First landing!

So here we are, our first landing on the continent,  specifically the Aitcho Islands.  

Everyone is very excited.  It’s like the Leafs are playing for the Stanley Cup.  So we have a mandatory briefing on board about how to gear up, how to get in and out of the Zodiacs (the rubber dinghies that will take us to shore), and how to be around the wildlife.  The expedition leaders take this very seriously since the Antarctic really is as pristine a wilderness as you can find.  The reason the wildlife are not afraid of humans is because they have no reason to be– and the expedition leaders want to keep it that way.  Incidentally, during this briefing one of the expedition leaders interrupted to allow us to have our first iceberg sighting .  So everyone rushes off to the port side (that’s the left side if you are on the boat facing the front to you land lubbers) and sure enough, there was the most perfect iceberg –right out of a group of seven painting.  White, blue around the edges, peaked in the middle, and utterly majestic. 

So finally we suit up, get into the Zodiacs and head to the shore. 

And what do we notice first?  I’d like to say it’s the beautiful snow capped peaks, or the cute little black and white penguins – but it’s not.  It’s the smell.  Now don’t get me wrong, nobody would have traded a minute of time with those little guys because of the smell, but it is the first thing you notice – especially if you are down wind.  But we disembark and it’s hard to believe, but those little birds are just walking around freely, taking little notice or us and just waddling on their way.  Occasionally one would cross your path, and down here, as you can imagine, the penguins have the right of way.  So you stop, let him pass, get a good photo, and continue on.  And if you are really lucky, if you sit still, they will come up and peck at your coat or do a little sniffing around just to see who exactly you are.  You can see from the photo how close they came.  Incidentally, this little guy is a gentoo penguin, noted for the white patch above their eye. There were also chinstrap penguins which have a black line just below the chin.  We were told to leave at least 5 metres between us and the animals, unless they came to you – and even then, no petting.

After walking around in the sunshine (which we were told was not typical of Antarctica, as you can imagine) we all went for a hike over the hill to see the leopard seals.  At first I thought there were just a bunch of longs rolled up on the beach.  Upon closer inspection,  I noticed these logs started to move and make the loudest, most ancient honking sound – like creatures calling from the bowels of the Earth.  Then as we walked we realised they were all over – hanging out, socializing, relaxing – again, with little notice of us.  The little one pictured here was a little curious about us and perked up a bit to see what was going on. 

A few random penguins competed for our attention as we snapped photos of the seals, but by that point, penguins were seriously so 5 minutes ago. So after hanging out for a while with the seals, getting reacquainted with the penguins, taking in the beautiful rock formations and general scenery, and seeing some skewers (not the barbecue kind, but very large brownish birds – imagine  seagulls  on steroids) we headed back to the shore and back to the ship.  Then it was on to the captain’s dinner with some welcome speeches and general frivolity.  I sensed that up until this first landing people were uncertain as to what to expect and were hoping that the landing would live up to their expectations.  But from the laughter general sense of well being around the dinner table, I think that this first landing exceeded most people’s expectations.  I know it did mine.  Tomorrow is an early morning with two landings during the day – something special for Valentine’s Day.

Until then.....