February 27^th, 2010

As I sit here at the airport in Buenos Aires on my way back home from our amazing Antarctica adventure, I am drawn to reflect on some events from the previous several days. Upon returning to South America from Antarctica about half our group took advantage of a unique opportunity to visit Easter Island off the coast (waaay off the coast) of Chile. This remote island is closer to the western coast of South America than any other mainland on planet earth. The word “close” being used loosely, Easter Island is roughly the same distance away from South America that California is from New York. As I write this, I breathe with relief in discovering just a short while ago that my friends, patrons and comrades are all safe and sound, having escaped any wrath of the devastating earthquake that hit Chile early this morning. Merely an inconvenience as compared to what could have been and what is happening in the mainland, our group of 17 are indeed stranded on the far-away island as their flight to Santiago is in limbo due to damage at the airport. Most importantly, they are safe….and now enjoying an added post-post trip among the famous Moias–ancient statues–that sprinkle the landscape. Nice weather will help, as will the company of some good friends and a hospitable community in Easter Island. Hopefully the employers, dog sitters and fish feeders back home don’t mind a few extra days of absence.

My intent on this particular entry wasn’t to write about my friends in Easter Island, but rather to reflect upon something personal that I opted to do instead of accompanying a group to a solitary island in the middle of the Pacific. Today’s events warrant a small shift in my plan of what to blog, but I’m not the one holed up on an island in the south pacific, so I’ll just deal with it.

Life is full of choices and while I covet the experience of seeing a far away island, I chose another–and unique–path of an extended South American experience. At this moment I yearn to be with the group and assist with getting everyone home, but I am now on my way home by another route, having encountered a different, less inconvenient but still very eye-opening experience. Stay tuned in a few days for another entry, and some reflection on another South American community.

For more information on other experiences you can be a part of on an Amazing Journey, visit https://amazingjourneys.net/

…but as we head due north on our last day aboard our expedition vessel, some thoughts as shared with a friend:

“…being in Antarctica has been life changing. Words and photos alone cannot convey the magnitude and true realization of this continent. This was so very cool in every sense. We had unusually great weather and even as I write this we are sailing in the dreaded Drake Passage which is where the Atlantic and Pacific meet causing notoriously rough waters–some of the roughest in the world. But, today miraculously, we are almost perfectly calm. The whole group is wearing patches and popping Dramamine, but happily we are looking out at calm waters for the moment. Day after tomorrow we’re back in Ushuaia and then one more night in Buenos Aires (and a dinner with Tango Show) before some head off to Easter Island and some head on home back to their “real life”.

Soon this experience will be just a fond memory, but the actuality of being a part of this frozen, barren, remote but wildly interesting continent will live in our lives forever. I wonder how cold I’ll really feel when I come home to traffic, deadlines, rules and pollution…for a life without any of that seems to exert a sense of calling.

Today is our last day amongst the mainland of Antarctica and what a joyously incredible day it has been. I write at mid afternoon, shortly after a stop at Almirante Brown on the mainland in Paradise Harbour of the Antarctic Peninsula and before a visit to Wilhelmina Bay, a feeding ground for several species of whales. While exploring Paradise Harbour (and it truly is a paradise) we witnessed fishing penguins, mommy-chasing baby penguins, a leopard seal resting after a meal, glaciers as tall as skyscrapers and even an avalanche not so far from our small vessel excursion around the peninsula. Amazing!
To commemorate our place among the colonies and colonies (and more colonies) of penguins with whom we shared this amazing journey, today we did our own little ‘march of the penguins’ as you can see from the photo above. Not be outdone by a little humor, the true dazzling continues to come from the unending, uncharted and truly unbelievable landscape that befalls our every waking moment. We are trying our best to share this experience with our loved ones back home by way of Facebook, emails, text messages and blog posts, but the scope of this continent by which we are merely a speck can never accurately be conveyed by pictures and electronic means alone.

Happy Feet indeed! As AJ delves deeper and deeper into the Antarctic we are just ‘kvelling’ over the delving. Penguins who waddle right up to our toes, icebergs as tall as skyscrapers in Manhattan and water as cold as possible without freezing are making for some truly amazing moments. “Stars on ice“ have taken on a whole new meaning here in Antarctica. After passing through the rough waters of the Drake Passage our tour through the icebergs, landscape, wildlife and uncharted territories have dazed and amazed our group of 31 like no experience on earth.