Punta Arenas, Chile
My group arrived in Punta Arenas after 2 days of flying, and we were all escorted to the Jose Noguiera hotel where we would stay until we boarded the ship. We went out to a local restaurant, where Alpaca was on the menu – but I went with a local fish instead. I did some exploring in the city, where I learned you are supposed to rub the toes of a statue in the main square for safe passage across the Drake. An observation of mine is that Punta Arenas is a city ruled by dogs. They are everywhere, roaming around in packs, sitting at street corners and occasionally escorting you as you walk through their turf.
My group arrived in Punta Arenas after 2 days of flying, and we were all escorted to the Jose Noguiera hotel where we would stay until we boarded the ship. We went out to a local restaurant, where Alpaca was on the menu – but I went with a local fish instead. I did some exploring in the city, where I learned you are supposed to rub the toes of a statue in the main square for safe passage across the Drake. An observation of mine is that Punta Arenas is a city ruled by dogs. They are everywhere, roaming around in packs, sitting at street corners and occasionally escorting you as you walk through their turf.
Rubbing the toes. On the Ship
Well one thing I learned from the ship journey is how to stay on a treadmill while going over some of the roughest seas in the world. A normal day would consist of waking up for breakfast (or not) and then playing games or watching movies with others on the boat. It’s a pretty numb time, but there are good sights if you go outside and opportunities for photos.
Well one thing I learned from the ship journey is how to stay on a treadmill while going over some of the roughest seas in the world. A normal day would consist of waking up for breakfast (or not) and then playing games or watching movies with others on the boat. It’s a pretty numb time, but there are good sights if you go outside and opportunities for photos.
While going through the Drake Passage, all of us helped deploy XBT probes which tested water temperature and/or conductivity. A group of scientists is studying the ocean currents in the passage, and hope to release these probes for the next 50 years to obtain data. Some of the ship crew joke that by the end of the project, there will be stepping stones across the Drake where the probes were dropped. Basically the procedure is to shoot the probe out and you let it transmit data for a few minutes and then cut the line, it’s repeated every 30-45 minutes. Here I am in the process – I really was excited to be helping, I must have that face on because I had left my hat inside (note it’s around -13 degrees C with the wind chill).
Our fifth day at sea, we stopped at the Island of Copa to unload people and supplies to the field camp there. I was a ‘sherpa’ which meant I helped load stuff off the zodiacs (large inflatable boats) and onto land. It was a lot of work, but nice to actually be doing something after a few days at sea. We got to be close to some of the penguins, who were all congregated next to the field camp. I nearly did a split between the ship ladder and the zodiac on our way back, but I hung on for dear life and made it up. I think it would have been a bad end to the day to fall in that water. Brrr. Too bad when the boat leaves on Sunday I'll be jumping in voluntarily for the local tradition.
Penguins!So far at the station I've hiked up the glacier in our backyard and will soon be learning how to drive and operate Zodiac boats.
Buenos Aires was also rules by dogs. ;) Fabulous pictures!!! I love the penguins!!!
ReplyDeleteYay! Your trip sounds awesome! Thanks for the update! :)
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