Antarctica!

At 8:00am I got a call that the flight to Antarctica would be delayed, possibly until the afternoon. Then at 9:00am, I got a call saying, "Get ready, we´re leaving immediately!". We took off, but an hour into the flight, our guide, Alejo, told us there was a down grade in the weather and we had to land in Port Williams, a small outpost on an island just across the Beagle Channel from Tierra del Fuego. We touched down and spent an hour checking out the "yacht club" and wandering around the tiny village. Then we got the "all clear" and were airborne again. About another hour into the flight, just when we were in sight of Cape Horn, the Captain told us the weather took another turn for the worse and we had to return to Punta Arenas and try again tomorrow. Better safe than sorry, I guess.

Hmmm... I think I´ll take the 7:30 flight to Antarctica!

Our trusty ride to the ice continent

Take two. The next day, we had a green light for a 7:00am take off and this time made it all the way to our landing spot at Base Frie, the Chilean Antarctic Military Station. We landed on the gravel runway and walked down the dirt road to drop our stuff in our "rooms" which turned out to be half sized cargo shipping containers remodeled into little bunk huts.

Hotel Antarctica! The orange building is the "reception, lounge and dining area", the third white container to the right is my "bedroom suite". The bath room is 100 yards across the tundra in the Chilean military base - make sure you go before bedtime, you definitely don't want to make the walk in the middle of the night!

Next, we walked over to the Russian scientific research station for lunch. The food was, well, Russian, and after eating we walked over to a tiny Russian Orthodox church they had built on top of a near by hill. Talk about an unexpected, surreal site in this desolate outpost!

Russian Orothox Church - Antarctica Chapter

After leaving the Russian base, we went on a couple hour hike along the iceberg choked bay, over a snowy ridge and across a rocky isthmus that is only accessible at low tide. On our hike to the peninsula/island, we passed several Weddell seals lounging on the rocky shore and a few random penguins popping in and out of the water. As we approached the penguin nesting ground, we started seeing more and more of the little creatures until we realized the ridge above us was filled with them and once around the final bend in the coast, we came upon dozens of nests with parents sitting on their young to keep them warm.

We saw Chinstrap, Gento and Adaliane Penguins, the only three that inhabit the Antarctic Peninsula and surrounding islands. We couldn´t help but laugh at their stereotypical waddle as they marched from the water´s edge to their nests on the ridge above us.

Pinguino!

After spending more than an hour hypnotized by these fascinating birds, we called a zodiac to take us back across the bay as the rising tide cut off our retreat. Next, we hiked up to the Chinese research station where our hosts shared a hot cup of green tea with us and showed us around their complex. I was bold enough to challenge one of the Chinese workers (who didn´t speak a word of English) to a game of ping pong in their recreation room. I was proud to hold my own against him (but had a feeling he was holding back a little!).

After dinner back at the Russian station, Alejo brought out a crystal clear chuck of glacial ice that he chopped into cubes with his ice axe and mixed with some scotch for our after-dinner drinks. He also showed us how to make authentic Russian Bloody Mary´s (which I´ll be glad to demonstrate to anyone who asks!).

Our guide, Alejo - "Mr. Antarctica!"

Over drinks we heard tales of how Alejo cross country skied to the South Pole (he´s been back four times on snowmobiles), how he climbed Vincent Massif, the tallest mountain in Antarctica, with Pat Morrow, the first Canadian to summit the seven highest peaks on the seven continents, and how he helped support the first sled dog team to mush across the entire Antarctic continent. It turns out we were lucky enough to have "Mr. Antarctica" as our own private guide! He´s also climbed Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America (over 22,000 ft.) and Cerro Fitz Roy (one of the most challenging climbs in South America). His next dream is to row across the Pacific Ocean from Chile to Easter Island to French Polynesia and finally to Australia in the summer of 2007! Good luck, dude!

My Mark on the Continent - The Dobson Snow Drift!

Around 12:30am, I realized it still wasn´t dark outside. From the doorway to our "container" I asked Alejo if the pink hew on the horizon was the sunset and he said, "No, that´s the sunrise!" Apparently, this close to the austral summer solstice and this close to the antarctic circle, it never actually gets dark here! The sun just dips below the horizon for a few hours every "night" and then pops right back up! Oops, time to go to bed!