The first landing was billed as Paradise Harbor which is technically accurate. The interesting thing, though, is that you walk through an Argentinian base (Almirante Brown) to climb the hill for the view. I might blog about the different nations with claims to Antarctica later on (instead of discussing a day at sea). In the meanwhile here's a crazy fact - the Argentinians flew a pregnant woman down so that she could give birth in Antarctica, thereby boosting their claims. Joe Bob says check it out...
Once we got to the top of the hill we were given a choice - we could either walk back down, or we could slide. Please ignore the giggling *please*:
After the landing we went back to the boat and out for a zodiac cruise. One thing you may not know about penguins is that the porpoise. They'll actually leap out of the water, whether to avoid predators or to help feed, I'm not sure, but here's evidence:
Also, on that topic - they showed this YouTube clip on the boat. NOTE: THIS DIDN'T HAPPEN ON OUR TRIP:
After lunch we visited Port Lockroy, the British base. Interesting fact, it was originally named Port LaCroix by Jean-Baptiste Charcot, who according to Rick Atkinson had the temerity to "name everything in French." Rick runs the Port Lockroy base, and has written a book about the use of Dogs on the Antarctic peninsula. After we visited the Port Lockroy gift shop the folks manning the base came on board for dinner.
BTW, Here's an interesting article from NPR about tourism and Antarctica. Maybe someday I'll be comfortable with a simile comparing mountains to "the fist of Zeus." Enjoy.
1 comment:
But Chad - the giggling was the best part!
:)
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