The Ides of March

I just returned from another landing, this time on Danko Island. It didn’t have the whales and seals that some of the other places had, nor as many penguins. But in many ways it was one of the most pleasant places I’ve visited here. Besides the magnificent scenery that abounds here, it had a pebbled beach strewn with remnants of icebergs of various sizes. Newly molted Gentoo Penguin chicks were taking their first swim in the sea, and it was a time for me just to get off alone and take it all in. I had my camera turned off and just became part of this peaceful setting. Most of the people who came ashore decided to hike to the top of a nearby hill, but I can hike hills in Missouri. Here I could just enjoy the sea.

Yesterday we landed at Port Lockroy, a former British base that was established as part of Operation Tabarin during the Second World War to keep an eye on the southern seas. It was abandoned and the birds got in and was a royal mess until someone decided that it was an important piece of history and needed fixing up. So, the Antarctic Heritage Trust was founded and volunteers come down to live and work on the place. Today Port Lockroy has been restored to pretty much what it looked like in the 50’s, except it now has a gift shop and a Post Office. The staff live in a modern insulated quanset hut, and there’s a Gentoo rookery nearby. The place is overrun with penguins, and as quaint and wonderful the place looks, it smells like the chicken house from hell.

On a nearby island was the site of a former whaling station, and the ground is littered with the bones of whales. One set has been laid out to show the size of it. But it too has hundreds of Gentoos, and smells just as bad as Port Lockroy. And speaking of the Port, I did mail some post cards from there. They should arrive stateside around Christmas, as the last mailboat has already left.

Tomorrow we should land on Deception Island. It’s an active volcano, and the crater is a natural bay, with warm waters. I asked one of the staff if there was a possibility of us going for a swim there, and he said to take the word possibility out. We ARE going swimming tomorrow in Antarctica.