Palmer Archipelago
Today we have been following, literally and stylistically, in the footsteps of the great French polar explorer, Jean-Baptiste Charcot. We are in the Palmer Archipelago, the group of islands off the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula where Charcot and his men overwintered during two expeditions just over one hundred years ago. These islands and the adjacent mainland are a dramatic landscape of ice and rock that soars vertically out of the sea, surrounding us with the severe beauty of a very Antarctic setting.
After passing through the famous Lemaire Channel, where a clearing snowstorm gave us excellent views of the peaks around us, we turned north along the west coast of Booth Island to the site known as Port Charcot. It was here that Charcot and his men brought their ship, the Français, in February of 1904 and remained until Christmas of that year. Exploring the rocky isthmus where the expedition had made their base, we came upon all three species of the brush-tailed penguins we have come to know and hiked up to a cairn left as a monument on a high promontory.
At the same time, Zodiac cruises were setting out among the spectacular field of large icebergs grounded in the shallow waters to the west of Booth Island. Here we found an endlessly varied sculpture garden of blue and white ice, full of exquisite detail and unique color, broken into craggy towers, carved into sinuous lines, moving and changing before our eyes.
Kayakers had set out as well, but the north wind rose to quite a furious pitch by mid-morning, creating the most Antarctic conditions we have yet encountered, so they soon returned to base. The rest of us followed not long after, ready to refuel with a good hot meal.
During lunch the National Geographic Explorer moved a few miles south to Petermann Island, the site of Charcot’s second overwintering camp when he returned to the Antarctic Peninsula region in his new ship the Pourquoi-Pas? in 1908-10. This island was also the site of the Oceanites research camp for five years during the past decade. Ian, Melissa and Heather, who had all spent time there conducting research on the Gentoo and Adelie penguins, were on hand to tell us about their experiences at this remote base. Once again Zodiac tours cruised among the nearby fleets of bergs and once again the wind was up, making us all feel quite a bit like polar explorers ourselves.
Charcot, known to his contemporaries as “The Polar Gentleman,” was famous for making the members of his expeditions comfortable with amenities like divided cabins with writing desks, gourmet meals and electric lights in the shore huts. As travelers on the National Geographic Explorer, we can well appreciate the wisdom of his ways. Each day we bundle up and go out, heedless of the wind and weather, because we know we will return to the warm dry cabins, delicious dinners and comfortable beds that rejuvenate us and prepare us for the next day’s adventures. Charcot would certainly approve.
