All entries under Day 08: 20th Mar

When the sunlight kissed my face as my feet touched ground on the Antarctic Continent, I realized that my life would never be the same. I immediately felt this overwhelming sense of serenity and humility coupled with an unprecedented joy. I have made it to paradise. Nothing quite prepares you for the sudden rush of emotion that comes to you when you witness the beauty Antarctica has.

As cliché as it may seem, a person can truly find himself in Antarctica. Her nature is so intriguing as her beautifully rugged exterior behaves as a façade to her real desire- wanting you dead. I have been so fortunate to observe and feel Antarctica in her fury, yet also seeing her at peace. This paradox of Antarctica is what has enabled me to become completely enamored by her. I can’t help but to be saddened for the rest of the world as they will never witness true beauty. Photos do not have the ability to capture the 360 degrees of heaven that surrounds you.

Standing in Antarctica you have never been more surrounded and never been so alone. You close your eyes and listen to the conversations of penguins and the unrecognizable stillness. The smell of Antarctica, at times, is very similar to any wharf. Antarctica is harsh and cold to the touch, but so pleasing to the eye. Antarctic snow seems to taste just a little bit sweeter.

It is difficult to articulate what happens to all five of your senses while in Antarctica. She is so much more than a collection of beautiful colors. I feel so honored to be one of the few to have seen what Antarctica truly is and always has been.

My favorite aspect of Antarctica is that it forces me to confront the relationship between beauty and terror. We talk a lot about the beauty of the landscapes we’re passing through, but I haven’t heard many comments on how scary it all is. The landscape presents an insoluble existential puzzle. What possible place could I have here? It is undeniably beautiful, but it is not warm and fuzzy and welcoming; in fact it is the polar opposite of warm and fuzzy and welcoming. I remember Randy Newman singing about the city of Chicago in the U.S.: “That town is a little too tough for you and me, girl.” The continent doesn’t care if you survive or not. Unlike the urban or suburban environments, for example, where most people on the planet now live, comfort and safety have not been built-in. When I walk down Broadway in NYC, for example, every single thing within my line of sight is man-made with the exception of the sky. It is a thoroughly human environment, whereas Antarctica is without apology anti-human. Antarctica is automatically by Nick’s definition outside comfort zone. That can create anxiety, depression, despair, panic. If the Amazon rain forest is a carbon sink, then Antarctica is a fear sink. “Beauty is terror which declines to destroy us,” said Kierkegaard (and I’m probably misspelling his name and mis-quoting him). That could be the source of the heightened beauty of this place – a subconscious gratitude that it didn’t deign to kill us. There was something thrilling about staring out into that desolate valley behind the E-base – a Biblical valley of the shadow of death is what it felt like to me. I kept asking myself, where do I fit in? And looking into that valley the answer always came back, you don’t. There was some perverse satisfaction for me in that.

Download Ice and Orcas

See also the video archive for videos that have just been posted from previous days.

Blog from Cabin 208 Ines Rupprecht My roommate Nicola jumped out of bed this morning even before Peters soothing wakeup call touched my ears. She had a vision of breakfast she said. Expeditions always start early (6 – 7 am) and in the dark. Or is it just because I blocked the window with another blanket because it got so cold? First challenge of today was which color thermal base layer shall we put on and does that match our mid and top layer??? (not that there is much of a choice though…) Greetings to all Merino sheep around the world – I love you! Especially when we had minus 30 degrees on deck. I made my decent from the upper bunk bed – I am getting quite artistic after all these days and went to breakfast with my loved Nutella. After that - ready to land. Image me sitting on the zodiac just holding the rope with one hand!! I feel like a mixture of superwoman and Michelin man. I got so many clothes on, (layers layers layers) I feel and look like a seal. If an Orka will eat me it’s just because of the tons of clothes. The landing was great – a huge iceberg crashing in front of us was amazing. No words for that. Whales and penguins followed us during the day. Thank god I brought that sunscreen factor 50 and put in my backpack. Putting some on my face would have been an even better idea. Hanging out on the bridge in the afternoon, Nicola spotted a group of 6 Orka whales. Those have not been seen since January. Even the crew got excited. As Nicola saw them first, the captain Jorge gave her a bottle of red wine. I expect we will be upgraded to a first class cabin tonight with whirlpool and room service. Yesterday we have passed the place where the cruise ship Explorer just sank – hit by a growler. When I went up the bride the other night (quite spooky place at night as only the radar is on and it is pitch black). The staff was looking outside with some sort of special-night-vision-growler-detectors I thought. Actually those were only ordinary binoculars. Teamwork is trust I have learned in these days and they look like they have done that before. Went to bed and slept well. Today and tomorrow is camping night and I am happy I will go tomorrow together with Nicola. Oh yes, what a hell of a camper I am and always have been. At least no ants or mosquitoes and I might skip the morning shower.