So here we are back at the Drake Passage. Many people had that worried look of
anticipation, knowing the possible horrors the Drake had in store. And although a number of people were once
again confined to their cabins, I have to admit that we, happily, were
not. Perhaps it was the preventative
Gravol we popped like Smarties, or perhaps it was because the passage was truly
smooth and forgiving. So then it became,
what do we do with this extra time now that we have experienced the flora and
fauna and stuffed our brains with as much information as we could? Well, some time was still given over to
sleep, some to watching movies in our cabins – particularly notable was March
of the Penguins (if you haven’t already seen it – we did not see the Emperor
penguins, they are further north, but an excellent film nonetheless ); and Werner Herzog’s documentary Encounters at
the End of the Earth, which was a bit disappointing for me – I found it a bit disjointed
and rambling – but it did give an excellent portrait of the kind of people who
dedicate their lives to studying the wildlife of Antarctica, right down to
microscopic organisms which give some clue as to the origin of life on this
planet – pretty heady stuff . The film showed
these people to have unique outlooks on life, the planet, and us as
humans. Often poetic, perhaps even
visionary, these people see life in its most basic ways – concepts such as
hunger, freedom, death, predation,
rebirth – these are the things these people contemplate on a daily basis. Makes routine life back in Toronto seem
pretty, well, routine. On the other hand,
these people have been drawn to Antarctica for a variety of reasons – some are
trying to find answers to lifelong scientific questions, some are fleeing a
life elsewhere, and some found that they just didn’t fit into a mainstream
society and found a community of likeminded misfits that suited them
better. In any case, their work and
dedication is to be applauded.
In fact, the past two days, like the first two days of
passing through the Drake, were filled with informative and interesting
lectures from members of the expedition team: another group of people dedicated to their work. This is a group of incredibly knowledgeable
and hard-working people who are not only happy to share their expertise with
us, but are also incredibly passionate about their work and about Antarctica as
a region worth preserving. We listened
intently to lectures on climate change, Antarctic land claims, and one which I
found particularly intriguing because it gave a human face to life in this
region, what brought a number of members of the expedition team to work in
Antarctica and on this particular expedition.
Many of these people are scientists or at least naturalists, and many have been down in this region
working year round on isolated scientific data gathering stations all around
the Continent. It brought home to me the
love and dedication these people have for their work, this continent, and for
the planet in general, with Antarctica being one of the last and least explored
areas of the planet.
So in amongst the lectures, the naps, and the movies, we
also found time for some fun games, one of which was a game where we had to
match random facts about the expedition team to the team member the fact went
with. Most of the facts were matched
with a person whose personality was least likely to go with that fact. We also had a trivia night about information
we learned while on the trip, as well as just playing some fun party games to
pass the time.
Trivia in the lounge
So this is the last day on the ship. And the day has unfolded pretty much the way
the whole trip has: with a variety of weather patterns that turn on a
dime. A bright and sunny morning,
followed by an overcast late morning with some snow , and finally a cloudy
afternoon with sun breaking through the clouds.
Due to our speedy passage through the Drake, our captain treated us to a
short voyage around Cape Horn, truly the southernmost tip of South America
(pictured below). The sun broke through
the heavy low-lying clouds just long enough to brighten the green covering the
mountainside of Cape Horn, a bright concluding omen to the relatively smooth
passage our trip has taken. And a
variety of sea birds, white and grey and brown, petrels and albatrosses, with
wing spans much longer than our arm spans, swooped and circled around us as if to carry
us into our final port. And just to
remind us, if not sadly, a couple playful dolphins bounded around the front of
the ship as if to remind us that we have truly left Antarctica and were
entering new yet familiar warmer waters.
Cape Horn
Tonight will be the captain’s farewell dinner where I am
sure we will toast his nautical skill at navigating a smooth voyage and we will
reminisce about our favourite moments on the trip, a voyage that started a mere
10 days ago, but has been filled with such memorable experiences as to make it
seem much, much longer. Then we will
dock in Ushuaia to continue the next leg of our journey home.
Until then....
