We finally experience Antarctica in all its glory

Today was absolutely the best day thus far in Antarctica. I already shared with you that we had a chance to visit a penguin colony this morning and cruise around lots of icebergs. That was an awesome experience.


I couldn't image it getting better (other than the storms dissipating and blue sky appearing, which does not seem likely with the current weather pattern). However, it did actually get better. First, we had our official awards ceremony this afternoon and I was recognized for placing third in the half marathon. That was great. Then, we cruised several hours south to Nicco Bay (not sure how to spell) and had a chance to land on the Antarctica continent itself. It was snowing pretty hard and there was quite a bit of pack ice all around the land. There were huge glaciers and mountains towering above us and we could sort of see the tops through the snow. It was so humbling to see the majesty of the continent. The zodiak rides were somewhat like Mr. Toad's wild ride because the winds and waves were fairly intense. The expedition staff had to stand in water almost to their waist to meet the zodiaks trying to land and disembark passengers. On land we were surrounded by penguins, almost like we were part of the colony itself. You couldn't come close to keeping the 15 feet safety zone because they walked right up to you and walked around you all the time. The snow was almost blowing horizontal due to the high winds and yet the penguins didn't seem bothered at all.


My new Nikon D90 camera has stopped working, probably due to all the moisture this morning. Instead, I used my small point and shoot in the meantime, while my D90 camera sits in a bag of rice to try and draw out all the moisture in the camera body. I hope it works tomorrow. Thank goodness I purchased the extended warranty from Best Buy!

This evening I sat at the German table for dinner. One of my roommates, Till, is a German native who is working in America. Till, his girlfriend Brooke, myself, and two other German runners (including Horst, the runner who was trying for his 1,500+ marathon), sat together and had a lovely dinner. My German was rusty but I was able to contribute to the conversation and understand some of it. After dinner, several of us gathered in the smoking section of the ship to enjoy our post-race celebratory Cuban cigars and Scotch. I really don't like smoking and detest cigarette smoke. However, I am willing to make the exception once a decade for a really fantastic cigar and single malt Scotch. The last cigar I had was on New Year's Even in Korea in 2001. My new friend Andrew (not that kind of friend, truly just a friend) and I purchased Cuban cigars and single malt scotch in Buenos Aries and were joined by about 8 other people who had also purchased/brought a cigar. It was lots of fun and we even took a picture of ourselves with the Antarctica marathon banner to send to Cigar Aficionado. One of the participants was the Prince of the Netherlands. Heis a very nice gentleman. I enjoyed a nice lunch with him earlier today and we discussed homeland security stuff. He is very involved in homeland security in his country and so we had lots in common to discuss. He is traveling with his friend Olav, who used to be a professional cyclist and competed in the Olympics in Athens. Both are very interesting to talk to and good company.

It is still snowing hard outside so we'll see whether we can go ashore tomorrow. I hope so because we have been invited to visit the United States scientific research station called Palmer Station. They only offer 6 invitations a year to outside parties to visit. After that, we will start the 60 + hour journey back to Ushuaia. It is hard to believe but we are getting close to the end of this wonderful adventure.