It's a little bit difficult to write or talk, for that matter, about Antarctica. I want to share my experience with my friends and family, but to fully do the story justice I need at least 30-50 minutes minimum to sit down and talk all about it. I have begun this post with every intention of sharing my Antarctica adventure story. Please keep in mind though, that it is a hard story to tell, because of the magnitude of the trip and its implications it had on my life. here goes...
I'd first like to say that all of my Antarctica photo are available on my flickr website which can be found here at this address: http://flickr.com/photos/fromthewillowtree
This page will be added to in the coming days with more an more photos organized into sets on the side of the page. My trip started in Miami, FL where I stayed with a lovely girl who is dating one of my best friends whom Im met both at Camp Lindenmere two summers ago. Erica and her mom showed me a great time in Miami and let me be a tourist on the beach. The next day, I went to the airport and met up with all my travel buddies. We hit it off right away and became great friends. The next day and a half consisted of our group flying 8 or 9 hours to Buenos Aires, Argentina, then another plane to Ushuaia, which is the southernmost city in the world hanging on the edge of South America.
Sasha, Teal & Me in the Tierra del Fuego national park
the water was very blue.
I'd first like to say that all of my Antarctica photo are available on my flickr website which can be found here at this address: http://flickr.com/photos/fromthewillowtree
This page will be added to in the coming days with more an more photos organized into sets on the side of the page. My trip started in Miami, FL where I stayed with a lovely girl who is dating one of my best friends whom Im met both at Camp Lindenmere two summers ago. Erica and her mom showed me a great time in Miami and let me be a tourist on the beach. The next day, I went to the airport and met up with all my travel buddies. We hit it off right away and became great friends. The next day and a half consisted of our group flying 8 or 9 hours to Buenos Aires, Argentina, then another plane to Ushuaia, which is the southernmost city in the world hanging on the edge of South America.
Sasha, Teal & Me in the Tierra del Fuego national parkthe water was very blue.The departure form Ushuaia occured on deember 19th in the afternoon. We were all so excited to get out at sea! while were were on our ship, The Orlova many of us go seasick from the turmoltuous seas. Luckily, the ship's doctor providded us with seasickness medicine that the astronauts use in space. They made you feel very tired and drugged-up.
The departure
affects of drugs
On December 21st, we made our first zodiac landing and that was quite the experience. We walked down the gangway from the ship into the 10 person ruber zodiac. we went to shore and saw penguins, seals, and sea lions. we had to come back a bit early because the wind picked up and made the sea look liek this:
The departureaffects of drugsOn December 21st, we made our first zodiac landing and that was quite the experience. We walked down the gangway from the ship into the 10 person ruber zodiac. we went to shore and saw penguins, seals, and sea lions. we had to come back a bit early because the wind picked up and made the sea look liek this:
we were all so excited to be in Antarctica, that it was difficult to sleep for fear that were were missing something amazing. We all sort of became vampires in a way becuase of how little sleep we got. some more than others....
"the anguish of teal" or "The beautiful and the damned"
photo taken at 2:15 am Antarctcia time. needness to say, we were freaking out.
the next morning there were whales everywhere.
This is our group. I have gotten many questions about what I actually did in Antarctcia. Besides the amazing adventures to the sore to see the sights, my classmates and I all took an online class together over fall term. During this time, we had a midterm and a final. We all worked on presentations and research projects which we presented on the ship in the forward lounge. The projects had to do with our major. I gave my presentaion on the mental affects on a persons well-being while working at research stations in Antarctcia. More specifically, I focuses on cabin fever, seasonal affective disorder, and snow blindness. My classmates did a variety of topics ranging from history, biology, to politics. We are all basically Antarctic experts! We were also expected to complete Modules, or writing assignments in groups and individually. I did my mudule on ecotourism and a group project about invasive species in Antarctica where we interviewed crew and passengers about their knowledge about incvasive species proliferation and how much education had been given on the matter.
Now that the boring part is over, I can get back to the photos. Fron here on out, I will post my favorite photo from each day. Don't forget that all my Antarctica photos are available here: http://flickr.com/photos/fromthewillowtree
This was taken after leaving Devil island which had 100,000 breeding pars of penguins
The next day was Paulet island. That place had so many penguins that it actualy made me uncomfortable. I was all to reminded of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" way way too many penguins. Instead I shall share this photo of our captain planning the route through the islands.
Endless Love,
Luke
"the anguish of teal" or "The beautiful and the damned"photo taken at 2:15 am Antarctcia time. needness to say, we were freaking out.the next morning there were whales everywhere.This is our group. I have gotten many questions about what I actually did in Antarctcia. Besides the amazing adventures to the sore to see the sights, my classmates and I all took an online class together over fall term. During this time, we had a midterm and a final. We all worked on presentations and research projects which we presented on the ship in the forward lounge. The projects had to do with our major. I gave my presentaion on the mental affects on a persons well-being while working at research stations in Antarctcia. More specifically, I focuses on cabin fever, seasonal affective disorder, and snow blindness. My classmates did a variety of topics ranging from history, biology, to politics. We are all basically Antarctic experts! We were also expected to complete Modules, or writing assignments in groups and individually. I did my mudule on ecotourism and a group project about invasive species in Antarctica where we interviewed crew and passengers about their knowledge about incvasive species proliferation and how much education had been given on the matter.
Now that the boring part is over, I can get back to the photos. Fron here on out, I will post my favorite photo from each day. Don't forget that all my Antarctica photos are available here: http://flickr.com/photos/fromthewillowtree
This was taken after leaving Devil island which had 100,000 breeding pars of penguinsI asked our expedition leader why there was a black line in that iceberg. he replied that ice acts much like rings in a tree, in that they preserve events like a time line. This piece of ice used to be a glacier that was near a volcano that blew its top. The black mark refers to the volcanic explosion where the area was covered in ash. neat huh?
View from the top!
View from the top!The next day was Paulet island. That place had so many penguins that it actualy made me uncomfortable. I was all to reminded of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" way way too many penguins. Instead I shall share this photo of our captain planning the route through the islands.I plan on writing extensively about icebergs later when I share the better photos, but for now All I must say is that ice, icebergs, and glaciers, are a photographers dream. The way tehy move and sound int he water is breathtaking and I could not help but to take literally hundreds of iceberg photos. They helped me practice composition. (The palce of objects in photos and their relation to the horizon or other objects) It was fantastic.
All this has been great, but I will do a seperate post for Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. Those two days were literally the best days of my life and it needs its own story told by itself.
All this has been great, but I will do a seperate post for Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. Those two days were literally the best days of my life and it needs its own story told by itself.
Endless Love,
Luke