Farewell to the Land of Ice and Snow

 

Friday November 10th, 2023

Today is our last day in Antarctica before we head across the Drake Passage to our final destination of Ushuaia Argentina, the southernmost city in the world.  Our ship anchored off Cuverville Island with a plan to visit one of the largest gentoo penguin colonies on the peninsula. At 5:00AM, the expedition team shot across the choppy gray water in their Zodiacs to scout out the landing zone, only to find it choked by ice.  A landing would be impossible.  We were informed to stand by as the ship relocated to an alternate location, Chiriguano Bay, that was free of heavy ice and sheltered from the wind.

Gentoo penguin on an ice flow calling out for its mates

Henry and I joined a group of excited Taiwanese travelers along with our spirited expedition guide, Eloisa, who also serves as the kayak team leader.  After a five-minute ride at full throttle, we arrived in front of a huge glacier. “This is close enough,” Eloisa warned, knowing these ice walls can calve into the sea at any moment. We motored slowly between floating icebergs populated with gentoo penguins; and we watched a Weddell seal clamor onto the shore to rest.  


Our Argentinian guide and philosopher, Eloisa Berrier

After touring several bergs for photos of their cool shapes and colors, Eloisa asked everyone to put down their cameras and just soak up the grandeur of the environment for one last time.  She shut off the engine and we drifted quietly.  It was a powerful moment for me, and I teared up, reflecting on everything we had experienced on this journey.  The vastness of the Southern Ocean, the ice and continent with its glaciers, spired mountains, and teeming wildlife.  I felt insignificant among Antarctica’s vast wildness and yet also filled with deep, human appreciation for it all.   I have read many accounts of early polar explorers, and they often expressed the profound effects that Antarctica had on them.  Now I knew, at least to some degree, the source of that feeling.

Iceberg in Chiriguano Bay

A kelp gull escorted us back to the ship, effortlessly riding the wind currents.  I saw it as my late father, who loved all types of wildlife, especially seagulls.  It felt as though he was with me throughout this journey, along with my other family members and friends that have passed on from this world.  I could sense them smiling down with great appreciation and recognition of everything it took to get here and the awesome power of it all.

A final portrait from the Land of Ice and Snow

“…feelings of indescribable delight upon a scene of grandeur and magnificence far beyond anything we had before seen or could have conceived.”

                                                            Antarctic explorer Sir James Clark Ross, 1847

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