Journey to the 7th Continent Day 7
11th March 2017, Day 7
The next morning, we awoke to an announcement by the expedition leader that we were entering one of the most beautiful channels in the Antarctic Peninsula. If you recall, a channel is a body of water surrounded on two sides by land. In this case, there were towering cliffs on both sides, peaks in the clouds, as we drifted past in silent awe. Ok, maybe we weren't that silent...
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Truly one of the most beautiful places I've been fortunate to see in my life, the Lemaire Channel. Especially precious was the ice on the peaks glinting gold through the fog of the morning.
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Even as a cloudy fog descended into the channel, it only seemed to render the scene more mystical, like a dream sequence. We could still make out features in the channel before us. Try to guess how big the channel was, if the whales look that tiny within it...
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Just looking at these images transports me effortlessly back to this place, straight out of an epic adventure novel. Such mysterious beauty...
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Maybe you'll notice, I definitely can't unsee, that some of the photos from this day are comparably lower quality than before. Earlier that morning, in the excitement on the deck, I dropped my camera and the neck got stuck. I had little time to fix it between breakfast and preparing for the landing so most of the photos you'll see were shot with my iPhone. Decent, but still. (But don’t worry, it got fixed in the evening!)
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The transfixing landscape, a panorama in 5 images. To me, the last image especially, with the bay full of icebergs of all sizes, is the quintessential iconic memory of the Antarctic. It was the closest to what I assumed Antarctica would be like before I got here.
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Something about this bay just stirs up something deep inside me - a paradoxical sense of serene stillness and the urge for adventure all at once.
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Just taking in the view. I've always been amazed by how easily our mortal tiny eyes can gaze upon the seemingly infinite - be it a night sky full of stars from faraway galaxies, or an untouched landscape with countless wrinkles and every shade of the rainbow - and still not be overwhelmed.
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And on the other side of the thin slice of island, there was an bay that was essentially an iceberg factory, and the open sea all the way to the horizon was littered with icebergs of all shapes and sizes.
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We found ourselves in bumpy water that morning, snaking between ice floes.
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We had some curious visitors, like this humpback that "spyhopped" what we were up to. I think it was planning on being stealthy, all ninja-like, but didn't do a very good job...
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The closest I ever got a whale. Can't wait to go whale watching again!
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Some crabeaters were especially playful around our boat.
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Another fantastic ice-sculpture, a towering arch that was at least twice as tall as the ship.
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The Antarctic is melting, the Earth is running a fever and Nature needs our help. But even in her dire state, she gifted us such magnificent sights it sent shivers down my spine - it wasn't always the cold.
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Winter came, winter stayed.
The absolutely stunning Lemaire Channel. Honestly, this is the most beautiful place I've ever been in my life.
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Which brings me to a recurrent thought I've always entertained: that the universe is always magical, but not always in the timescales humans can perceive.
Mountains are alive, they are born, they grow, they wrinkle and then they pass on - but in the timespan of billions of years. Entire generations of quantum reactions happen within the blink of an eye. The sun is a slow-motion nuclear explosion and we're merely sunbathing in its eon-spanning plume.
Humanity itself hasn't stood still over the centuries: we were like babes once grasping at stones, experienced teenage existential angst during the Dark Ages and are now entering a formative time when we choose the life purpose of our species. Every spoken word is a magic spell that enters others' ears, hearts and minds, influencing decisions and outcomes that sometimes change the very course of history.
The universe is magical, but only for those who haven't forgotten the joy of awe and wonder.
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Another day, another safari on ice.
It was time to head back, in time for a big surprise later that evening. I took my last glance at the mythical landscape, desperately wishing that my brain could record these precious moments for eternity. Thank goodness for cameras!
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Standing in line before the dip, my mind was dizzy with imagining what it would be like. I was somewhat comforted by the dozen or so people who jumped before me - and I figured, if they survived I should be fine too. Small comfort.
How best to describe the feeling? It was cold. A shock to the nervous system. I unwittingly swallowed some Antarctic water - more salty than I remember seawater being. The cold reached my bones. But the 20 seconds I was in water, I was almost getting comfortably numb. Then the expedition personnel helped to pull me out with the red cord.
As I started up the ladder, it wasn't the cold but the heat of the ambient air that was excruciating. My nerves were on fire. For about the next 30 seconds, I couldn't really move. Every inch of skin was registering a signal and my brain felt overloaded. Eventually, and rather quickly, the sensation passed of course, but while it lasted, it felt like a reboot of the system.
Since meaning-making is important to me, I refer to this as my baptism by ice to the Church of Earth.
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Sense of scale.
Oh, did I mention I managed to fix my camera in time for the best sunset of my life? Stay tuned, the next couple of posts are going to be gorgeous.
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While others jumped into the sauna after the icy dip, I had a nice long shower and headed up to the deck, only to find that the evening sun was turning the sky into all kinds of pastel hues. As the ship slowly went past the Lemaire Channel for the last time, we were witnessing what photographers dream of: a fantastic landscape and dreamy natural lighting.
Oh and it would only get better.
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Here's a secret only polar explorers know. Ice is never white. It is everything but - blue, grey, pink, green, orange. And that evening the peaks started glinting gold. I like to imagine it was our reward for braving the Polar Plunge.
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I witnessed this - and couldn't stop myself getting lost in reverie. Sunsets have never been the same since.
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The sunset kept on giving.
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None of us wanted to admit that Day 8 would be our last in Antarctica!