Believe it or not, none of this is photoshopped -- more to come later!So I have safely returned in Boulder after an amazing three-week adventure to the remote lands of the southern hemisphere. I'll give a big old photo show post soon, but I'll summarize the basics here.
I met up with Paul in the Argentine town of Ushuaia, a town that prides itself on being the farthest south city in the world (with a sizable population of about 70,000). We soon teamed up with Deborah (my co-worker at NHA) and her friend Glen and set off to hike and explore the region prior to getting on the ship.
Soon enough we were aboard the Ocean Nova and hit the open water, bound for the Falkland Islands. I am very, very, very grateful that the medications I took worked against seasickness--I ended up feeling relatively fine the whole trip. Groggy here and there but otherwise, no major issues. A strain of flu also surfaced and knocked a few folks down for a day, but luckily I wasn't affected.
The open water voyages between destinations took about 2 days apiece and were not terribly eventful. When we finally reached the Falklands Islands, we got our first taste of the amazing world of the south Atlantic. Again, more on the destinations later--but soon enough, we chugged off to South Georgia, which was the highlight of the trip for me.
South Georgia is unlike any landscape I've seen before--enormous and jagged mountains erupting from the earth, all adorned with cracked glaciers and hanging walls of ice. The few safe beaches and harbors were used in whaling days and a handful of small outposts remain.
After visiting the coolest hotspots in SG, we made a special visit to the South Orkney Islands. The South Orkney chain is not only in the middle of nowhere, it is one of the least populated places on Earth. The Brits maintain a part-time base of around ten people at Signy Station (which we visited) and the Argentines have a naval base of roughly 25 men on the opposite side of the chain.
From there, we finally made landfall on Antarctica via the Antarctic Peninsula. We made 3 continental landings as well as several island landings in the area, all were spectacular and teeming with a variety of wildlife. After 3 days of adventures, it was back to Ushuaia via the dreaded Drake Passage, which ended up being only mildly shaky.
When all was said and done, it was an epic 26 hour travel day to get home but it all went well. So that's the super condensed version, get ready for the stories soon :)
