Saturday Night near King George's Island, ANTARCTICA

No Andee...I am not making this up!! We bumped up against an iceberg -- well technically a glacier since it was attached to the mainland of Antarctica. If you haven't seen it on the news, google FRAM and you will see what we're up to.

Everyone is safe, everyone is fine and the boat is not damaged. However, one lifeboat is a bit damaged. I'll try to upload a picture for you all. So - we are beginning to head back across Drake's Passage and back to Ushuaia with the escort of a Russian expedition boat "Academic Ioffe" - which will act as our spare lifeboat. Not that we need lifeboats, since our ship is fine. (Our little ship is shipshape.)

You'll probably see some of this in the news. We have a couple of newsmen on board and they have been busy sending out the word to the papers. I sent some pix to the Trenton Times and the Philly Inquirer so if any of you see those pix, save them for me.

It has been an adventure -- a little different adventure than we had planned. We're laughing a lot, eating quite a bit and enjoying a few cocktails now and then.

Right now, we are looking out the windows at the most magnificent scenery in the world and a couple of whales are swimming by. It's 9:00 pm and broad daylight! Will keep you posted.

Saturday pictures from Antarctica

This is a picture of the damaged lifeboat. ouch! It acted as an airbag for our ship.

These are our friends, the three amigos, that hung out with us today at the Chilean Base on Antarctica.

Guest Blogger Allie

12/29/07
Hi all --

I'm sitting in the cafe of our newfound home right now. Looking out the starbord side there is a gorgeous sunset at 12:45am. Out the port side its foggy, but still a very pretty dark blue sky. Through the fog I can see our trusty Russian ship that will be escorting us through Drake's passage for the next 3 days.

Some highlights from today:
Playing with penguins at the naval base.
Seeing ourselves on the news.
Hearing on the news that the Chilean navy saved (!?!) us. They, in fact, had nothing to do with our minor incident last night, nor our success. They were just a nearby landing site with some penguins that we decided to visit.
Playing hours upon hours of hearts with mom, dad and dave.
Mom trying to shoot the moon like 3 times in a row and forgetting that one of us already had a heart.
Onion rings and pasta.
Reading everyone's comments on the blog.

All in all, its been a pretty good day. It was also the first sunset we got to see down here (they don't happen very often at all).

This has been an incredible adventure so far. The four of us have been having a blast and are looking forward to showing you the 1000+ pictures we have taken in total while down here.

Keep the comments coming, they are so fun to read!

We miss and love you all.

See you in a few days!
Allie

Once again Dr Marc saved the day. Today there was a case of acute appendicities on board. Here we go again... we just uploaded the stroke victim last night and sent him on his way by airlift from the Chilean Base. Now there's a case of appendicities! We have set sail - full speed ahead - for Ushuaia to get this appendix kid to a hospital. Marc went up to the ships's doctor and asked if he could help. Well, her supply of medicines is very limited. She took a ton of stuff from Marc to help the patient. Before we reach Usuaia, I'm sure he'll be needed again -- maybe even to do an emergency appendectomy.

WE are all fine and laughing a lot. We did get out briefly to see a great group of penguins this morning. I'll will send pictures later.

We passed by Elelphant Island today. Elephant is the icon for Antarctics the way Cape Horn is for mariners. Those of you who are familiar with Sir Ernest Shackleton's fabled 1914 expedition will recall that Elephant Island is the place where 22 of Shackleton's crew were marooned for 4 and a half months. Led by one of history's great heros - John Robert Francis Wild, the barely survived living in horrible conditions beneath two life boats. Today the area where Wild camped with his men, is home to a colony of chinstrap penguins.

Good Morning from the Vicinity of Elelphant Island -- At the Bottom of the World

Thanks for your emails and comments. It's still very difficult and expensive to get emails out so I'll communicate to you through this blog. Your specific questions:

No Diane, that's not me. However that's a shipmate and I stepped out of the following boat. We were landing at the Chilean Base to see penguins and the Chilean Navy took advantage of the photo op to say they were rescuing us from our iceberg collision. There was no rescue because we were not in danger. The Chileans were looking for a way to get into the newspaper.

Catherine: Trip is really only cut short by a half day -- we are leaving a half day early so we can coordinate our Drake's Crossing with the itinerary of our escord ship - the Russian vessel Academic Ioffe.

David: You are right about who belongs in Antarctica.

Steve - Yes, we are enjoying many reindeer sandwiches. We eat reindeer in many forms.

This morning we are cuising in seach of iceberg B-15 -- which calved off the Antarctice penninsula a few years ago.. It is a huge iceberg and is about the size of Jamaica. We will also be near Elephant Island (of Shackelton fame) and maybe, just maybe we will have a landing to check out the wildlife there.

Our itinerary changes every 10 minutes based on weather and other condidtions. Be assured that one does not travel to Antarctica for a pleasure cruise (in the traditional sense of the word.) Rather it is an expedition and we go where nature permits. And, we abide by all the captain's decisions. Like for example, when we had our iceberg mishap Friday night, we were drifting towards a huge, threatening rock. Colliding with the iceberg was actually what happened while we were avoiding the rock.

If any of you see newspaper articles about us, please save them for me.

The Drake's Crossing back lays ahead later this afternoon. We are hoping that it will be as calm as it was getting here. More later...

Answers to Some of Your Questions

Here are some responses to your questions:



We have not been cold on this trip at all. When we go outside we do "full bundle" as you can see in our pix. Layers of long underwear, face masks. So we are very comfortable -- it's like how one would dress for a cold day of skiing. We also bundle up on the deck of the boat if we're on the windy side. On the protected side, we sunbathe. On the ship - we wear tee shits.

We are only allowed on land (rock, glacier) for 1 hour. This is the Antarctica regulation so we tourists do not mess up the ecosystem by trampling everything. We wash our rubber boots each time we leave and each time we reboard the ship.

Yes - there are great lectures all the time - on history, geology and ecology of Antarctica. The lecturers are our expedition guides who are very good. When we are not out making a landing, we read, play cards. wrtite i this blog, sunbathe and take a million pictures.

Will try to send pix soon.

Dave's Amazing Animal Pictures

CAN YOU SEE THE SEAL AMONG THE ROCKS?

PENGUIN FLAPPING HIS WINGS.

PENGUINS SINGING WITH AN AUDIENCE.

PENGUIN FEEDING ANOTHER PENGUIN -- OR DOING SOMETHING...
12/30/07

Good Morning from Drakes Passage

This morning we are in the middle of Drake's Passage. There are gale force winds and we are really bouncing. Fortunately we are acclimated and we are not seasick. However, we could have used a few bungie cords to tie ourselves into our beds last night. (Note to self: Pack bungie cords next time.) Above is picture of the waves this morning.

We got to visit the "bridge" this morning. Dave was called for a consultation with the Captain and as you can see, the Captain turned the ship over to Dave's capable hands for while.

We have an ETA of 8 am Tuesday morning arrival back in Ushuaia. That will put us a day ahead of schedule and we will most likely hang around Ush Tuesday and sleep on the ship Tuesday night. So, we will have lost one full day of exploring due to the iceberg collision. We are very content and satisfied that we have seen everything there is to see down here. However several passengers believe that we are due a refund of some kind and that we should be compensated for the iceberg collision.

I will post an additional note with pictures to show you how we are spending the time while crossing this incredible southern ocean.

Livin' la Vida Loca

When we are not off the ship, chillin' with the penguins, we keep very busy on board the good ship FRAM. Dave is usually on the bridge helping the captain avoid icebers (see photo on previous blog.) Marc is very busy helping the 25 year old ship's doctor and providing the appendicites patient with meds. Ruthellen takes pictures and blogs. Allie keeps us laughing. (No problem there - we laugh all day long!)

As busy as we are, there is still time for other activities -- here we are in the hot tub out on the deck - in 0 degree weather. This picture was taken at 10 pm. You can see the sun beginning to set in the background. The sun dips under the horizon but it never actually gets dark.

Last night there was a big show up in the lounge. The staff - waiters, housekeepers, engineers, etc put on a riotous talent show. It was terrific and it really brought everyone together for a great laugh. A few of the passengers had been a bit sour after the iceberg crash (I can't imagine why) and this show really lightened things up for everyone. The Captain once again "opened" the bar for free drinks.

A Few Words about Antarctica

Human eyes did not see Antarctica until 1820 yet it had been known to exist since the time of Aristotle. Although it has been on our maps and charts and satellite photos for less than 200 years, it survived in our imaginations for 2,000 years before that. Among all the mythical and magical places of the world - Atlantis, El Dorado, the Fountain of Youth - Antarctica is the only one we have found so far. Its very existence is proof of magic.

Shout Out to Ex-Frammies

I was excited to hear that Catherine had passed this along to some ex-Frammies and that you are following our adventures. You can just imagine what took place a few nights ago when we were told to go straight to the observation lounge with our warmest clothing. It was a Muster without the drill part. This ship is amazing and we were able to dislodge from the iceberg (technically glacier - more technically the continent of Antarctica) because we had the ability to steer the ship sideways. (Which answered the question of why the ship needs to be able to steer sideways!) And - you will be especially happy to hear that the only damage was one broken window and one lifeboat.

We all have fallen in love with this ship -- it is cozy and comfortable and capable.

Hurtigruten canceled the next trip to Antarctica. I guess the FRAM has to order a new lifeboat and also do full diagnostics to determine whether there was any other damage.

We are looking forward to our New Year celebration tonight. And - we wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.

Happy New Year from the Vicinity of Cape Horn

12/31/07
Happy New Year to all -- and shout out to Milko - Congrats on the birth of your new granddaughter, Olivia. Mazel Tov!

Since I wrote this morning, we had a roller coaster ride over Drake's Passage. We had some great lectures on board, a bit of suntanning on the outside deck (we used bungie cords) but mostly we slept through the waves. Just finished New Year's dinner -- guess what it was? Reindeer filet. Big party planned tonight up in the lounge with karoke (sp?) - can't wait.

The waters are getting calmer as we approach Cape Horn and we expect to be in Ushuaia when we awaken tomorrow morning. Since we lost a day at sea due to all the calamities, we will be treated to an all day tour (land and sea) of Ushuaia tomorrow. I'm not sure when I'll be able to blog next, so don't worry if you don't hear from me for a few days.

There is so much I want to add to this blog about our impressions of Antarctica. I won't be able to uintil I have a good internet connect back at home this weekend. So please continue to follow the blog through next weekend. I hope to wrap it up by Jan. 6th with some good stories and lots of pictures.

Ushuaia - January 1

1/1/08
This morning we made land at the southernmost city in the world - Ushuaia. It lies on the southern coast of the island Tierra Del Fuego surrounded by mountains and overlooking the Beagle Channel. To give you an idea of how remote Ushuaia is -- for the first half of the 20th century the city housed a prison for serious dangerous criminals, since it was so remote that escape would be impossible. Today, Ushuaia is a thriving gateway for Antarctica and Patagonian tourism.

We enjoyed a full day tour of greater Ushuaia. The highlight was a visit to a training school for husky dogs (the kind that pull the sleds.) It is the largest sled dog training center in So America. Here's a photo of Allie holding a newborn husky pup. soooo cute!

We also took a catamaran cruise in the Beagle Channel and came across this lighthouse. It is the southernmost lighhouse in the world. There are a lot of southernmost places here. We drove by the southernmost golf course in the world!

The third picture is of Magellanic Penguins kissing. These are Argentine penguins -- very plentiful and very attractive. We did not know that there were penguins outside of Antarctica -- but here they are!

That's it for today. We are still having a ball - and enjoying every minute. Tomorrow we head back to Santiago for an overnight and then we head home. As I mentioned, I will be making some final postings when I get home and the internet is better. Stay tuned.

LOVE AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

Pix from the Fram

These are the Polar Cirkel boats that take us ashore for our landings.

This is us, toasting our survival with champagne right after the glacier crash.

This is the view from the ship as we pulled away from the glacier.
1/2/08

Hola from Santiago, Chile

Good Morning Friends

We are in Santiago, Chile - the last leg of our journey home. We have had such an amazing adventure and we hate to see it end. Thank you so much for coming along with us -- for reading our postings and for commenting. And to the ex-frammies: Your buddies Ian and Anya really earned their keep on this trip. They and the rest of the crew worked so hard to keep us "afloat" and not "adrift" in all senses of those words. Interesting note - We are actually getting a cash rebate back from Hurtigruten because we missed some landings and returned a day early.

Antarctica --- Would we go back? Who should go? Here are some of my impressions:

It is truly a great wilderness. It takes days to get there and a crossing of treacherous waters. That is what makes it so special. It feels uncharted and there are lots of hazards along the way --- rough waters, many icebergs, extremely changeable weather conditions. If you get sick as two of our passengers did (by the way - the stroke guy is fine and the appendix was a false alarm -- just a bad tummy ache) there is no medical care and evacuation of a patient is almost impossible. (You can buy the medi-vac insurance but it doesn´´t help much if there is no way to get you out.) In the case of our stroke victim -- it was three days before a plane could fly in and and before we could rendezvous with that plane. However, our captain put the care of our sick passengers ahead of the expedition and our priortity was to get them the care they needed. (No Catherine, Marc did not have to perform surgery on board ... but almost!!!)

It is not a journey for the casual traveler. It´s not about sightseeing -- it is truly an expedition and is about exploration. There are no guarantees of what you will see nor is there a guarantee of a set itinerary. You have to put your trust in the hands of the captain and crew and trust that they will give you the best adventure posssible.

We experienced and saw far more than I ever could have expected. The penguins were adorable and funny and more plentiful than ants at a picnic! I will post a few more pictures later today for your enjoyment. The lectures were fastinating and informative.

We loved our ship - The Fram. It is a wonder of engineering and built to navigate the iceberg strewn waters. And, for some still unknown reason, the engine cut off at a very unopportune time. The ability of the Fram to move laterally got us disloged from the glacier. The ship was delightfully comfortable and homey. We would definitely sail on the Fram again.

I definitely recommend this trip for adventure travelers. If you go, be flexible, relax and have the confidence that your expedition team will take you on the adventure of a lifetime. Bring medications. Bring a really good camera with a telephoto lens. Bring a laptop computer to manage your photography and blog to your friends.

On the other hand -- this trip is not for young children and is only for people in good health.

Would we go again? You bet!!!

I will try to post some more penguin shots later.

Late night flight tonight back to New York.

Fame!

1/3/08
Shout out to Doug Berv for sending us the link to the article that was published in this morning's Bucks Co. Courier Times! What a riot! We were trying to give the reporter a sense of our adventure...who knew that she'd actually publish it in the newspaper!!??

For your reading enjoyment:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/111-01022008-1464874.html

Be sure to click and see Dave's Amazing Animal photos!!!

Seems as though the adventure continues to grow.

Giggling in Santiago. Love, Ruthellen, Marc, Allie and Dave

Images of Antarctica

Thanks for joining us on this expedition. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact Ruthellen at ruthellenr@comcast.net .

Happy New Year and happy and safe travels to all,

Ruthellen, Marc, Allie and Dave