Whitney: Why I came to Antarctica, part II

“I was born in the arms of imaginary friends”

I heard these lyrics for the first time today as I was running in Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The line struck me as funny as I imagined a baby Whitney being held by penguin, who would probably be able to just barely wrap his flippers around an infant. More realistically, he probably would have tried to cradle me in his pouch designed for an egg. Clearly this was not the meaning that John Mayer was going for in his song, Half of My Heart.

I was listening to this song as it was on a compilation CD of Grammy nominees that I picked up in Buenos Aires. This experience brought a few things full circle. The night before we left for Ushaia, EB and I stayed up until 2am watching the Grammys as a friend’s band won Best Album of the Year – and the surrealness of the next two weeks began.

I also realized that I hadn’t listened to any music while in Antarctica – that playlist I was planning in one of my pre-trip posts never spun. Upon returning to the states I have realized how often I actively try to live out of the moment – distracting myself with music, crosswords, emails, phone calls, texts, books, etc. And then it hit me in terms of what was the pure joy of Antarctica – unitasking. I’m not sure if the absence of distractions is what made the moments more surreal, or if the surrealness of the experience made distractions obsolete. Either way, I am trying to bring a bit of that home with me as I unplugged my iPod and just enjoyed being surrounded by nature. I noticed a flock of geese hanging by the pond and was tempted to trek amongst them when I realized that geese are DISTANT relatives of penguins and not nearly as cute and friendly.

Things I loved about Antarctica:

Watching penguins run – cracks me up every time

Sledding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CG4ggQF0JbI

Enjoying the incredible simplicity of a beautiful sunset – how does this happen every day?!

Joy of twister

Laughing with friends

Feeling every cell of my body scream out of shock:

Pre Swim-

Antarctic Swim – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuCA-Q9JP9I

I will continue to post a few more photos and videos, so there is more to come! I’ll let John Mayer sum up the trip with the next line in Half of My Heart:

“Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I’ve been”

PS: [*Note: Upon my return to the states many people were concerned that I was seasick for the entire trip – NOT TRUE. I was sick for one day on the trip down when crossing the Drake Passage and one day on the trip back, also shaking hands with Dr Drake]

E.B.: Why I came to Antarctica, part II

This question was the first that I wrote in this blog and I would like to finish my blog writings with the same question.

I think I came to Antarctica to cure myself of wanderlust. I thought that the trip would be miserable, a terrible mélange of freezing weather and motion sickness. I thought by going I could feel smug for the rest of my life that I had already endured the journey and wouldn’t have to ever go again. I wanted to see if Whitney and Warren fell apart without Blackberrys and working Kindles. I wanted a break from power outages and billboards. I was interested in penguins but figured that I would be bored of them after the first day. I wanted to do a lot of introspective writing and photography. I wanted to be in a place where work couldn’t reach me, no matter what crisis they felt they were facing. I wanted to meet a hot, single guy who would be fun and easily forgotten when I left. I wanted to finish War and Peace and catch up on This American Life podcasts.

None of these things happened.

I fell in love with the continent of Antarctica. A friend of mine and I always joke that we want to write a travel guide called “The We’re So Over It Travel Guide.” The main highlights of this book would include “How to Avoid Going to Roman Ruins” and “How to Justify Staying in a Four-star European Hotel and Streaming Reality TV Instead of Going to the Art Museum.” After 50+ countries and living on 4 continents, it can be easy to get jaded. Antarctica just blew my mind. The icebergs were little crystal palaces dotting the channel. The penguins were dirty, gross-smelling fur balls; I desperately wanted to hug one (and see how they would fare as footballs). The seals reminded me of my dog (they are actually an offshoot of the canine family) and had a lot of personality when they smiled, teeth and all. The crew members on the ship were all infused with excitement about the trip and their various specialties, even though they must have given their lectures hundreds of times. You could feel they loved the continent, the wilderness without noise or spoilage. They talked about hearing voices out there and I think I heard them a couple of times, most notably when we stopped in a zodiac to hear the crackling of ice melting. If you catch me with a glass of sparkling water up to my ear at a boring cocktail party, know that I am trying to hear the voices calling me back.

Instead of feeling cured of wanderlust, in many ways, I feel like I was reunited with my long-lost tribe of travelers. I met a woman who lived across the street from me in my last apartment in New York. The first night at dinner I sat next to a guy who worked on the same floor as me, on the same team, at the same time at my advertising agency in New York. That was just the Americans, with each new conversation I felt like I was meeting someone whose path I had crossed. Whether we got around the world on bicycles, camels, RVs, planes, or ships, we all did it. We ran out of money and took jobs that just got us enough to get to the next place. We learned foreign languages and fought culture clashes. We didn’t stop looking for whatever we were searching for.

I also feel like I was reconnected with myself. I didn’t walk onto Antarctica and start discussing the politics of the most recent Antarctic treaty, I followed a 20-year-old up the biggest hill we could find and sled down as fast as I could. Stupidly I went down the backwards and got snow all down my back. The coldness of it was startling and somehow wonderful as well. I had to leave my camera at home for a couple of landings because I felt so overwhelmed by the beauty and my desire to be in the middle of snow fights and sledding.

I started laughing again in huge, heaving, body-shaking laughs. I remembered that I have more than one laugh and would imitate other people’s laughter and smiles when my own weren’t enough. Every dinner ended with the sound of a vacuum cleaner because the allotted time never seemed long enough and I couldn’t help but be the last person at the table.

I didn’t relax by running 5 miles; I spent 45 minutes at a time in the sauna processing what I had experienced. At each landing I took time to close my eyes and just breathe in the experience. I didn’t do this alone and I loved lingering longer to stretch out each moment.

I didn’t think about work, advertisements, or world peace. I thought about how I could negotiate the fastest zodiac driver so we could have a party boat and fly around the icebergs.

In short, for the first time in a very long time, I was relaxed and fun. I was the precocious kid who changed her name because she didn’t want to waste time getting her schoolwork finished; the teenager who spent every Saturday night having sleepovers with all of her best friends in her parent’s living room; the college student playing card games late at night on the annual ski trip and having parties in dorm rooms; the grad student in Switzerland having a huge party in an Italian villa with food sneaked out of the school cafeteria; the 20something travel writer and photographer who traveled around with a backpack and didn’t care where she went so long as she had enough money to get home.

I have missed that girl these past few years.

I was very fortunate to have a lot of time with Whitney and Warren but I learned that Warren is just as independent as his wife and all of his children. I loved his excitement about the lectures and his oft-repeated quote “How could you eat at a time like this?” I realized how studious he can be, how open he is to learning. Not a lecture went by without him taking notes in his huge black notebook. I can’t wait to read all his notebooks some day.

I enjoyed hearing the other passengers describe their encounters with Warren and really saw how he can make anyone feel comfortable. He bravely sat at tables where he knew no one and wasn’t at all critical when Whitney and I left him all alone one night when we both felt too ill to stick around. I feel so fortunate to have such a phenomenal father. I dare say that while many people have had more time with their fathers than I have had with mine, I doubt that they could compare the number of quality moments we have shared. Never in my life have I doubted that I have a father who loves me unconditionally. I have not been the easiest child to support and he has managed to do so, even when my decisions have not been the ones he would have made. I love him for this.

It was also great to have Whitney mostly to myself. During so many parts of my life she has been my better half. No one can make me laugh the way that she can or connect with friends in the same way as I do. Being on this trip really reminded us of so many wonderful friends we have made together (shout-outs to the Senior Renegades, La Familia, and the Cairo crew). I often think of her as being the stronger of the two of us and am surprised when she is the one who gets sick and I am healthy (this happened both on this trip and on our trip with Jane on the Inca trail). I don’t know how to explain it other than to say that I imagine it’s close to how I might have felt as a 2 ½ year old when she came home from the hospital. I can imagine myself trying to get her to walk and whispering in her ear “Come on, I’ve waited so long for you to be here. Please grow as fast as you can so we can get going. The world is ours we just have to make our way out of here. I’ll figure something out.” She and I still have places to go. I don’t think either of us is yet cured of our wanderlust. I hope both our old and new friends will join us on our adventures.

Sitting in the Buenos Aires airport I am overwhelmed by what I have gone through; my apologies to the passengers around me who have had to watch me recycle the same tissue for the past hour.

I am grateful for all the friends and family members who made this trip possible and all our dear readers who followed through this journey. You gave me a reason to share this experience and I was the better for it. Buy your tickets now and let us know how it goes.

Warren: Why I came to Antarctica, part II

My original reasons for coming to Antarctica were to break from work, to spend time with my daughters Whitney, E.B, and to fulfill a lifelong dream of visiting the seventh continent. One of the things I learned studying Scott and Amundsen was the value of a clear focused goal. It was one of the major differences between Amundsen and Scott in their race to the pole one hundred years ago and for those who do not know the story, it was an importance difference not only in who was first, but who lived to tell their story.

After visiting Antarctica I now feel like I have been living in a Bierstadt painting for the last 10 days. It exceeded my wildest expectations. The scenery is spectacular. We were able to see at least 15 species of birds; we made10 zodiac landings on the continent and islands surrounding it. We saw Antarctic fur seals, crabeater seals, a leopard seal, a Southern elephant seal, Ross seals and Weddell seals. Whales viewed were fin whales, a mother and calf humpback pair which played by our boat in Paradise Bay giving us a wonderful display and a nice pod of Minke whales. Our boat, the Exhibition, was very comfortable with a heavy emphasis on safety. Another of the cruise boats, the North Star, ran aground on the rocks and the Cecilia II lost power during a storm and was tossed about like a leaf on Niagara Falls. The Drake crossing while challenging was not as difficult as I is expected to be. The importance of relationships was a point I pondered before and after the trip.

There are at least four relationships which I've thought about during and after this trip. First, our personal relationship with God and nature. Second, our relationships with families. Third are relationship with others and finally my relationship with myself.

1. Spending this much time in nature gave me a chance to reflect again on man's nothingness in the universe. Looking out into the dark heavens at night, one again is struck by the expansiveness of space and the relatively small part of it we understand or know about. Seeing the large continent of Antarctica with almost no marks of man raises interesting questions about its development. Should it be left untouched or at some future day will we become so desperate for oil and other minerals that will begin to carve up the beauty that exists there?

2. Being with my daughters is one of the highlights of the trip. Both of them are gracious, adventuresome, bold and kind. This blog is a good example of their creativity. While they are wonderful travel companions I dearly missed my wife Maureen. From this time forth, our travel plans need to be inclusive of each other. I do not know if she would have enjoyed the cold and the constant bucking of the deep crashing seas but, it would have been great to have her here.

3. As the woman who had the appendicitis was leaving the boat I was emotionally touched by the relationships that we have with each other. To choreograph the emergency exit for her called upon the people on the boat to spend a little less time on the cruise, the crew toiled through the night to press the ship forward as quickly as possible, a pilot boat met her and transported her to shore where she was met by a four-wheel drive pickup that carried her and her stretcher onto a helicopter which in turn carried her to the hospital. Along the way people were focused on one individual. By working together her pain was reduced and perhaps her life was saved. Many individuals on the boat seemed to be going through periods of transition. Some were recently divorced, some had lost loved ones, some were at a transition period in their jobs and some were simply out having a good time. I heard a common theme in talking to individuals about the purpose of life. It was a question some had not thought about it. When they did, they found their own contributions relatively small.

4. It probably sounds rather odd to think about the relationship with oneself. However I did have time to reflect on many things during a trip relating to myself. I'm writing a five page history of my life and that has caused me to consider great blessings and with deep gratitude and appreciation for the wonderful life I've experienced. After talking with E.B. I've also been able to recognize that there have been conflicts, tensions, and in many cases resolutions to circumstances that had generally had a favorable outcome. I've also noticed that my beard is getting gray and my belly bigger. I'll leave the graybeard alone as being somewhat inevitable. But I have already resolved to tone up my physique as it is something I have more control over. As I reflected on how to present my life I debated presenting a happy Hallmark version or something a little bit more real. I have chosen to honestly reflect reality as best I can as that would seem to serve myself and future generations better.

What did I learn? I learned that penguins on land have no natural predators and therefore are actually rather fearless and the chicks friendly. As in many things in life when love conquers fear everything seems to go more smoothly. This allows us to walk among them without them running away. I learned that in order to dive deep into the ocean one must breathe very slowly. Like well practiced yoga, this slows down the heart rate and according to some we have only so many heart beats in life, therefore slowing the heart rates prolongs life. Whales have the capacity go down almost 2000 meters. There is an unproven theory that Sperm Whales use Spermaceti to change their bouyancy on the way down and as a flotation device on the way up. Whales use air bubbles to round up their prey then with mouths gaping wide swim up through the corralled fish and in one gigantic gulp complete their breakfast. Speaking of breaking the fast, many of the animals here go for as long as six months with out eating to complete their breeding cycle.

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It was wonderful to have full-time experts on board who answered many of my questions about rocks and how the landmasses and continents were formed. Naturalist lecturers gave presentations three times during the day about what were going to see, then after the landings sharing additional knowledge about the places we visited and the animals we saw.

A number of films were shown on historical characters, voyages and heroes who initially tried to conquer this challenging area. Shackleton, Scott, Amundson, Ross and Weddell are all individuals who can be criticized in retrospect but were brave and courageous in the thing they attempted to do. An additional benefit was having seals and seas named after them. Being in Antarctica provides a totally different perspective about the difficulties they faced, the severe weather, the loneliness and the harsh environment they were in. There were several days when it was cold, snowing and generally miserable (the day we went swimming being one of those miserable days.) That being said, we were there in the relative warmth of summer when the sun was shining at least part of the time. I am most grateful for this opportunity to have gone there. It was an educational and spiritual experience beyond compare.

The glacial ice is filled with compressed air. As the ice melts, the bubbles escape, so much so that it can sculpt the face of a massive iceberg. Yet in the still water of Paradise Bay you could hear the tiny bubble escaping from the ice. The ancient explorers called the sound “the small voices.” These small voices call me back and someday I hope I have a chance to heed their call.

PHOTOS: Iceberg ho!

PHOTOS: (Landing 1) Hola Penguinos!

PHOTOS: Explorer

Here is a photo of our home for the past 10 days. The second picture is a the stern with a view of the port in Ushuaia, Argentina - where we embarked on our journey to the real South Beach.

PHOTOS: Pre-Explorer

We are back in Buenos Aires with internet and are working on uploading the photos. These are a few shots pre-ship (Explorer). The first one is a map of Argentina and Antarctica. The second photo is EB eating a penguin, ok a chocolate covered meringue, and this was definitely the tastiest version. We later found out that penguin does NOT taste like chicken. It smells fishy and is really oily - turns out not good for penguin jerky, much to my chagrin. The bottom photo is Warren and Whitney at a charming cafe in Buenos Aires - so it might have been the one vegan restaurant in this entire country of steak obsessed carnivores, to which Warren was very good at going to a chick place. The bottom photo is from when Whitney turned EB into her personal Sherpa - making her carry all the carry ons before we were allowed to board the ship, which you can also see in the background.

Day 10: Happy Feet

We arrived quite early to Ushuaia because of a passenger’s appendicitis rupturing. Her surgery went well and she is feeling fine. Happily, this story led the crew to start telling other “medical emergency stories,” perhaps the best of which was about a woman who had a heart attack on the first landing of a trip. She was traveling with her daughter who agreed they should just put her in the freezer for the rest of the trip. We didn’t get a report from the kitchen staff but we all hope that the passengers on that cruise weren’t aware that their filet mignon was next to a cadaver.

Our early arrival provided us with a free afternoon to wander around Ushuaia before returning to the boat for happy hour, a captain’s cocktail, and dinner (notes on how all this alcohol added up will come later in this post).

In Ushuaia we were very much like penguins who had lost their iceberg; it is surprising that none of us got hit by cars. After experiencing a world without internet or cell phones and a schedule arranged around feedings and sauna trips, dry land proved a major shock. Warren and Whitney headed straight to free wi fi to make calls to loved ones. E.B. grabbed the two closest Canadians, hiked up the biggest trail she could find, and spent two hours lying on her back and staring at the clouds in the sky. Put your bets in now for who is going to have the easiest transition.

The Captain’s dinner was delightful and we then went to the lounge to watch Happy Feet. Surprise! There’s nothing like a Disney film aimed at 6-year-olds to make a group of smug Antarctic tourists feel like they’ve really learned a lot on their vacation. After the movie Warren went to bed and the real booze cruise finally kicked off. The charming English gentleman who gave wonderful lectures on penguins and other Antarctic birds did a one man pole dance in the middle of the bar. George Bush made an appearance with his wife Laura. The New Yorkers took over the music playlist and taught all those Aussies and Canadians about rap and Jersey Shore-style cursing (bitches). The woman who spent all of her time on the cycling machine at the gym actually excised herself from the machine and came out to party. Plus, in a real shocker, the guy we not affectionately referred to as “the lurker” mysteriously showed up in a full-body blue suit (think Blue Man Group and check out http://morphsuits.com/). The suit transformed the quiet, shy young man into a phenom. People who would previously refuse to be in the same room with him got their photos taken with their arms around him. This costume could go viral.

It is decidedly strange to be back on land and separated from our crèche. We will meet up with some of the other passengers tonight in Buenos Aires. We have already begun trading e-mails with some of the crew members. We are hungry for a little king crab and absolutely exhausted from playing for 9 days straight. We would like to believe that when we close our eyes we won’t feel like we are rocking on a ship but rather rocking in laughter. We miss it already. The room is spinning a little.

Day 9: Never have I ever…

Well Whitney slept for 18 hours yesterday as we went through the Drake Passage so most of the last 24 hours will be captured by E.B. and Warren.

Warren and Whitney raced up to dinner last night to get one of the tables in the middle of the boat, as it has the least swing when the boat hits waves – hence the best location for those suffering from seasickness (Whitney). Much to our delight, Dad’s doppelganger sat down right next to him! It was the rough equivalent of your celebrity double deciding to join you for drinks. Mark and his wife Sherrin, a delightful Australian couple, have a son who works for Al Jazeera. Dad and Mark got on swimmingly but there was much confusion at the table as to who was related to whom. The older Australian couple asked Whitney if she was traveling alone or with a ‘partner?’ Whit immediately clarified that this was her father and used ‘Dad’ in about every other sentence just to be sure that the message was clear. Whitney then told the table that her friend Les was sitting at the table with his father Paul. To which they immediately asked, “Where’s your wife Les? Isn’t that nice that a father and son-in-law travel so well together.” Les tried to clarify multiple times that he was Paul’s son and not son-in-law, and finally gave up and just said that Paul likes his son-in-law better than his daughter. Needless to say when we told them that Mark and my father were brothers from another mother, they smiled and said “we thought so.”

All of this confusion might have been caused by the mind altering experience we had the day before when we went for a dip in the Antarctic Ocean. Julio, the expedition leader, explained it best when he said “It may not be wonderful, but it will be unforgettable.” Stay tuned, we have video footage to come. About 15% of the passengers did the Antarctic dip; all three Harpers participated fully. E.B. wanted to add the option of skinny dipping since she and Whitney have gone skinny dipping in every ocean in the world; however, the mechanics of getting a frozen bathing suit off and on in the water proved too much of a challenge. Instead all experienced for the first time all of the blood evacuating from their feet upon impact with the water. After this wonderful experience you will never guess what we did next . . . sauna! The best quote of that sauna session was when one guy said “I have never managed to get up in the morning and put on my clothes as fast as I did on the beach” and the guy sitting next to him said, “Oh, I definitely have.” This led to some wonderful story sharing.

The day before we went to Deception Island, they gave a nice briefing explaining more about the island and its history. The island started 10 billion years ago, or something absurd like that and then became a cauldron filled with water, which formed a natural barrier against the strong winds and other Antarctic elements (for more details, ask Warren). Due to its secluded location, the island became a popular place for whalers during the past century. Since the last eruption was in 1967, all boats that visit this hot spot are sent instructions concerning volcanic activity. Our favorite passages included ‘there are no safe exit strategies off the island’ and ‘IDEALLY, all passengers should be collected before the ship attempts to depart.” Ideally, not necessarily. We also noticed that the warm thermal springs they told us to expect were nowhere to be found once our swimming suits were on.

The other excitement of the past two days was the announcement that a passenger onboard had developed acute appendicitis. Initially, we thought this meant we would get to go to Cape Horn (not that we were only thinking of ourselves). As it turned out, due to Chilean diplomatic red tape, we couldn’t dock there so instead the boat went full speed to a military port in Argentina. We were thrilled that we would get to go through the infamous Drake Passage in less time and didn’t care at all that our trip would be slightly shorter. We were very lucky in that Drake was like a lake and Whitney proved her sleeping ability beat out her vomiting ability.

When we got to the military station, everyone was invited to come out to the deck and bid adieu to our departing friend. Apparently, most people on this boat come from cultures where “saying goodbye” means “taking lots of photos.” When her tugboat pulled away toward the helicopter on shore, E.B. and Whitney headed back inside. This movement perfectly coincided with the ship captain sounding the ship’s horn and E.B. hitting the deck, landing firmly on her bottom. Oh the excitement that we have provided for the other passengers. At least we weren’t the person who said, “Did I miss the show?” to the 70-year-old mother of the patient who then replied, “I guess my daughter was the entertainment for the morning.”

We should arrive in Ushuaia around 2PM today and will disembark tomorrow. We will then fly back to Buenos Aires for a day before flying home. We look forward to checking our e-mails and being back in touch with everyone. We will also try to upload pictures and videos so you can feel some of the excitement of this wonderful trip.

Day 6: Kangaroos, Whales and Penguins, Oh My!

Quote of the day: “Those penguins stay up surprisingly late.” - camper who did not sleep well and attempted to blame it on the birds instead of the 4 ft of snow we got overnight.

Last night the snow arrived. While it would be great to write about how we had to brave our way through the inclement weather, instead I am proud to say that we had a late-night snow fight on the deck and managed to get a snow kangaroo and snow penguin built for the other passengers in the morning. The kangaroo may seem like a surprise to you but will hopefully make more sense when you know that we have about 60 Aussies on this boat and one of them carries around a blow-up kangaroo with him at all times. His goal seems to be to get photos of himself on the local news when he gets home but we all wonder if the real truth is just that he is really, really weird. This fact should also help to explain why there may be a stray kangaroo in some of our forthcoming photos. It’s hard to guess where Kevin, the Kangaroo, will pop up.

Today we were awakened with wonderful news, for the first time in 5 days, the sun was shining. We rushed out the door and all forgot to put on sunscreen. On the upside, we now all know what our faces will feel like when the ozone hole makes it to our home towns.

The first island was full of gentoo penguins, famous because they always have twins. Double the adorableness, double the smell of guano. We got some great pictures of the chicks and also saw reconstructed whale bones. Someone obviously spent a lot of time getting them put in order and we appreciated their effort.

The next island was the first (and only) shopping stop of the trip, Port Lockroy. Apparently, there are always some women on the ship for whom the closet-sized gift shop on the ship is not enough to get their daily shopping fix. The captain was so afraid of these women coming after him that he said he would not tell anyone whether they were on the penguin stop or the shopping trip before they left, only whisper it to the zodiac driver minutes before they took off. We were happy to get the penguin island first because we got some beautiful light for our photos. The port/museum was interesting. We are still trying to figure out why a U.K. heritage site only took U.S. dollars and credit cards. Go U.S.A.!

By the afternoon (after a typical round of eating, exploring, sauna), we were rewarded with a stunning humpback whale show. There was a mother and her calf dancing around the bow of the ship for about 15 minutes. Whitney complained that there were no backup dancers for the show, an affectionate reference to the penguins who are often swimming around. Everyone got very excited and we shared in the thrill of their appearance.

Since we’d had so many great animal sightings that morning we decided that for our afternoon zodiac ride we would round up all the rowdy 30-somethings and put them on a boat with the fastest driver. Our vision was to see some cool ice maneuvers and maybe experience some sweet jumps. Warren had said that he would join us but at the last minute could not be found. Well, did he ever miss out. In the midst of our partying we came across a 10,000 lbs juvenile elephant seal (though personally we suspect that it was actually Loch Ness’s long-lost Antarctic cousin). The seal was very cooperative in lining up perfectly with the ship in the background. Apparently, they are a very rare sight and we feel very lucky to have seen one. We then went back to partying on the zodiac and lining up “who is more adorable: the seal or the person” pictures with three other varieties of seals (fur, crab-eater, and leopard). Happily our zodiac was not attacked by any of them and we got some great pictures.

Another highlight of the day was Colin, the whale expert, sharing some of the stupidest questions previous passengers have asked. We will dutifully share them here so you don’t make similar guffaws when you go on your Antarctic cruise:

1. Does water go all the way around this island?
2. Does the ship generate its’ own electricity? (No, we have the longest extension chord in the world)
3. While on the ship, what altitude are we above sea level?
4. Does the crew sleep on the ship?

(4Tomorrow we should visit hot springs at Deception Island and then go swimming in the ocean. We don’t have any more planned penguin stops but Whitney is okay with that as she’s still getting over getting bit by one (an experience she describes as “being kissed by a woodpecker“). Every day somehow manages to be better than the last and we are so grateful to be here, together.

Day 5: For the love of a Serial Killer

“Antarctica is like a beautiful woman, in many ways the most beautiful in the world. The only problem is that she also happens to be a serial killer.” –Matt, our favorite guide, age 20.

We have fallen a little bit in love with this continent. Our days have begun to take on a great routine of being woken up by the Chilean captain’s voice announcing the current time and weather, breakfast, and any other important facts for the day (we are planning to record this at least once so we can use it as an alarm clock in the future). After getting dressed and having breakfast we prepare for our first landing. We then begin our daily routine of eating, exploring, sauna-ing, eating, exploring, sauna-ing, eating, attending a lecture (or running in late from the sauna, all suspiciously red in the face), and then reverting to our college days hanging out with the 30-somethings on the boat. Warren’s schedule is much the same but for each time you read “sauna” or “hanging out” change it to “standing outside in the freezing cold and taking photos” or “meeting the last few people on the boat he hasn’t met yet.”

Yesterday was our first landing on the actual continent. I am happy to report that for this momentous occasion we did not really bother checking out the penguins or seals, we hiked up as high as we could with the 20-year-old guide and went down the mountain in the single greatest sledding hill you could ever imagine in your life. We followed that up with an Antarctic-level snow fight which left all of us tackled on the ground and tired. If you think we are just talking about Whitney and E.B., you are wrong. Warren joined in as did many of the over-60 set. Some friends of ours took a great video of Whitney going down the mountain. We’ll upload it later. In the meantime, if you need a positive image for your daily meditation we suggest using this.

We are having so much fun that it has been hard in some respects to focus on the scientific exploration of this place. We provide for you here a crib sheet of everything we have learned so far. You may notice that we have tunnel-visioned our learning to “things which could kill us.”

1. 1. Bird watching can get really boring. However, there are two birds not to ignore, Skuas and Terns. They’ll both take your eyes out and crap all over you.
2. 2. Penguins swimming can look a lot like whales swimming. If you mistake the two you lose some serious ship cred.
3. 3. You can not only survive, but live happily without cell phones, the internet, television and advertisements.
4. 4. There is such a thing as erosion by air and snow algae (red and green varieties have been seen).
5. 5. Leopard seals are crazy vicious. If you see one and you are in a zodiac it is best to leave the area quickly (sorry to the group whose zodiac was punctured during the iceberg tour. We got some great pictures right before you showed up.)
6. 6. Orcas are the only animal that can take out leopard seals and everything else in the water. And they are dolphins. Good luck with that PR recovery campaign - dolphins.
7. 7. Kindles are great if they work (small “I told you so” from E.B.). And they do not have wi fi coverage in Antarctica.
8. 8. You are never too old to play in the snow, party in someone’s hotel room, or be the last person in the dining room.

Day 2: Whitney gets bit by a penguin

We finally got to go on shore! Warren prepared for a three-month hike with his pack and we think we can safely say that he is the only person who brought an entire change of clothes with him. The rest of us just assumed that if we got wet we would take the 5 min zodiac ride back to the boat and change there.

Whitney got bit by a 1 ft penguin that was attracted to the red stitching near her knees. We learned that penguin guano smells really horrible. We stayed up until 1:30AM playing speed scrabble as a semi-drinking game. Warren loved the lecture on Shackleton’s voyage as well as the lecture on improving photography techniques. E.B. perfected her technique of sleeping in the lounge chairs. Everyone is feeling better and eating at least 3 meals a day. Oh, and the sauna has been tested out and it is wonderful.

Today we woke up to the sight of our first iceberg. We have two landings planned for today. It is rainy and snowy outside and somehow still amazingly beautiful. Warren decided to try wearing contacts for the first time in a decade and nearly blinded himself. He’ll be back in glasses for the rest of the trip.