Antarctica Journal 2, December 18, 2013 – Touchdown! Plus an Emperor Penguin & Humpback Whales

(Had the chance to try on the "full gear" - putting on layers upon layers to keep us warm. Thermal underwear, fleece sweaters and pants, sock liners, balaclava, wool-lined gloves, and Spectrum 4 sunglasses. We look like skiers. Julz and Jason even elected to wear ski goggles. One quickly learns to appreciate outfitters like North Face, Columbia & Patagonia. They develop lighter but tougher stuff. You're "layered" all right, but it felt quite comfortable. Most important of all, you're dry and warm from head to toe. My friend, Rocky Kimball, once told me, "There's no bad weather. Only bad clothing.")

930AM. Touchdown at King George's Island, the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. It was minus 2 degrees C, but hey, we didn't care. We're so excited to be here! From the runway, we proceeded to walk towards the beach, where inflatable motorboats called Zodiacs waited to bring us to our ship. We passed a sign that says "Bellinghausen Station", an old Russian outpost. Not too far away, on top of a hill, is a small Russan Orthodox Church. Mountain range, all covered up with snow, surrounded us. The ground, too, was all snow. Jason remarked, "This is sooo vast and sooo white!"

We’ve been lucky most of our trips, and it did seem like luck would be with us once again. For we saw our first penguins – five of them! – right onshore. Apart from the usual tuxedo outfit, these ones sported a thin black line under their chins, hence the name chinstraps. "The welcome party!" Juliene exclaimed. We spotted a few more chinstraps leaping in and out of the water. A really nice start.

Our ship, Ocean Nova, has a 68-passenger capacity, served by a 33-person crew. The crew proudly claimed she is one of the sturdiest around, certainly the best furnished. We were thrilled to see Filipino workers - two at the gangway (where we boarded the ship), two at the entrance welcoming guests, and six at the dining room. There were more at the bridge (control room). All told, 16 Filipinos! They've been plying this route for years. You do find Filipinos everywhere. They were quite glad to see us - the first Filipino family they've had. A few Filipinos, they told us, made the tour in early days – a student or two, wives of foreigners - but not a family. "We, Filipinos, do not seem to enjoy nature tours. We prefer to go shopping," they concluded with a laugh. They served us veeery well.

Shortly after lunch, the PA system blared, "Emperor penguin sighted!" We got back on our warm suit, boots, and life vests. The Zodiacs sped us back to King George's island. A lone royalty on shore - the biggest, rarest, most famous of its kind wandered as far away as 300 miles from its nearest rookery. Everyone took out their cameras, telephoto lenses, and tripods. We kept a respectable, quiet distance. The Emperor was on its belly when we arrived, pushing itself slowly, back and forth, against the snow. Then it turned itself over, seemingly scratching its back, its flightless wings flapping ever so gently. The snow serves as a towel, absorbing the moisture from the swim. His majesty was drying itself. Finally it stood up. It's about three feet high and weighed around 80 lbs. It looked fat, its belly jiggled and sagged past the 'waistline', and flopped  around its feet. Mating season was over; it wasn't expected back in the rookery till April. What a treat! It took naturalist and writer Peter Matthiessen days to see an Emperor on his tour.

Our next treat was a pod of humpback whales. We were attending a lecture re intro to Antarctica when the PA announced spotting some whales. A number of us rushed to the deck to see two adults and a pup. Spouts betrayed their presence close to our ship. Now and then we saw their gigantic, paddle-like tails. The guide says the tail pattern of each whale is quite unique to itself in the same way our fingerprint patterns are to us. The guides and ourselves, of course, were more than pleased to disrupt the lecture to experience things first hand. If only more schools were like this.

Then there was the view, which was absolutely majestic. The full mountain range arrayed before you - spikes, deeps, full walls like fortresses topped with pure, glistening snow. Only cliffs were exposed; there was no place for snow to cling onto. Tantalizing. You just keep on looking. In awe. In deep silence. Faced with beauty like this, what does one say? One turns mute. And grateful ...

Day 2 is mostly travel - or so planned. We were told to be super flexible, to take in whatever the weather allows and Nature provides. Fatigued from plane changes and jet lag catching up, I was fine with little or no activity for today. And then these surprises. Our hearts were full ...           

Read about killer whales, adelie penguins, and snow shoeing in my Antarctica Journal 3.