| Antarctica |
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| El Calafate, 15 march 2005 Hey everyone, After spending 10 days in another world we are back on "planet earth". The White Continent Antarctica was great! The first evening, as we left Ushuaia through the Beagle Channel, we could see some dolphins glowing in the dark and playing with each other while following the bow of the ship. We were able to feel the famous 'Drake Passage' that made the ship roll and pitch. It was not easy to fall a sleep but at least we didn't become seasick! (I cheated a bit because I took some seasickness pills - Dramamine - to avoid being sick and it helped so...). The scenery of Antarctica was fantastic and gave me a feeling I can't describe. It was just breath-taking! Watching the ship sliding through pack-ice surrounded by the beauty of the white mountains from the Antarctic Peninsula and his Islands is unbelievable! And with 'Enya' playing on the background and the sun glittering on the snow the feeling becomes even more intense! Antarctica is wonderful and has some beautiful treasures. During our landings with the zodiacs we saw lots of penguins which was super! We were able to discover the chinstrap and gentoo penguins. We also encountered some whales and different species of seals. They were all incredible! Stepping on the snow and rocks of this continent and enjoying the animals and the scenery around us, was really amazing! The last day we received a detailed report from our trip. If you want to read it you can open it here. Our camera did a good job; we took loads of pictures (about 500 I guess) and it was very difficult to make a selection. We hope the photos reflect a bit the atmosphere and scenery we experienced! The same day we arrived from Antarctica we took the plane to El Calafate and the bus to El Chalten, which is a very small authentic village surrounded by mountains but no decent internet connection. We even had to go back to the grocery store because there was no electricity and we could not get 'tranchetas de queso'. Everything goes a bit slower over here! More stories about that in our next report. For the moment we are in El Calafate and tomorrow we go to Perito Moreno Glaciar and the day after we will cross the border again to Chile (Puerto Natales). There we will take another boat to sail through the Patagonian fjords up to Puerto Montt. We will give you a full report once we arrive there. In the meanwhile enjoy the pictures of Antarctica. Hasta la proxima vez. Domi & Joris |