Antarctica Travel Blog Nov 22: Penguins and Preparing for McMurdo Dry Valleys
November 22, 2011
Last evening, we headed toward an area further close to Taylor Valley in the McMurdo Dry Valleys in hope to make a helicopter operation. About 2am the Kapitan Khlebnikov's engines were shut down as the captain could not get the ship closer to the valley due to the thick ice. The goal was to park as close to Taylor Valley as possible to make the helicopter ride shorter to the valley.
Visibility was poor so the departure time of 8 am was delayed until the skies cleared until about 3 pm. It is quite an operation to get 100 people off the ship for a 60 minute excursion. The McMurdo Dry Valleys are the largest ice-free region in Antarctica. Parts of the Dry Valleys have not seen rain for over 2 million years. It one of the world's largest desert with a approximate mean annual temperature of -19C. During our excursion we will land to walk around on a designated area and view the mummified seals that are over 1,500 years old.
During our waiting time, we've been off the ship walking around on the pack ice and watching penguins jump and in out of the water near the ship. The Emperors walk among us and gaze up at the ship with curiosity. They seem to be quite entertained by our presence.
Anyway my group is scheduled to fly to the Dry Valley about 11 pm tonight so it will be another late night in the midnight sun!
(This is Laurie's fourth visit to Antarctica. She is blogging her way through this epic month-long Antarctica cruise; the Kapitan Khlebnikov's Ross Sea Centennial Voyage. Tune in for daily updates from the field. Pictures from Laurie's past Antarctica travels are found on her website.)
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.