To be sure, I was shocked to read about the sinking of the MS Explorer in the waters north of the Antarctic Peninsula. I got a host of emails one day, all titled “Explorer”. I hadn’t heard anything about it until reading the news at the end of the attached…
Thanksgiving this year was a bit strange for our family. Obviously, I didn’t make it home. My mom ended up in Pennsylvania with my sister, who just underwent some pretty significant jaw surgery. This left my dad to spend the holiday with his sisters in Neosho. Quite the traveling family,…
Days 8, 9 and 10 Well, we’re back in the Drake. I slept surprisingly well though, and as I woke up to the morning announcement, I actually wasn’t feeling all that bad. The ship was rolling a good bit though, so I took it very easy. I ventured upstairs for…
Day 7 I got up early again, this time for two reasons: First, I was hoping for a glimpse of the sunrise, which by the look of the view out my window didn’t look very promising. Second, today is our last day of adventure. The last day of landings. The…
Day 6 The weather took a turn for the worse over night. I got up early with hopes to see the sunrise, but found a cold misty sky accompanied by a fierce wind. In the distance, ahead of the boat, I saw a large set of rocks pushing through the…
Day 5 I got up around 6:30, which turned out to only be 15 minutes ahead of Stephen’s early morning announcement. In the morning light, the staff had spotted a couple humpback whales out in front of the boat. I When I got out on deck, it was still really,…
Day 4 “Bing Bong”… I hadn’t slept overly well, as the boat had been swaying all night as we passed from the South Shetlands through the Bransfield Straight toward the Antarctic Peninsula. I must be getting some sea legs though, as I was actually feeling decent this morning. In his…
Day 3 The boat was still rocking at 7:30 in the morning when Stephen’s kind voice again came over the intercom and said “Good morning ladies and gentlemen, good morning!” It really wasn’t a good morning. I felt exactly the same as I had 10 hours earlier. Would this never…
Day 2 I awoke at 7:30 in the morning to the sound of the ship-wide intercom system – a gentle “Bing-Bong”, followed by the voice of Stephen, our expedition leader. “Good morning ladies and gentlemen, Good morning,” he opened in a super friendly and calming voice. “We are in the…
Day 1 My eyes opened around 7:15 am (which by Ushuaia standards is before the crow rises), and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get them to close again. It was like I was 8 years old on Christmas morning. “I’m going to Antarctica today!” I repeated to…