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Friday, February 4, 2011

Antarctica, First Land Sighting

 

Around 4:30pm on Day 3 of sailing southbound from Ushuaia, I prove scientifically to myself that it is possible to get goose bumps on top of goose bumps even when the temperature is near freezing and you are wearing a parka.

 

CAN 017 I have just become my own modern day Christopher Columbus as I have just spotted land on the northern portion of the Antarctic Peninsula.

 

 

I think I have the same sense of excitement as in1492 although I am nowhere close to dancing on the deck or jumping overboard to celebrate.

 

 

CAN 004 The islands in the distance do not seem as hospitable as my birth country was in 1492 to Columbus but the sight still brings a feeling of euphoria.

 

 

Even without the warmth of a tropical sun there is a beauty here that is spectacular.

After days of sailing we are now maybe just hours from setting foot on the continent where the coldest temperatures on the earth have been recorded.

 

CAN 016 No doubt,  Antarctica’s welcoming can still at times be “as cold as ice”.

However, I think we have found the right time of the year for a visit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 comments:

Erin said...

I remember the goosebumps from my first sighting of Antarctica ... no place else has generated quite the same response.

DMBTraveler said...

Yes, what an experience when land is first sighted although it looks so forbidding. Being in Antarctica is definitely like discovering a New World!