Weather
You never know what the weather will be like down here. We began the day with low expectations. In fact, we cancelled our kayaking expedition because the winds were a little strong. At one point in the morning it looked like a storm would be coming through. Then, all of a sudden, the weather turned in our favor and the rest of the day was absolutely beautiful. Sunny, warm (relatively speaking), and a calm bay. It was a wonderful surprise. The expedition leader at one point told us that he likes to call the Shetland Islands the “SHITland Islands” given the pretty consistent terrible weather that it experiences. Today, however, he said it was the best weather he had ever seen in this area. Fingers crossed that it continues this way!
Snow-Shoeing
We began our first day of expeditions with a Zodiac (small boat) trip to a military base on the mainland. The 4 Desert runners were already well underway by the time we had arrived… impressive. Their goal was to run 100km on the first day, knocking out about 40% of the running objective. On the shore-line I spotted my first penguin, a Gentoo, who seemed very comfortable maneuvering around the area… neat!
We, on the other hand, warmed up with a snow-shoeing activity. We got off of the rocky land to the snow where we put on our gear. From the base we walked in a group maybe 3km in total, there and back, to the top of a nearby peak to get spectacular views of the bay. We followed the running trail that the 4 Desert runners were using and it was already well trampled on. We passed a neat Russian church on the way, and afterwards it was pretty much just snow with the occasional rocky patch peeking out… awesome!!! This was my first time using snow shoes and it did help as the snow was quite deep in certain areas. On the way back we did climb up to the church and it was surprisingly impressive.
Penguin Rookery
After lunch on the boat (we took the Zodiac back) we headed out again to see a penguin rookery (nesting area) which was just up the coast line. This is a protected area as the penguin population is decreasing, so we were only allowed to land in a specific section of beach and we were not allowed to walk off the rocks and onto the grass. Additionally, we were to maintain a 5 meter distance from the penguins at all time. We could only get closer if they walked up to us, which they did do from time-to-time. The rookery was populated mostly by Gentoos, but there was a lone Chin-strap penguin wandering about, too. Loads of pictures were taken, and the experience was pretty special.
Chilean and Russian Stations
From the penguin rookery we took the Zodiac back to the military base where we were given permission to enter the Chilean Naval Base and the Russian Base. The difference was pretty interesting. The Chileans welcomed us with a guided tour by Nestor (a Chilean Naval Sargeant) all in English. He claimed his English was not great and I volunteered to help translate in Spanish, but in fact he did a fine job. He explained to us that their main function was search and rescue, and that everyone on the base is stationed there for 13 months at a time. That’s 13 months straight… no visits home, no family coming to visit, limited entertainment, etc… The TV only had 3 stations… 1 Chilean, 1 Dutch, and 1 Russian. It was all pretty basic, but at least it was warm! We vanished our visit by getting 2 stamps from the Chilean Antarctic base in our passports… nice!
We followed this by walking to the Russian base, maybe 7 minutes away. On the way we saw some of the runners again. They were probably 10 hours into their first day and still going strong… amazing! In the Russian base there were ashtrays abound, no tour, and all they did was stamp our passport and then we left. Very efficient… LOL. That being said, they did have nice facilities which included a game room complete with pool table and ping-pong table. All I am saying is that between the two bases I would be hanging out with the Russians.
