Yes, it can be done. We have had some amazing weather on this trip. Could not have been better. Last week a nice morning run in South America, this week, a trail and beach run on Deception Island just off the coast of the Antarctic peninsula.
We carefully packed our winter running gear and trail shoes to log a nice 5K among the penguins and birds.
It was a pleasant -1 degree Celsius with only a light wind to slow us down.
Unfortunately, running in the volcanic sand and rocks makes sub-7 minute miles challenging, so instead we had fun jumping over rocks, melting snow and small water flows.
Running around the world is always fun. Some of my other favorite spots:
It all started with a long trip down to Santiago, Chile in this posting, and then we flew down and boarded a ship in Ushuaia which was a great experience that I captured in my daily trip report. We have been sailing on Le Boreal. You can read my ship review if interested.
If you would like to see some more pictures from the experience, check out the slide show below:
We started with an early morning Zodiac tour around the area. The weather started to turn a little – a little wind and potential snow storm brewing. We did get to see a number of the huge elephant seal population near Palmer Station. Many were playing around and being social. We even saw a few youngsters – apparently a young seal gains 20 pounds in weight every day after they are born.
Later in the morning, some of the station crew came onboard as Abercrombie and Kent presented some donated equipment to the United States Antarctic Program as part of the National Science Foundation. Oreo (yes the cookies) was the corporate sponsor as it is Oreo’s 100th birthday this year. The A&K expedition leader planned this visit and engagement a year in advance – this is one of the reasons we chose this trip and timing to be part of this opportunity.
The National Science Foundation performs scientific research and the logistics are coordinated by Lockheed Martin. The research goals are to explore Antarctica, understand Antarctic’s role in global systems and perform other research using Antarctica as a platform.
They are still trying to find the oldest ice on the planet by mapping and exploring the hidden topography. They found actual lakes and rivers that are under 1 mile of ice on top. The Antarctic is also the only place in the world where you can launch a balloon and have it return to the same spot naturally due to the overall atmospheric conditions and flow. Overall, the average temperature of Antarctica is increasing 1 degree every 1 years. All wildlife is clearly declining as the climate changes.
We later went to the station to tour around and meet a number of the staff. The summer crew is approximately 40 people and the winter crew is as small as 17 people. Palmer Station is the smallest of the 3 US stations on Antarctica. They actually have a gift shop for the occasion visitors…it is used to fund the activities and research. Visa and MasterCard only, no cash!
The first penguin chicks started hatching yesterday. We celebrated with a BBQ lunch on deck! Needed the fuel for our Antarctic run the next day which completed our runs on all 7 continents!
Here is what it is like to float around the melting ice in the middle of summer!
If you missed some of the other sightings while cruising around the continent, check these out:
Today was yet another day of sunny and calm weather around the Antarctic peninsula. We visited both Enterprise Island and Charlotte’s Harbor. In the morning we took a Zodiac tour around Enterprise Island. It is amazing what it is like to experience the environment when there is no motors, no talking, no sounds…it is a unique place in the world with only the water flowing and ice creaking.
There is a wreck of an old whaling ship that we toured and ran into an elephant seal that was resting on a nearby ice flow. He had a number of injuries that were prominent.
After lunch on our way to Cuverille Island, we encountered a trio of humpback whales – it appears to be a family with one small calf. Very docile and interested in swimming along with the ship for about half an hour.
The highlight today was the adventures hike on the Island. A hard and long hike to the top of a scenic point. It was amazing weather and a scenic view after climbing approximately 800 feet to look over the bay and surrounding mountains. It was a hard workout since the snow was approximately 2 feet deep for most of the distance up.
But the fun was sitting on our butts and sliding down then mountain to enjoy the way down. It was another amazing sunny day in Antarctica. One unique experience at the summit of the mountain hike was the fact you could hear an avalanche every 3-5 minutes from the surrounding mountains and snow packs.
Interesting fact: the ozone hole over Antarctica creates the strong cold winds that creates and protects the ice every winter in the southern hemisphere. If the ozone hole goes away (good), that may stop Antarctica from freezing over every year. Is that something that is going to exacerbate global warming?
The Chinstrap penguin can be found here. It is a slight difference from the Gentoo and Adele penguins we saw earlier. It was snowing with light wind. It was about 1 degree Celsius below zero.
It was the location of an older Argentinian station and it was a gorgeous location where we were able to walk across the island and observe different nests and some local Gull birds. The surprise find was 3 elephant seals on one side of the island that were sleeping. They are ugly and aggressive. Their eyes were a dark red and they were not afraid to “growl” at us when we came close. Lots of ice and deep snow made it a challenge walk, but it finally felt like we were exploring. It was a nice hike through the snow across the rocks and penguin highways.
Later in the day, we went to Deception Island. It is an actual active volcano that has seen many eruptions over the past 30 years. This is a historical location where lots of whaling and a whaling station existed almost a hundred years ago. This is also the first location where a runway was built for airplanes to first arrive and depart. It was an interesting entrance to the bay that the ship has to carefully navigate called Neptune’s Bellows. Lots of old buildings and whale factory equipment.
Sometimes this is the place where people jump into the ocean as there is sometimes hot geothermal waters flowing. We chose to run a 5K in the dark volcano sand along the shore. We packed our winter running gear and trail shoes and we were off…stay tuned for pictures on this one!
We officially landed on the 7th continent today at Brown Bluff. It was a nesting area of penguins. The water was like glass and it warmed up to almost 5 degrees Celsius. It was an amazing today with thousands of penguins. We were not far away from the largest volcano in the world on James Ross Island. The whole area was layers of volcanic ash and pillow basalts. Many penguins were happily laying on their nests with eggs that were carefully planned nests made from small stone and rocks. Some male partners were actively adding to the nests while their mates kept the eggs protected. Overall, the wildlife was very friendly and not afraid of the human visitors.
By the end of the end of the day, the entire bay was being clogged with ice. It is amazing that within a few hours, a given location or landing can be blocked or open. If we stayed too long, we could get locked in by ice unexpectedly. We also saw a few planes fly over from the various research stations in the area. Apparently there is some competition between Chile, Argentina and others on who “controls” Antarctica.
Free cocktails and wine on the Le Boreal has been a highlight. The crew is very friendly and helpful and it is a very addictive luxury to be sailing on a small ship with very few passengers. Overall, the food has been great, unlimited quantities and very good diversity. No complaints or disappointments so far. The fish dishes are definitely dominant across all meals. Half the passengers eat in the buffet and half sit down and have table service. The food is the same regardless of where you sit.
There is always a table open and nobody ever has to wait to eat when they want. You can even sit in the snow sometimes!
This afternoon we encountered a 2 mile wide iceberg that was anchored to the bottom. It looked like it was its own island. It is fantastic that the captain of the ship will stop and explore different wildlife and sightings. If a new iceberg with nesting penguins is sighted, the ship slowly circles the find and everyone has time to see and take pictures.
The first iceberg was sighted at 57 degrees latitude which was above the Antarctic convergence zone. Cold salty waters mixing with fresh water from the icebergs creates an interesting flow and movement. At one point every season, there is so much nutrients in the water, the algae clouds all the waters around Antarctica. We will have to see how this pays out… tomorrow we head out in the zodiacs for the first time!
I love having my Surface to take notes and blog the adventure for friends and family. Based on a survey of passengers, the Surface appears to be the best device for connecting to the slow and latent Internet connection. I just cannot post many pictures this far south below 60 degrees latitude in the southern hemisphere!
Speaking of lectures and speakers…we were guided by over a dozen experts with over 300 year of experience. Multiple talks all day long. Interestingly, our expedition leader is from Roslyn in WA state. As of this posting, we are now south of the Shetland Islands and we are heading as far south as possible on Wednesday depending on the ice conditions. We went through our safety briefing and training for the zodiac tours and landings. We of course needed a detailed briefing of the UN regulations and treaties before departing the ship. No snickers or Twinkies for snacks to share with the penguins for some reason. I guess taking some packets of Gu and Gatorade on shore for a 5K run is not a good idea…the real question is how many layers of clothing should be worn. It is very cold without a doubt, but how many layers is always perplexing most.
Without a doubt, snow pants or rain pants are critics’ for the zodiac rides. A&K provides waterproof and warm winter jackets for everyone, but the one downside is that you look like everyone else. Each expedition is approximately 1.5 hours onshore. Based on the treaty, only 100 people can be onshore at the same time. They also provide backpacks so your hands are always free to get in and out of the zodiacs. I am not sure how some people are going to be capable in getting in and out of these boats since they cannot even climb stairs on the ship, but…I guess we will see.
This morning, when on the treadmill with the ship’s captain in the small gym, we spotted numerous whales of many different species. The captain is very energetic and commands the gym like the bridge every morning ? The whale sightings continued all day long. After a little while, you stop looking because you have already seen dozens and you start to expect to see all kinds of wildlife. Did you know a group of penguins is called a “rookery”? They are very curious and friendly compared to the grumpy elephant seals.
Ushuaia was a hint to what to expect as we headed south. It was very cool and breezy, but it was nothing compared to what we were about to encounter in the next day. We took a short side excursion to a ski resort to see the countryside and try some of the local lamb which was cooked over a fire. Very yummy and very different taste than lamb in the US, Turkey or New Zealand. Much sweeter. We also got to meet a local pack of slide dogs (Huskies) before we headed to the port and the ship.
Le Boreal stands out compared to the National Geographic and Quark expedition ships. The other two ships were 20 years or more older than Le Boreal and looked like they were in rough shape. I think we made a great choice. Boarding was very fast and very personal. It was a completely new experience to board a ship with only 200 passengers. The Le Boreal is very modern, clean and easy to feel like it is home. It only takes 3 minutes to go anywhere in the ship.
The services and facilities were limited, but the service from the crew was above and beyond. It was a delight to not have waiters and bar personnel asking you to purchase drinks or beverages every 10 minutes. Everything is included. Flowing wine at dinner and open bar in the evening with the piano playing in the observation lounge.
We were quickly in the ozone hole in the atmosphere above the Antarctic region and sunscreen is paramount in the cold weather compared to being in Hawaii or Tahiti. Before you know it, layers of clothing, hats and gloves are something you want to have handy so you can run outside and observe the latest sighting. We were fortunate that the initial weather crossing Drake passage was quite calm with mild swells.
Shortly after breakfast on the first day, we encountering our first iceberg that was further north than normally ever seen. Quite a sight that even surprised the captain and the guides. The sea birds were swarming around the light blue waters from the melting ice. A small pair of whales was seen shortly after the iceberg, but they did not breach the surface. Time for some warm bouillon after being outside in the cold wind and attend a lecture from Bob Burton on the history of the early expeditions to Antarctica.
After 3 days, we arrived in the southern most continent on Earth.
and what did we find? Of course we found some penguins!
and we also found some great wine to enjoy! A Portteus old vine Cabernet! Even the penguins like great Washington State wines this far south!
David Cross Travel Blog 