After all of the hoops we needed to leap to get to Antarctica (in our earlier publish), right here we lastly had been. Antarctica!
Like, this took a short while for it to sink in.
I bear in mind wanting to go to for like 10 years after which it took a lot of planning to lastly get so far and right here we had been in Antarctica.
I bear in mind pondering to tempo myself once I bought up in the course of the night time for a pee however all these although went off of the figurative window the minute we opened the literal window.
We noticed ourselves surrounded by icebergs.
Suffice to say, there was no want for caffeine that morning. The solar wasn’t shining however it simply added all of the extra to that drama.
Not to say the recognizing of wildlife which had turn out to be much more frequent now that we had been in Antarctica.
Penguins bobbing throughout, extra seals on icebergs across the ship and the occasional whale within the distance.
We had been just about bouncing off the partitions all morning after which the captain determined to up the ante.
As it seems, you may go to Antarctica however not get into the Antarctic Circle.
The Antarctic Circle is quite a bit decrease down and only a few ships ever make it that far south due to the ocean ice.
As you may think about, the nearer it will get to the South Pole, the thicker the ocean ice is.
The Ocean Victory ship we took all the way down to Antarctica is definitely constructed to traverse the ice right here.
That being mentioned, the ocean ice on the journey to the Antarctic Circle is simply too densely packed and much too thick for many ships to undergo so quite a bit by no means make it that far south.
They simply don’t hassle making an attempt it.
Our captain nevertheless determined that the climate circumstances regarded nice and the ocean ice didn’t look too dangerous so we’d flip our complete itinerary on its head and enterprise far south into the Antarctic Circle.
If we left it a couple of days extra, there’s an opportunity the climate might change or the ocean ice might get thicker and so we simply needed to take advantage of it whereas the circumstances allowed for it.
Turns out, he was proper and with that, we had been the primary crusing of the season to get into the Antarctic Circle!
There had been whoops and cheers throughout with champagne all over the place to have fun.
This was a milestone I didn’t even know we would have liked to satisfy previous to the crusing however it was superb. Haha!
To be sincere, simply going to Antarctica is a sufficiently big win with or with out the cherry on the cake that’s crusing into the Antarctic Circle.
It was completely superb and such a superb strategy to begin the journey.
Plus now let’s imagine we’ve been to the Arctic Circle (we did this a couple of years in the past in Norway) and now the Antarctic Circle.
We spent the remainder of the day just about in awe of every thing we might see round us.
We’d already come throughout humpback whales, leopard seals, Weddell seals, Adélie penguins (that are tougher to identify than Gentoo or chinstrap penguins) and a few extremely humongous icebergs.
Then the pinnacle of the expedition staff gave us a little bit of a shock announcement by saying that we’d be venturing out on our first zodiac expedition to Antarctica.
I didn’t assume it was doable to be much more excited than we already had been however seems, it is vitally doable certainly.
Remember, while you’re in Antarctica, your plans are topic to vary relying on the climate.
So, having nice climate to have the ability to do a zodiac boat tour felt very very like the large deal that it was. This was very true as this wasn’t a confirmed plan for the day earlier on.
Oh, and by the way in which, the waters had been very calm by this level.
It was calm sufficient to make us not hassle with the ocean illness tablets. Plus, these make you drowsy so it wasn’t one thing we wished to take if we didn’t should.
Saying that although, I did take one at night time. I figured the drowsiness wouldn’t matter an excessive amount of and that will preserve any sea illness away whereas crusing at night time.
That turned out to be an excellent plan as I came upon a couple of days later once I didn’t take them and began to really feel a bit of seasick whereas we had been crusing round in Antarctica.
Soon sufficient, we had been referred to as to do all the way down to the mud room. Ready to get suited up, booted up and life-jacket as much as get on the zodiac boats.
You additionally should disinfect your common garments earlier than you go so that you don’t carry contaminants with you.
It’s not likely performed for brand new garments however for older garments and sneakers, particularly.
They don’t need you bringing invasive species to Antarctica. So, to assist with this, your boots are decontaminated earlier than and after you go on the boat (even if you happen to’re happening land).
Your garments are all performed upfront of heading all the way down to the boats and the best strategy to describe that is that it’s basically like they simply vacuum your garments.
The zodiac boat cruise was unimaginable.
You can inform how superb and the way large a few of these icebergs are from afar however it doesn’t examine to while you get near them.
Their sheer dimension is simply mind-boggling; and that color too!
It’s a shade of blue you’ve by no means seen elsewhere and gained’t overlook in a rush.
And yeah, that’s how we spent our first day in Antarctica.
We completed off with dinner and wine underneath the Antarctic midnight solar, which to be sincere, was behind some clouds however by no means truly set so it was shiny all night time lengthy.
Remember it’s summertime in Antarctica while you get to go to then so the solar doesn’t fairly set correctly then.
Catch you within the subsequent weblog publish after we lastly set foot on land in Antarctica.
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