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Quest for Antarctica - January 2007
In January of this year we traveled to the Antarctic on a 48-passenger ship;
Professor Molchanov, former Russian research ship. Our itinerary took us
from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and the Antarctic Peninsula.
We spent two days in Ushuaia before we joined our expedition group. Here we are pictured against the backdrop of the Beagle Channel and the Chilean Andes.
Since one of our bags went missing on the flight from Washington, DC to Buenos Aires, we had to stay close to town while in Ushuaia, communicating with the airline to make arrangements for the bag to be delivered to us.
On one of the days in Ushuaia, we went on a cruise of the Beagle Channel. This South American sea lion is one of many we saw on the cruise.
One of the most surprising things for me was the variety of colorful flowers we saw in Ushuaia.
We joined our expedition group on December 31, and headed out to sea. Next stop, after a pretty stormy crossing, was New Island in the West Falklands. Making a zodiac landing, we visited a mixed colony of rockhopper penguins, blue-eyed shags, and black-browed albatrosses.
Here's a rockhopper penguin that posed for a portrait.
And here's a black-browed albatross tending its chick.
Our next stop in the Falklands was Carcass Island, where we saw Magellanic penguins.
Third stop: Stanley, the Capital of the Falklands.
Here, our trusty ship is shown anchored in Stanley Harbor, with the zodiacs that ferried us to land.
After visiting nearby Gypsy Cove, we returned to Stanley and visited the museum.
Departing Stanley, this kelp gull followed our ship for quite a while.
After we departed the Falklands, we sailed for two and a half days to reach South Georgia Island. Our only entertainment on those days were albatrosses and other sea birds that followed our ship.
Here's a picture of a wandering albatross - these birds can have wing-spans reaching 3.5-4 meters.
Next Post: South Georgia Island.
Professor Molchanov, former Russian research ship. Our itinerary took us
from Ushuaia, Argentina to the Falklands, South Georgia Island, and the Antarctic Peninsula.
We spent two days in Ushuaia before we joined our expedition group. Here we are pictured against the backdrop of the Beagle Channel and the Chilean Andes.
Since one of our bags went missing on the flight from Washington, DC to Buenos Aires, we had to stay close to town while in Ushuaia, communicating with the airline to make arrangements for the bag to be delivered to us.
On one of the days in Ushuaia, we went on a cruise of the Beagle Channel. This South American sea lion is one of many we saw on the cruise.
One of the most surprising things for me was the variety of colorful flowers we saw in Ushuaia.
We joined our expedition group on December 31, and headed out to sea. Next stop, after a pretty stormy crossing, was New Island in the West Falklands. Making a zodiac landing, we visited a mixed colony of rockhopper penguins, blue-eyed shags, and black-browed albatrosses.
Here's a rockhopper penguin that posed for a portrait.
And here's a black-browed albatross tending its chick.
Our next stop in the Falklands was Carcass Island, where we saw Magellanic penguins.
Third stop: Stanley, the Capital of the Falklands.
Here, our trusty ship is shown anchored in Stanley Harbor, with the zodiacs that ferried us to land.
After visiting nearby Gypsy Cove, we returned to Stanley and visited the museum.
Departing Stanley, this kelp gull followed our ship for quite a while.
After we departed the Falklands, we sailed for two and a half days to reach South Georgia Island. Our only entertainment on those days were albatrosses and other sea birds that followed our ship.
Here's a picture of a wandering albatross - these birds can have wing-spans reaching 3.5-4 meters.
Next Post: South Georgia Island.
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I have long wanted to visit Antarctica and your photos are the reasons why (with the exception of the really long flights). Great close-up portraits of those creatures especially.
Photos that don't suck / 365 / Film & Lomography
South Georgia Island was everything we hoped it would be...and so much more.
Our first landing was at King Haakon Bay where we became acquainted with Elephant Seals.
Our second day in South Georgia found us making a landing at Salisbury Plain, the world's second largest king penguin rookery with over 250,000 birds.
The king penguin chicks were very curious and came right up to us.
Prion Island was our second stop on Day 2. Nesting wandering albatrosses were the highlight here.
To get to the albatross nesting sites, however, we had to run the gauntlet of feisty fur seals in the nearby tussock grass. This one reminds me of a jailhouse guard who's calling out: "Halt, who goes there."
That afternoon, we made a third landing - this time at Fortuna Bay. As the mountain tops were wreathed in thick fog, the "Shackleton" trek to re-create part of his crossing of South Georgia Island was cancelled. Instead, we visited with the king penguins.
These three I dubbed "the three amigos walking on the beach."
There were plenty of fur seal pups in a creche at Fortuna Bay.
The final activity of the day was a zodiac cruise around two whaling stations. Due to heavy asbestos and the danger from collapsing buildings, we had to keep a 200-meter distance from these stations, so a zodiac cruise was the best way to visit them. I found it appropriate that we visited these stations, which have a very bloody history when it comes to whaling, on a dreary, snowy afternoon.
In this photograph, we are passing the manager's house at Stromness Station - this is where Shackleton ended his "Endurance" saga.
An unexpected katabatic storm on the third morning caused two landings to be cancelled. No problem; we backtracked along the coast and by the time we reached Nordenskjold Glacier, we had beautiful weather once again.
Our afternoon landing that day was at Grytviken where we first visited the whaler's cemetery to toast Sir Ernest Shackleton. Later, we wandered around the restored whaling station at Grytviken, which is now a museum.
Day 4 concluded with an Antarctic tradition - a picnic on the deck of the ship. Cold, but oh so much fun.
Our last day on South Georgia Island found us making a landing at Gold Harbour. With very warm temperatures, we were able to shed our parkas and wander amid the king penguins and elephant seals in relative comfort.
Here's a picture of one of the king penguin colonies on the island.
And here we are, enjoying a beautiful summer day at Gold Harbour.
Later that day, we did a zodiac cruise at Cooper Bay and met the macaroni penguins. (This poor penguin seems to have had a close encounter with a predator and has lost part of his flipper.)
Our last activity in South Georgia was a ship's cruise of Drygalski Fjord where we enjoyed views of glaciers galore, including Dead End Glacier and Risting Glacier.
Leaving South Georgia, we started to see some of our first icebergs.
Next up: We head to the Peninsula via the South Orkney Islands and the South Shetland Islands.
We had a relatively calm crossing from South Georgia as we headed south to the Peninsula. Immense icebergs entertained us in the Washington Strait as we made our way to the South Orkney Islands.
If you look closely, you'll see penguins (OK - just black dots at this distance) rafting by on this iceberg. The pink stain is -- you guessed it -- guano, or penguin poop!
Here's another iceberg and more penguins - can't be sure - but they look like Adelie penguins.
At Shingle Cove, on Coronation Island (Orkneys), we made the acquaintance of the Adelie penguins. This feeding scene was very common as we wandered in the midst of these penguins.
Adelie penguin posing for me.
A very sassy looking Adelie penguin chick.
Elephant Island was an exciting visit for us - first, because conditions allowed us to do a zodiac cruise at Point Wild, where Shackleton's men awaited rescue after their "Endurance saga," and second, because weather conditions allowed us to make a second landing at the island - this one at Cape Lookout.
This is a picture of Elephant Island taken during our zodiac cruise at Point Wild.
At Cape Lookout, we mingled with chinstrap and gentoo penguins.
Stone thievery is very important to nest building. This chinnie stole this stone from a neighboring nest and is hightailing (as fast as its short legs will allow) to its own nest to present the gift to its mate.
A very cute - and very vocal - gentoo chick, chirping as a means to send a directional signal to its parent.
The next day found us in the South Shetlands. On Aitcho Island (named for the Admiralty Hydrographic Office - "H" - "O"), we enjoyed the company of chinnies and gentoos.
Here, the gentoo parent is feeding its chick.
That afternoon found us at Whaler's Bay on Deception Island. This photograph shows some of the whaling boats trapped in the ash after the 1970 eruption of the still-active volcano. We hiked to Neptune's Window, pictured in the background.
One of the many whale bones left on the beach at Whaler's Bay.
Next Up: the Antarctic Peninsula.
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
There was much excitement when we reached the Antarctic Peninsula. Any concerns that it might be anticlimactic after all the wonderful experiences we had already enjoyed were laid to rest when we saw the scenery of Gerlache Strait.
Traveling through waters dotted with giant icebergs added to our pleasure.
Anchoring in Paradise Bay, we went on a zodiac cruise of Petzval Glacier. This is one of the few instances where we had an opportunity to include an object in our photographs to show the immense size of the glaciers we saw on this trip.
A portion of Petzval Glacier that looks like it's about to calve - it didn't :cry . Then again, we're glad it didn't as our zodiac would have been swamped.
Leaving the glacier behind, we made our continental landing at the Argentine research station: Almirante Brown.
Our "chariot" parked nearby, waiting to return us to the ship once we had our fill of the continent. (We could have stayed longer, but the itinerary called for more activities on this day.)
Cruising through fantastic Lemaire Channel, the experience was made even more spectacular by the wonderful weather we had.
As you can see in the picture above, there was plenty of brash ice to get through. Our captain took it slow and easy, pushing the chunks of ice away with the bow. The loud "thunks" of the ice hitting the hull was a bit unnerving at first, but our confidence in the crew paid off and we made it through the channel with no incidents.
A bergy bit in Lemaire Channel - look at how clear the water is!
Once through Lemaire Channel, we landed at Petermann Island and enjoyed visiting with Adelie penguins.
Gentoo penguins on Petermann Island - in a hurry to get back to the nest to feed their chicks.
That sun sure feels good! (Adelie chick)
On Petermann Island with Professor Molchanov anchored in the channel.
At our southernmost-point (67.10 S) we found an iceberg jam on the opposite shore of Petermann Island.
Following our landing at Petermann Island, we did a zodiac cruise at Pleneau Bay. There are no words to describe the serenity I felt as we traveled in and around the grounded icebergs.
The water was glass smooth, and krill were swarming on the surface of the water. Hard to believe that it was after 9:00p.
I have way too many pictures of our Pleneau Bay zodiac cruise, and it's hard to pick and choose, but here's one more - looking into the heart of an iceberg.
While cruising in Pleneau Bay, we had a close encounter with a leopard seal resting on an ice floe. Sitting in the bow of the zodiac, I was eye level with the creature, and when he yawned, I could see deep into its throat. (I forgot to click the shutter, I was so in awe.) Here's a portrait of the leopard seal.
Just as we were returning to the ship, the call came that there were whales feeding in the bay. So, off we went looking for them, ducking between icebergs in our path.
Here's the fluke of a humpback whale going down in a deep dive.
The fluke was literally the end of our zodiac cruise. As we pulled up to the zodiac gangway, our engine sputtered. Our zodiac was out of gas! (Don't worry, there was a spare can.)
We left the ship, cruising back through Lemaire Channel with a beautiful sunset after midnight.
Next up: last few days of the cruise and post-cruise in Buenos Aires.
On our last day at the Peninsula, we went ashore at Goudier Island to visit Port Lockroy, the WWII British base that is now a museum.
The weather started to turn really nasty while we were at Port Lockroy. Gentoo chicks huddled under their parents for protection from the rising-wind.
Near the museum, we found penguins nesting amongst the skeletal remains of a minke whale.
The worsening weather cut our visit to Port Lockroy short and we returned to the ship. With heavy hearts, we started the journey back north.
Despite the bad weather - mostly sleet - we went on deck when whales were sighted in Dallman Bay. The whales were hard to photograph as the camera wanted to focus on the snow flakes. A whale came to the surface right along the ship, but I deemed it prudent to keep holding onto the stair rail rather than let go and try to capture a picture. I did manage to capture this photograph of two whales blowing however.
An attempt was made to land at Melchior Islands to give us one last activity before heading into the Drake Passage.
Conditions were not good, however, and our expedition leader prudently pulled the plug and ordered the zodiacs to be brought back onto the ship.
That night, as we headed into the Drake Passage, my lucky husband celebrated his birthday. (Marco, our head chef, presenting a cake decorated with sparklers.)
Braving 30 foot waves, we crossed the Drake. Despite being tossed about, we were grateful - conditions in one of the roughest waters in the world could have been much worse.
Everyone was looking forward to the calm waters of the Beagle Channel on the other side of the Drake Passage, but a freak storm took away our safe haven. Even the expedition crew and the ship's officers were surprised at how rough the Beagle Channel transit turned out to be. Finally, in the early hours of January 18 the familiar motto of Ushuaia greeted us.
After an uneventful flight from Ushuaia, we arrived in Buenos Aires. We did a car tour the first afternoon, which included a brief visit to Barrio La Boca - a very colorful neighborhood. (It's said that the tradition of painting buildings in varied colors goes back to the days when the immigrants used whatever paint color was available to paint their homes.)
We spent the last day of our trip wandering the streets of Buenos Aires. This is the Puente de la Mujer (Woman's Bridge) in the Puerto Madero neighborhood.
Vaults at Recoleta Cemetery.
Elaborate mausoleums at Recoleta Cemetery.
The arched bell tower of Basilica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar near Recoleta Cemetery.
Nope, not the Washington Monument in DC, but the Obelisco in BsAs.
And with that image, we drove to the airport to catch our 10:00p flight back to Washington DC. Tired from a full day of walking the streets of Buenos Aires, we quickly fell asleep in our exit row seats (yay!).
And that concludes our wonderful, once-in-a-lifetime adventure - although we hope to go back someday. Antarctica certainly got under our skin.
If you would like to see more photographs from our trip, you're welcome to browse the galleries at: http://eenusa.smugmug.com/2007%20Travels/325563. I have a collection of favorites as well as day-to-day albums, and a presentation briefly outlining Shackleton's "Endurance" saga at this link.
If you're interested in a very long (and I really mean that) and detailed trip report, go to: http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=31&tid=34977014&numresponses=76&start=0&screen_name=eenusa.
the very same ship.
What a great treat to see this wonderful place.
Thanks for sharing and of course MORE please
XTi, G9, 16-35/2.8L, 100-300USM, 70-200/4L, 19-35, 580EX II, CP-E3, 500/8 ...
DSC-R1, HFL-F32X ... ; AG-DVX100B and stuff ... (I like this 10 years old signature :^)
wow thats a fantastic once in a life time journey.
Also that [FONT=geneva, arial, sans-serif]Shackleton’s Endurance Voyage is phenomenal story ...hats off to him for surviving such an excusrsion.
out of curiosity...how much would a trip like this cost and how long did it take to finish it (will go thru your write up later today) ?
you must have had great fun.
thanks for sharing
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i've visited your site and you werent kidding when you said lots of photos!!!
hope to visit it someday!
I hope your friend shares the images from his/her trip - wishing safe sailing with smooth oceans.
No more on this thread, but feel free to check out the galleries at: http://eenusa.smugmug.com/2007%20Travels/325563
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Prices and number of days vary
The smaller the ship, the more expensive it is - as much as $15K per person -- luxury small ships can be even more. A cabin with shared facilities can be considerably less. I understand the mega-ships are quite inexpensive - relatively speaking - but I did not look into them at all as they make no landings (nor do they have ice-rated hulls). There are mid-size alternatives as well, such as Hurtigruten's Fram. The mid-size ships take 200-400 pax and land pax in groups of 100 (100 ppl max for each landing) - again, I did not research, because we did not want to have to wait around to take turns. Still, these mid-size ships are a good alternative since they do make landings, and the lower prices make them a reasonably attractive option. (I understand that if you have the time to stick around and wait in Ushuaia, you can - or could - get a last-minute berth if one is still available just before the ship sails. This could be a pipe dream these days when the ships are booked well in advance and Antarctic tourism is on the rise.) I did not look into the sailings out of New Zealand; no idea of prices from there.
As for number of days - Peninsula only trips are 10-12 days (cross the Drake twice; anywhere from 1-2 days each time). We went on the longer voyage that included the Falklands and South Georgia Island (a MUST in my humble opinion) - 20 days R/T, with one Drake Passage crossing at the end of the voyage.
I'm still in awe.
sounds great 20days for $15k ...nice trip thanks for the info...
Nick
http://www.twitter.com/deegolden
There's a saying in Turkish that goes something like: "from your lips to God's ears." I hope we'll be able to go back again someday!
We also took a smaller ship -- I prefer it since you can launch the zodiacs faster and get more land time than on a big ship with hundreds of people.
Thanks for sharing your great photos!
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This is one of the trips left on my Life List, and you've inspired me to push harder to make it happen. Thanks for sharing
All the best,
Lori
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Louw Photography - checked out your beautiful photos of Antarctica - looks like you had quite a bit more ice in the water in November than we did in January. Like you, we were able to make all the meals despite the "motion of the ocean". We had one lady who was sick most of the time we were at sea, except around the Peninsula. That this was her 9th or 10th trip back to Antarctica says a lot for the hold the area can have on you once you have had the privilege of visiting.
OffTopic - poked around your galleries too - have to go back for another look see, but really loved your California sunset photos.
I keep a journal when I am traveling - usually very diligently, but I was not very good at it on the Antarctica trip because there was so much going on outside that I did not want to miss. Instead, I wrote notes in a small notepad that I kept handy at all times. I have a penchant for wanting to have things labeled, so the notebook helps immensely.
Thanks for sharing these.
ann
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Ann, trust me - in the end, all that one remembers is the beauty of the Antarctic. By the time we were docked in Ushuaia, all of us were ready to turn around and get right back on the ship for another visit to the wonderland that is Antarctica - 30 foot waves notwithsanding.
If you would like to see more photographs from our trip, you're welcome to browse the galleries at: http://eenusa.smugmug.com/2007%20Travels/325563. I have a collection of favorites as well as day-to-day albums, and a presentation briefly outlining Shackleton's "Endurance" saga at this link.
If you're interested in a very long (and I really mean that) and detailed trip report, go to: http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessages.jsp?fid=31&tid=34977014&numresponses=76&start=0&screen_name=eenusa.[/quote]
Fantastic photos, and very well written. I'm confused, who did the photographing, who did the writing? I thought all the way through that the photographer/writer was the husband, until the birthday cake photo, when I suddenly realized it was the wife's narrative.
The photos are spectacular - certainly not your typical vacation snapshots! Very, very, well done!
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Thanks. Photos and narrative are mine - the Mrs. Hubby does videography. The birthday photo was actually taken by another passenger on the ship. I'm curious, however - what made you think it was hubby who was taking the photos and doing the writing?
May I ask what equipment (camera/lenses) you were shooting?
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Thanks. I was using a Canon 20D DSLR. Most of the photos are with a Tamron 18-200 lens. I also had a Canon 100-400 L glass lens with me, but we were often too close to the animals for me to make much use of it.
Sorry - still confused - who is "mine?" You, the husband, are writing this post and referring to your wife in third person, I think?
And this still doesn't explain: "That night, as we headed into the Drake Passage, my lucky husband celebrated his birthday. (Marco, our head chef, presenting a cake decorated with sparklers.)," which seems to be written by the Mrs.
So, you obviously set up those other portraits of the two of you with a tri-pod.
Not sure why I made the assumption I did, I think because with most couples I know, the husband is the photographer, or perhaps I still think of photography - including the technical know-how that goes into setting up these galleries as a male-dominated activity - an outdated model, certainly.
I'm also intrigued with the photo of the black-browed albatross tending to its chick - wondering how the stone that the bird is nestled in came to be hollowed out as it is. It looks like an artifact of some sort.
At any rate, this was all very well done.
www.SaraPiazza.com - Edgartown News - Trad Diary - Facebook
Sorry - didn't mean to make it so confusing. I (the female in this wife-husband duo) am eenusa. I did the photography and the writing. Yes, photos of the two of us were set up on a tripod. Actually, a clamp-type device that we used to attach a P&S camera to the handle of my husband's video camera. It was a lot more efficient than removing his camera and placing mine on the tripod instead.
As for the albatross nest - it's not an artifact. The birds build those nests out of mud. I think the indentation is the result of (1) the birds sitting on the nest while the mud is still soft, and (2) the fact that they continue to build the nest while they are sitting on it.
The following photo shows a black-browed albatross making improvements to its nest. We watched this bird pick up small bits of mud and pack it around it's nest - she kept it up for about 15 minutes before she seemed satisfied.
Ok - great, now it all makes sense - and very interesting about the mud nests, too. Not only good photography and writing, but an interesting science lesson, too. Thank you!
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