was huddled together on the bow and an unexpected deafening blow of the ships horn signified the beginning our journey...We were headed for Antarctica! ! !

After watching the "End of the World" shrink behind us, it was time for dinner. The food so far has been superb. Dinner was a full 5 course meal including appetizer, soup, main, desert and a cheese plate; we ate our fill and chatted light-heartedly amongst ourselves. The people onboard seem great; a truly unique mix of adventurous souls from all walks of life.

The sea sick meds were distributed after dinner as we would soon leave the shelter of the Beagle Chanel for the open ocean. I spent some more time chatting and had a glass of wine, but most people hit the bed pretty early...I guess all the excitement and the meds in combination were a knockout punch. It took me a while to fall asleep because my internal clock was still spinning from BA, but once I did sleep the gentle rock of the ocean was a like a warm embrace and I slept comfortably.

I arose for breakfast at 8 for a full day at sea. There are atleast a half dozen experts in various fields with us to provide the educational aspects of the trip as well as serve as the zodiak drivers. I have spent the day alternating between lectures on ice and whales, briefings on landing procedures and quick naps.

For a start of the journey of a lifetime, things could not be going better...knock on wood.

Buenos Aires, Argentina - November 12th to 19th

I must admit that trying to provide you with the play by play of my time Buenos Aires would be futile. Days just began to blend into the next making spending time writing and often recalling events very difficult. I will change the playbook and provide you with a few observations and highlights of my week in BA.

Observations and Commentary:

1. Crazy Schedule - The US and China remarkably hold very similar daily schedules and Argentina shatters that mold. In BA breakfast goes to about noon, lunch fits in late afternoon and dinner is hardly considered before 10PM. In addition where in the US you might get in a bar before midnight, in BA the doors to bars won´t open before midnight and many clubs don´t open before 2AM. This is havoc on the body, but the Argentines sure seem to have it down pat. I´m not sure I could leave a club and go straight to work.

2. Beautiful People - I´m not sure the exact reason, but I can only speculate it is the wide gene pool and a European fashion sense, but it seems everyone in the city(women especially) are gorgeous.

3. Where´s the Beef? - Argentina is known worldwide for high quality beef. I had heard over and over again how amazing and cheap the beef is in Argentina. As I mentioned in my previous post the beef in Argentina is of tremendous value, but those of you who know me well know that I am keen on really nice steak. I must say that though I didn´t eat at the finest steakhouses in BA, the meat did not live up to my highest expectations for an individual steak experience.

4. City Living - BA has so much to offer in terms of night life as well as dining, but in terms of tourist experience it is very city oriented. I can see very clearly that it would be an amazing city to live in. There are a fair amount of museums and other cultural points of interest, but the main city activity is exploring the various city districts. Basically you struggle to get out of bed in time for the noon breakfast cut-off and then head out to explore a new area for a few hours in the afternoon before starting the evening routine all over again.

Highlights:

1. John Jenkins - The main reason I spent so much time in BA was to spend time with John, one of my best friends from college. He has been living in Panama for the last 3 years moving up in the world of Peace Corp. He was planning on coming down to visit a couple of his close friends who had rented an apartment in BA for a month. I crashed the party and enjoyed spending time with him and catching up.

2. Hostel Experience - When I wasn´t hanging out with John and his friends, I was extremely comfortable and made a bunch of new friends at the hostel. It was an old building and I split my time between many floors. Living at times on the 1st and 3rd floors and drinking and socializing on the 6th. The staff was friendly and accomodating and I eventually had to go to them before I left to ask them to pay my bill, I recommend the Hostel Estoril to anyone headed to BA.


3. Parks and the Modern Art Museum - BA has a multitude of large open green areas especially near to the Palermo district. I spent the first day in the city after I met up with John exploring this area and checking out the nearby art museum. There were 2 exhibits at this free museum, the first what I felt was an artistic stretch focusing on cabbages and dirty dishes, but the second floor 20th century South American Art exhibit was fantastic and you can spend a couple hours taking it in.

4. To The Club - There were a lot of late nights in BA simply due to the schedule, I only had a proper night out clubbing once. I am not a fan of clubbing much anywhere, but if there ever was a place to do it, I think BA is top of the list. We pre-partied significantly before heading to a Palermo(district) club between 2-3 AM when most US clubs must close by law. Things were just getting going and the place was still just as full when I left around 5:30AM, surely the party continued long into the morning. This is largely contributed, again, to the schedule of most Argentines, but also it seems clear that though Argentines drink at the club, they don´t drink as heavily as do those in other countries and it helps them sustain a longer night.

5. CABJ La Boca Juniors - I had a true Buenos Aires experience at the club futbol(soccer) match featuring the Boca Juniors, the pride of BA. It was my first real bigtime futbol match experience. I went to a couple of matched during the Olympics in Shanghai, but this was a totally different kind of thing. Close your eyes and imagine passionate singing, dancing and jumping amongst fans jammed together shoulder to shoulder on bleachers, sun blazing down, the smell of marijuana floating around from all directions and spit from the opposing fans in the section above raining down on your head....the true futbol fanatic experience. The Juniors lost the game, but Ii was a full day event and I enjoyed the truly experience even if I may or may not want to do it again.

6. South American Beats - We went to a great weekly drum show at an outdoor venue. It was a large percussion band of about 20-30 people playing jazzy latin beats. It was packed and the beer was cheap. It was particularly enjoyable for me because the feeling of the event and the type of crowd it drew reminded me so much of the live shows I loved so much when I lived in the US.

7. Don´t Cry For Me Aregentina - Though I may not fully grasp at this moment the political implications of Evita in the history of Argentina, I do love the musical. I got the chance to see the famous balcony in the Plaza de Mayo and visit her grave.

November 11th - A Long Day

First I must apologize for the lack of posts over the past few weeks. I have just recently returned from Antarctica and before that things were quite hectic in Buenos Aires. I will be updating the blog to include all these events in the coming days.

November 11th

This was literally the longest day of my life, 39 hours to be exact.

I awoke for an 11 o´clockish flight out of Christchurch that would put me in Auckland in plenty of time for my 7PM departure to direct to Buenos Aires. Upon my arrival in Auckland I grabbed some food and spent the last of my New Zealand Dollars in preparation for check-in to open 3 hours before the flight. It turned out to be a great thing that I arrived so early as the check-in was painfully slow and by the time I was checked in it was nearly time to board.

The flight was benign. Aerolineas Argentina is not high class flying, but the food was decent and it was just an 11 hour straight shot. The kicker of the whole thing is that I would be crossing the international dateline heading that direction. I left at 7PM and arrived at 3PM the same day, discombobulating to say the least.

I was recommended a hostel by a fellow traveler in New Zealand where she had stayed during her extended stay in Buenos Aires. I boarded the public transportation as usual and headed in that general direction. It was super smooth going and had arrived and checked into the hostel very quickly, the hostel would prove to have been fantastic advice. Before I knew it I was on the rooftop drinking a beer overlooking the city with a gaggle of brand new acquaintances. My first impression was that the city was beautiful, modeled very much in a European style with a distinctly Italian/French feel in the city center including many turn of the century buildings.

At about 9PM or so I went out with a few people to go eat some dinner. It seemed only natural to have a steak so we found a nearby "Parilla" (meaning grill) resteraunt. The steak was good, not on par with a fine steakhouse, butfor the money i´m certain there is no better place to eat steak in the world. For about 12 bucks US you can get a 400 or so gram steak, potatoes, salad and beer or wine.

We headed back to the hostel after dinner for a few more drinks and when people headed out on the town I decided to go ahead and end my extrodinarily long day.