When we saw restraining straps on our beds in the vessel taking us to Antarctica we realized this trip would be different. This came soon after learning that, for many of our fellow travelers, this was their second, third, even fourth bid at launching this trip (mechanical difficulties or damage occurring during crossings are not uncommon). But we were lucky. Not only did we embark on schedule but our ear patches successfully prevented sea sickness during the notoriously rough two-day crossing of the Drake Passage. Nine landings featured penguins by the thousands, fur seals, an abandoned whaling enterprise and a British research station. Typically, once a scout boat could assure that an avenue to a landing point could be found through icy seas, zodiac boats would ferry us ashore eight at a time. We were briefed to allow penguins to approach us, but not approach them or use their pathways. Our visits were almost surreal. Surrounded by icebergs and a forbidding landscape, we walked the rock and ice-strewn habitat of creatures not seen elsewhere on earth, or we visited the ruins of abandoned human efforts to capitalize on this unique setting. We took many pictures, but share the belief that no camera can faithfully capture the fierce, epic grandeur of an Antarctic summer experience.
