Year: 2003

Crappy weather, awesome day. I was the first one out of the zodiac this morning and quickly on my way to the New Island rockhopper penguin colony. These little buggers were awesome as they bounced across the rocks with their punk rocker hairdos waving, or wandered up to us to investigate the new arrivals. They somehow never got hurt despite the fact that they fell frequently — I watched one penguin drop off of a six foot cliff, taking out several of his fellows along the way, after which all of them simply shook their heads and started hopping back up. The other amusing thing about these guys was that they would always travel in groups, so I often found myself rounding a bend in the trail only to see five or six little heads all in a line and bobbing toward me. They’d wait for me to step aside, and then continue to bounce their way along.

The weather eventually got too nasty for photography, so after a few more hours I bid the rockhoppers adieu and left to explore other parts of the island. I spent a half hour crouched under a rock overhang with two caracaras birds (they’re like hawks), both of whom sat about ten feet away. A magellanic penguin played with me for a bit, coming over to investigate any time I did anything stupid (which was often since the rocks were slippery). I then walked a few miles across the island to see a gentoo penguin colony. Along the way the magellanic penguins were hanging out in their burrows in the grasses, causing me to constantly do double-takes — when you’re used to seeing gophers and rabbits in the fields, seeing penguins in the grass is most definitely an odd sight. The gentoo colony was also interesting, with a few hundred penguins hanging out in a big circle in the middle of an open field and making the usual penguin ruckus.

I kind of rushed through the walk back from the gentoo colony, barely making it in time to catch the last zodiac. In the hurry I forgot to zip up my waterproof jacket or buckle my gaiters, and the brilliance of this move was confirmed when I entered the zodiac with water sloshing in my boots and exited with my top completely soaked from the waves that had been breaking over the bow. After changing into dry clothes everyone celebrated New Year’s (on central European time) with champagne and a shrimp dinner. Tomorrow we’re visiting another island in the Falklands, and with luck the weather will be as agreeable as the surroundings.

The boat is still steaming away on the passage from Ushuaia to the Falklands. Temperatures have been in the 40’s, skies have been mostly clear, and surprisingly the ocean has been really calm. However, despite the flat water the boat has been rocking a bit, as it seems icebreakers have flat hulls and aren’t exactly the most stable boats on the water. It took a while for me to figure out how to walk across the decks without being battered into the walls, but I think I’ve got my sea legs now and by mid-afternoon I was sitting balanced on the bow with one leg draped over the side.

The wildlife sightings for the day included thousands of seabirds — the black browed albatrosses were at first the largest, with wingspans of seven feet, but as the day wore on we began seeing a few royal and wandering albatrosses, each with wingspans in the ten to twelve foot range. Watching them skim the water, swooping and soaring but almost never flapping their wings, is an awesome sight. A few penguins, a whale, tons of other birds, and three dolphins (who popped up for all of about a half second) rounded out the animal life for today. I left the bow once to attend a photography lecture by Rod Planck, an amazing nature photographer, although sadly once the lights went down the lack of caffeine caught up with me and I dozed off a couple of times. Now I’m off to bed sunburned but happy, and with a full day in the Falklands to look forward to tomorrow.

After a morning spent in Tierra Del Fuego National Park the M/V Polar Star set sail at about 6:00 PM. As we were setting out the thought occurred to me that if, at that moment, I was offered the chance to go anywhere on the planet, I would have chosen to stay right there in my spot perched on the bow, watching the albatrosses glide over the waves while terns and gulls did their acrobatics above. I skipped dinner in order to have more time sitting out in the drizzle watching the mountains on the shore slide by while seabirds cavorted all around and the occasional penguin or sea lion dove underneath the boat. To say that I’m excited about the days to come would be a vast understatement.

After barely sleeping on the flight from Miami to Buenos Aires I couldn’t keep my eyes open while flying to Ushuaia until I woke up to see the Beagle Channel rolling out under the plane, pockmarked by rugged little islands while the snow-covered Andes towered overhead. That got me out of my slumber pretty fast, and after landing and checking into the hotel I immediately set out and roamed all over the town and hillsides. It was all I could do to look up at the mountains, seeing the ocean and knowing that I’m standing at the end of the world, and not start screaming about how great it is to be alive. The frightening thing about that experience is that today will likely be the worst day of the trip.

With the possible exception of the Falklands I don’t think there will be internet access available again until the end of January, so it’s rather embarassing to possibly leave this as my last entry for a while, but it has to be said: the women in Buenos Aires are insanely beautiful. Until today I thought Barcelona had the most beautiful women in the world, but after only an hour in Buenos Aires I’m confident in saying that the title has changed hands, and that the match wasn’t even close. Not to say that women in Barcelona aren’t amazing, but if you haven’t been to Buenos Aires… woah.

It’s been twenty-four hours in planes and airports, and there’s about sixteen hours to go, but the trip is nonetheless off to a good start. As expected it looks like nearly everyone is in the over fifty crowd, but among the staff there are some real nuts who seem to be at least as brain damaged as I am (possibly moreso in the case of Tim and Carter). The stories that come out when these guys start talking are awesome — sailing boats across the oceans, past trips to Antarctica, near-death stories about biking on homemade mountain bikes, and a million others. Each of the staff seems to either be a naturalist, photographer, or have some similarly interesting magical power. The game is most definitely on.

T-minus six hours. I’m packed, but I’ve got way more stuff than I’d like to be carrying. I’m tempted to leave the tent behind and take my chances in Patagonia, but visions of snow and a frozen Ryan wrapped in a sleeping bag and poncho make that one a tough call. Anyhow, here’s the trip itinerary:

• Dec. 26 – Leave SFO for Ushuaia (via Miami and Buenos Aires)
• Dec. 29 – Board the M/V Polar Star
• Dec. 31 to Jan. 2 – Falkland Islands
• Jan. 5 to Jan. 11 – South Georgia Island
• Jan. 15 to Jan. 20 – Antarctic Peninsula
• Jan. 23 – Return to Ushuaia
• Jan. 23 to early Feb. – Backpacking in Patagonia

I’ll be keeping daily updates during the trip, but will only be able to upload them when an internet connection is available, so it’s going to be a few weeks between updates. E-mails will be much appreciated, so if you have some time drop me a note and I’ll respond when I can. Best wishes to everyone in the New Year — see you in a few months!