Antarctica!

Day 1

This is the boat I took to Antarctica. Sea Spirit. There were about 112 passengers.  We left January 15 for a "12 day" cruise. Since we started at like 4 pm on the first day and ended at about 8 am on the last day, it's really only a 10 day cruise if you ask me.

Another thing you might ask is:  "What was Antarctica like"?  The standard answer from most people is:  "You really can't explain it. You have to experience it". I will sum it up in three words:  Ice, Rocks, Penguins. If you really must know more, I'll give you some details from my trip.

Day one was short. It consisted of safety drills, dinner and slightly excessive alcohol consumption.

Day 2

Day two was open ocean cruising across the Drake Passage. The Drake is the stretch of water between Ushuaia and what will be our first sight of land, The South Shetland Islands. It is known as one of, if not the most dangerous and unforgiving ocean crossings in the world. Our experience with the weather here was described by the crew as the absolute best we could have hoped for. And still, half the boat was seasick. The worst part for me was trying to shave. It reminded me much of that scene in Airplane II: The Sequel.

Day 3

On day three we saw our first icebergs, land, penguins.

We first saw the South Shetland Islands around 11:30 and made landfall at Half Moon Island via zodiacs around 3 pm. It was pretty amazing. Seeing hundreds of chinstrap penguins and one big elephant seal and one Weddell seal. Just being there. There was something overwhelming about it all. The smell. Penguins are some of the stinkiest animals I've ever met. They just eat and make babies and poop. I could smell them before I even got on the zodiac. They are super-cute, though. They know this, of course, and so, like Hollywood types, love to pose for pictures. (pics will be up after I decide if they should go through Picasa or something else).

Day 4

We went to Hannah Point in the morning. More penguins. Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins. And big groups of elephant seals lying around burping, farting and scratching. It's kind of like a college apartment.

In the afternoon we went to Whaler's Bay at Deception Island. This was one of the coolest places we went. You sail into the crater of an active volcano and can see the steam coming off the water near the shoreline. there is an old whaling station here and a place where you can hike up to see a good view overlooking the whole place.

Day 5

More penguins! Baby penguins. Some looked really cute and were just hatched. Some looked really gross because they were torn apart and eaten by brown skuas. (not pictured)

In the afternoon, we were supposed to make our first continental landing at Almirante Brown Station. The Argentine coast guard told us no because they were working there. Apparently this was the one day in the last four years that they were actually doing something. Then we were followed by this boat for the rest of the trip.

It's Super Bowl Sunday and I don't feel like writing any more today. So come back tomorrow for the exciting conclusion to Antarctica! Will there be more penguins? Will there be a maritime showdown with the Argentine coast guard? Will I freeze to death while camping on the White Continent? Read the next post to find out.

Back from the Galapagos...

I know you’ve been missing the regular updates on supertrippin, but we’ve been sailing around the Galapagos for the past 8 days. It was a rough job, but we toughed it out. I’m kidding. It was awesome.

So we are still in the Galapagos, in a town called Puerto Ayora and tomorrow in the early afternoon we fly out to Quito. Today it was rainy and we walked to a beach called Tortuga Bay along a 2.5km path. I don’t know if it was the copious amounts of vegetables on the boat, or just general South American issues, but for the first time in my life, I pooped outside. Unfortunately, it was out of sheer necessity and it was either the side of the trail that was to be soiled or my white shorts so I took the former. Chris talked in his last blog about disrespecting the jungle, and today, I definitely disrespected the forest. After I jogged back and found Chris on the trail and retold my tragic story, he showed me the sign that said not to touch the poison leaves along the trail. Thank god I chose different leaves or I’d be writing this blog from a hospital with a rash in a very unfortunate location.

But enough potty talk, I managed to get a few shorts blogs written while we were on the boat, so they are below. Also, if wifi is working, all of the Galapagos pictures should be up in our photos session.

Galapagos Part 1

We are on day 2 of our 8 day cruise through the Galapagos Islands. We made it on the boat (after two people on our plane in Guayaquil were taken off in stretchers for severe dehydration… we think) and have been cruising around the islands, taking little land and sea excursions from the boat. We are on a yacht called the Angelito and I would recommend it. The guide is good, the staff friendly, and most important, I like the food. Our boat fits 16 passengers, with 8 rooms and most of the people on our boat are youngish and traveling as well so that’s always a bonus.

There’s much to see here so I will try and give a brief list of what I’ve seen in the past day and a half:

sea lions
penguins
lava lizards
marine iguanas
land iguanas
sea turtles
white tipped reef sharks
a lot of fish
a lot of birds

We take little walks around the islands and then snorkel in other areas. I like the snorkeling the best because there are so many fish and penguins and turtles and sea lions and sharks to see. Actually, I haven’t seen the sea lions underwater yet, but I hear it’s coming. Chris did battle with a penguin underwater today and escaped with no wounds. Actually, the thing just poked him in the back with its beak and then wanted to swim around him. That’s kind of the special thing about the Galapagos: the animals could give a shit that you’re there. You walk onto these islands and iguanas and sea lions are inches from you, and the best reaction you get is a yawn, a sneeze, or maybe they just roll over on their backs. The fish are the same way. They say it’s because people came here so late (in the grand scheme of things) so the animals aren’t afraid. I don’t know if that’s correct or not, but regardless, it’s really cool to be so close to so many different species.

Now, I’m on the top deck of the boat and typing on this computer and it’s getting me a bit queasy, so I will be done for now. More updates soon.

Galapagos Part 2

We are currently on Day 4 of our 8 day cruise. The evening of Day 2 was super vomit time for me, so I wasn’t able to blog, only barf off the side of the boat. The water gets pretty choppy, so yesterday we had about 6 hours of sailing and lost about half of the guests to sea sickness. I didn’t throw up yesterday, but I think my body really wanted to. Otherwise, things are fine. Today we are in the main harbor town of Puerto Ayora and will be here for the remainder of the day. We went to the Charles Darwin research center and saw the giant land tortoises. Some of them are over 100 years old and tend to resemble our grandparents, or E.T.

Yesterday we had some nice snorkeling and saw more sharks and sea lions. Chris saw a sea turtle. Our boat is good and the 16 passengers are all pretty young and fun which is nice. Here’s a rundown of everyone:

· 4 Americans (including me and Chris)
· 4 Canadians
· 4 Germans
· 2 Dutch
· 1 Australian
· 1 French

We are a pretty international crew and spend the nights playing cards (when the water isn’t too rough).

So far, besides the vomiting, I’ve really enjoyed this trip and would recommend the Galapagos to anyone. Just bring the sea sickness pills.

Galapagos Part 3

I haven’t been the best about keeping up with my Galapagos blog, but in fairness, everyday is pretty much the same. We have breakfast at 7, do a shore excursion, come back to the boat, do a snorkel excursion, move the boat for an hour or two to a new location, eat lunch, do a shore excursion, maybe snorkel again, lay around the boat, eat dinner, play cards or Yahtzee, and go to bed and try not to vomit or get tossed out of bed as the boat moves again. It’s good.
Today is our last full day which is a bummer. Tomorrow, we are done pretty early and Chris and I are staying on the main island one more night, and then flying to Quito on Monday. Tonight we have our special goodbye dinner and we have to tip the crew and guide. This experience has been much better than the Machu Picchu Inca Trail in regards to being fed and the expertise and niceness of our guide. Last night we had tuna lasagna and that was one of my trip highlights.

The Galapagos are really cool and I recommend visiting them, but they didn’t exactly blow my mind like other people had described. The snorkeling is good, but the amount of fish we have seen isn’t that substantial. And the land trips are good but I feel like it’s just a lot of birds, sea lions, and iguanas… and lizards. It’s a good time and definitely worth the money, I just don’t think it will be the most incredible thing you will ever see. If it is, it’s time to get out a bit more.

My favorite things have been snorkeling with the sea lions and the penguins. It’s really cool to watch how fast they can move underwater. They attempt to play with us and check us out, but we’re just too slow and they lose interest quickly. I also saw a giant manta ray one day from the boat. I think it was about 6 feet wide. We saw one jump completely out of the water another day. One day a marine iguana swam between my legs and that was fun/shocking. Another highlight was snorkeling near the white tipped reef sharks, they are pretty big and it’s always cool to say you snorkel with sharks. In my opinion, the birds are boring, but if birds are your thing, you might as well leave for the Galapagos tomorrow. And the sea lions are fun to watch and they let you get really close. And I have seen two dead baby seal lions, one with a bloodied placenta, and I didn’t need that stinky yuck in my life.

When we get to Quito, we might go to the jungle. We shall see. July 1st we fly to Cartagena, Colombia for some more beach time. July 29th we fly back to the states from Rio de Janeiro. It’s going too fast; we only have about 5 weeks to go.