A
Few Excerpts From The Book "ANTARCTICA - an
expedition cruise"
|
 |
No
one seemed to speak English, not even in hotels and
restaurants, and although at first we thought that
might be adventurous, we soon found it was very disconcerting.
We do not speak Spanish but I thought for sure when
we asked for a restaurant that someone would catch
on, after all their word for it is restaurante. However,
the look on the lady's face when I asked had "what
are you talking about?" written all over it.
|
I
finally did get down to the lounge and decided I'd
pretty much spend the day there. It was quite obvious
the experienced crew were not offset by the motion
of the vessel, no matter how severe. I watched in
total amazement as the First Mate Alan stood with
his hands in his pockets leaning at a 45 degree angle,
first forward then back as the ship rolled with the
waves. All around him passengers were lurching from
one side of the passageway to the other, grabbing
whatever they could.
|
We
hardly got our feet on the beach before the penguins
leapt from the water and came scurrying across the
beach to greet us. Hey, back off guys, five metres
remember? Not! We could not have been happier!
|
It
was freezing on deck at that hour but we were in the
Antarctica so were prepared. This was one of the most
emotional experiences on the trip. The peace and serenity
remain so memorable and we feel so lucky to have had
that experience. The ship was moving very slowly and
a whole new world unfolded before our eyes. There
were quite a few people out with us but no one spoke
- all were mesmerized by what they saw. The cold and
the snow suddenly meant nothing; we were truly in
a winter wonderland.
|
We
didn't keep much distance at all - privacy be damned
- we all wanted to get up close to see if anyone was
aboard. As we approached, Chris, in his typically
British fashion, shouted out, "Put your clothes
on honey, we have visitors."
The
overall scene was made more depressing by the realization
that there were huge rookeries everywhere else we
landed on this trip but never this virtual minefield
of carcasses. Maybe you want your winters to be milder
and your summers to be longer but I think you'd change
your mind quickly if you saw the lonely mother and
father penguins whimpering over their dead babies.
|
Swimming
in the Antarctica was an unexpected treat - well treat
might be the wrong word. Agustin had explained that
you might think because it was in an active volcano
the water was warm - no, it's the same temperature
as the water that is not in the volcano. That temperature
was 2 degrees C and the air was minus 5 degrees. The
ship's doctor was there with a defibrillator and Agustin
added, "If you're taking 16 pills, please don't
go swimming and if you do go please wear something!"
|
It
is ludicrous that in today's world the official US
Republican stand on Global Warming in early 2016 was
that they either didn't acknowledge climate change
was happening or questioned human activity as being
the cause. Just imagine if the current trend of polar
ice cap melting continues or worse, increases, all
coastal cities on all continents will be in serious
jeopardy. Wake up ladies and gentlemen; if we don't
increase our efforts to do something now we'll all
be underwater. It's a threat of cataclysmic proportions.
SAVE the ICE!!!
|
|