Camping out

We woke up at about 0630 to an orange tinted sunrise in the bay. Last night we setup the camp – yes you guessed it – on a glacier. Yesterday, the later part of the day was spent watching whales, seals and penguins in the cold Antarctic waters. Antarctic waters serves as a great sanctuary for wild life. It is so refreshing and liberating to see the wild life roam in the water and land undisturbed and uninhibited. We had multiple sights of whales breach the water surface near our ship. It is amazing to see these large animals (about the size of a good sized motor boat) come up about a meter out of the water, catch air, arch like a high jumper and land back in the water with a big splash.

We pitched our camping tents on a spot picked up the two expedition leaders from Norway – Knut and Torant. We affectionately call them “the Norwegians”. They painstakingly scout out all land excursions and give general safety guidelines on what can be done on land and what should be avoided. For the camping, they secured the perimeter of the camping ground with a rope and instructed us never to cross the ropes for fear of avalanches and snow slides. Soon after we had our tents erected in the cold, wind and snow, the weather calmed down a bit, and the snow & the wind stopped. We further secured our tent against wind and snow with a weather cover and a dozen iron spikes, drilled deep into the ice below us. I shared my tent with James. For sleeping we had thin Styrofoam mattress and a sleeping bag. The space was cramped with backpacks, shoes, our parka jackets and there was hardly any space for two of us. Nothing can be left outside for the fear of snow, wind and ice. If I have taken to heart one thing in Antarctica so far, it is that the weather can change in an instant.

After the tent was up, we threw the Frisbee I brought with me around until it was too dark. To get us through the night, away from the safety of the ship or any other help, we carried headlamps, flash lights and emergency food. After some campsite stories, bordering on spookiness or humor, we hit the sleeping bags. We were all tired from the hike up the glacier with all the gear, pitching the tents and weathering the high winds and cold on the slope. There were plenty of ghost snorers on that slope that night, with me as their supreme leader. In our planning and supplies, I planned for everything, but for the ear plugs. Poor James came to appreciate his iPOD even more after the camping in the tent with me.