The Holy Grail of Destinations, Antarctica

The Holy Grail of Destinations

A N T A R C T I C A

We boarded our Aerolinas Argentinas flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia. No one complained about the “oh dark thirty” departure. We all eagerly looked out the window at our gate to board and begin our adventure to the most southerly continent on this earth. Antarctica. A real airplane with real seat space, two by two leather seats and a tray that lowers without confining you to the normal cramp space of American carriers. We left the sweltering heat of Argentina to the chill in the air on our arrival.

Ushuaia is our jumping off point to cross the Drake Passage. This port hosts ships from around the world. Research vessels, tankers, freighters bringing supplies to Antarctica, expedition ships and cruise ships of all sizes.

These ships in port make me wonder what goes on in these little communities at sea. I think of Robert Ludlum - and is that Jason Bourne chasing after someone down the dock? A Russian spy maybe, from one of those freighters docked alongside the double-sided pier? Or Clive Cussler, who writes NOAA based novels, usually looking for some murderer of a Captain whose ship was sunk off Cape Horn and the ancient Andean golden god has gone missing? Then there was a black Labrador dog barking and barking at the aft deck of a ship getting ready to set sail. Was it drugs or a stow away? 

You see coils of rope docking these ships of rust, half painted, life boats dangling on deck not looking secured at all; battered and weather worn. They look like they’ve gone through many of the Drake Passage crossings with waves beating against their hulls up to fifty feet high. Experiencing again and again the treachery of the Drake Passage.

We set sail during dinner. Surprisingly the Drake Passage, the roughest waters in the world, were quiet. It’s called the “Drake Lake” or the “Drake Shake”. During the night there was movement on board the Ponant, L’Austral. The stabilizers eased the movement of the ship. 

The Ponnant L’Austral only holds 200 passengers and is from a fleet of French World class Luxury Yachts based in Marseilles France.   Luxurious and elegantly appointed cabins with world class dining that equals restaurants in Paris. The larger ships in port are the cruise liners that can only do a “cruise by viewing” of the Frozen continent while ours stops often for “landings” in zodiacs. The zodiacs rub shoulders with Glaciers twenty-five stories high and twenty miles long. We are within feet of massive icebergs, every size and shape. The largest we saw was off the Larsen Ice Shelf named “A57A…almost the size of Manhattan. We found thousands of icebergs in the iceberg cemetery inside the Antarctica Straits – my favorite of the stops. The ship cruises right into pods of Whales, coming right up to the ship to say “hello” to the big whale in town! From the ship, we viewed a sad hunt and meal of a penguin by the whales.  Other wales were trying to jump up onto the ice for a nice fur seal breakfast. Equals an African safari.

In the zodiacs, we are up close and personal with the fur seals and the not so friendly, curious leopard seal. Walking with the Penguins was magical. Watching them scoot across the surface of the water was mesmerizing. I couldn’t help but feel for those Penguins in zoos with no great outdoors to spread their wings and cruise along with their colony.

There are really no words to describe the enchantment of the White Continentent and what it does to your soul. I felt like I was on the moon.

Our first arrival was deception island. We were briefed on board of the IAATO regulations of visiting Antarctica and both parkas and boots distributed. Each landing we had to walk through a bin of soapy water to decontaminate our boots. On return, we had to step into a tub of brushes to wash off the penguin and seal guano, and again, decontaminate the boots.

 Everyone anxious to take their first steps on the Antarctica Continent. Deception Island is a Caldera. We left our zodiacs ten by ten. Some took a walk up the sides of the volcano and higher for those fit enough to trek to the top of the volcano. Views were spectacular in every direction. We made it across the Drake Passage and now on our way for stops on the Peninsula of Antarctica.

In the zodiac, we were shadowed by the sizes of the icebergs. We touched a small piece of ice our naturalist picked out of the water. It was as brilliant as a gem. Tiny bubbles thousands of years old. On cruises in Antarctica, it is not always possible to hit the stops that may have been noted in an itinerary planned back in an office a world away. Our Expedition leader told us the first night that we must consider weather and the plan would equal what was written in an itinerary. All of us understood this and through these stops we were grateful to have him and the captain of the ship making decisions to keep us safe. We stopped a couple of nights in hidden harbors to sit out heavy winds, storms and fog. The sun would be out in the morning in all her glory. Off again into the zodiacs and among the icebergs. 

Visits to the Penguin colonies was fascinating to see, here in their real environment. The stench of the guano or poo was hard to tolerate at times. The cutest to observe was the parents feeding their chicks – almost ready for full on life as a penguin in their first coming winter, a couple of months away. You could see the penguins pushing their chicks to get into the water and other chicks chasing their moms to feed them. Surprisingly the chicks are plump while the full-grown parents are slim, shinny with beautiful innocent eyes staring at you as they walk right up to observe you. 

The rain was falling quietly, on the beach at Neko Harbor. The sounds of the Gentoo penguins echoed from the glacier we were all silently watching in hopes it would calve. It taunted us with the sounds of ice falling crumbling in pebbles into the waters. We were on our last moments on the white continent of Antarctica. You could tell everyone was personally saying farewell. We all chose a rock to sit on; lined along the beach in our red parkas. I felt a tear well and emotions inside me. You could hear it had touched our souls. It was a dream of a lifetime to see this magical place on our planet. Pure in the air, in the white of the glaciers, in the water we were sailing in and the silence. Pristine in every way. We left no tracks, only memories. Farewell Antarctica, you are treasured.

May your dreams also include this spiritual and magical ‘Holy Grail of Destinations”

Katherine Whitley author “Camels to Caviar”