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.