Port Lockroy, Antarctica
“Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor enters and takes over. A trip, a safari, as exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us… In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it. I feel better now, having said this, although only those who have experienced it will understand it.”
- John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley In Search of America
All good things must come to an end, and so we find that today is our last day on the Antarctic Peninsula. During this expedition we have crossed from South America to the Falklands, on to South Georgia, and for the last 5 days we have been here in Antarctica. The National Geographic Explorer has travelled thousands of miles, stopped at a huge diversity of sites, and along the way we were treated to great experiences with newfound friends. So many things in our living come and go, but shared experiences will stay with us for the rest of our lives.
We couldn’t have scripted better weather for the day. High clouds against an azure blue sky offered perfect conditions to visit the research station at British Base A, known to us as Port Lockroy. At the base itself we had one last shopping opportunity to find Christmas gifts for loved ones back home, or a nice remembrance from our time in Antarctica. A short Zodiac ride away found us at Jougla Point on Weincke Island, where gentoo penguins, blue-eyed shags and even a lone Weddell seal all posed for excited photographers.
The weather continued to hold and our activities after lunch proved to be the most adventurous of all. After a thorough testing by the natural history staff, we all stepped off the ship and directly onto frozen ocean in the form of fast ice, where we were literally walking on water! We stopped just long enough to pose for a photo in front of the ship wedged into the fast ice, then off to tramp around on the frozen sea. To bring the expedition to a climax some of us even chose to take the “Polar Plunge” and jump into the nearly freezing waters of the bay. A most fitting ending to an absolutely glorious adventure! Next stop the Drake Passage!
