Half Moon Island (Day 6 – 11/27/2016)

I could feel it in the morning, we weren’t rocking so much anymore! I’d come to learn we’d hit some impressive waves (up to fourteen feet if you measure bottom to top, though apparently that’s not how you do these things if you’re a real sea person). This had caused the listing, the sickness, and my inability to join normal society. Today would be better! Oh… but yes the cough. I still have the cough. It’s more of an annoyance now but I’m sure I’ll spend too much time thinking I’m well when I’m not yet, having a drink and making it worse again, etc.. I deeply want to be on vacation, I just need to get this behind me as soon as possible.

Jen cajoled me into breakfast, and after that lectures about glaciers and sea ice (from a PHD, it was pretty fantastic and you’ll be getting little tidbits of knowledge as I post pictures in later updates), and a lecture about penguins we would be seeing… later TODAY!

 

It seemed like it had been days since seeing land, I think it was just the seasickness, but this is what I’d be seeing out the window every day for the next week or so… Also, that’s a zodiac boat there in the bottom of this picture.

 

It was our first landing today, on “half-moon island”. This island has a few small penguin rookeries, an abandoned Argentinian base (budget cuts), and plenty of room to walk around and see things. It’s actually quite a thing to get ready for, however, and something to consider if you’re wondering about this type of trip. Here’s my requirements to get into a zodiac landing boat:

• Fill backpack with standard gear, removing unnecessary gear (I forgot about my Surface, surprisingly… carried around extra weight all day today.)
• Put on thermal socks/pants/shirt
• Put on waterproof pants
• Put on waterproof parka
• Put on waterproof boots
• Grab hat/gloves/scarf
• Put on sunscreen
• Put on sunglasses
• Tuck non-waterproof pants into boots
• Put on very uncomfortable life jacket

 

 

This is the first time in my adult life I’ve felt like the marshmallow you did as a child when you got dressed in your snow gear (only Colorado maybe on this one?!?). It took me nearly twenty minutes to dress! There are many rules too, all of the best but rules non-the-less. We need to ensure we have as little environmental impact as possible, to avoid startling wildlife or walking in their pathways, and to ensure we’re not leaving behind a death trap (deep footprint, etc.,) where the local wildlife could be impacted.

 

 

 

I got all dressed, fixed my pack with the required things, and we headed out to the zodiac boats. The entry/exit actually wasn’t so bad. They have you “check out” of the boat to ensure they don’t forget anyone, and then check back in when you’re back, and the crew was extremely helpful in getting me on the boat, and back off of it, when needed. We hiked probably a mile, maybe a little more than that, and saw three different kinds of penguins, all sorts of birds and rock formations, and ended up seeing the sun clear just in time to catch some amazing mountain scenery emerging.

 

 

It was like pulling silk cover back off of a surprise car, revealing splendor underneath! I have a video from our Zodiac on the way back I will share, so that you can see this as well!

 

After seeing a great deal of chinstrap penguins, we were alerted by the kayaking group (there’s a group of kayakers on this trip from Australia that do trips around the world to exotic places) to the location of a wayward emperor penguin, and we added a few photographs of him as well, and headed back to the boat.

 

 

 

 

We had dinner, had a quick debriefing meeting, and now I’m at the bar. I’m coughing, which must mean it’s time for bed. We have another landing in about five hours! More penguins, more abandoned Argentinian sheds, more continent to step on!