““All journeys have secret destinations of which the traveler is unaware.” – Martin Buber

The Drake Lake?

28 Jan 2012 | No Comments | posted by Intrepid Explorer | in Antarctica, Full Travel Blog

Day 9 – Open Sea, The Drake Passage (Day 1)

We woke up to a gently rolling boat and the captain telling us that we were really lucky with the weather. The Drake can be hideous and we were all happy to get good news! There was a heavy mist hanging over the boat though and we couldn’t really see anything, so the crew had plans to keep us entertained. Every few hours we could go to a lecture about Antarctica in either English or Spanish. The first was about Birds though, and as I am not much of a birdwatcher, I thought I would see how much of it I could understand in the Spanish. I was surprised though, as they gave a different lecture about how Antarctica was a continent of extremes. I didn’t understand it all but am pretty pleased that I could get about 80% of what was said.

In the afternoon we started to chat with some of the other passengers. There is a surprising number of people near our age, which is great. We had thought that due to the cost of the trip, it may be an older demographic, but there are a few other backpackers! It seems to be a good group of people on board and with a small boat, that’s great.

We ended Day 1 with another movie night – this time the nature documentary Earth. It’s got gorgeous cinematography, but the narration is terrible, and as much as I’m a fan of James Earl Jones, I’m not sure Darth Vader is the best choice to talk about the mating habits of polar bears. Give it a miss and see any of the BBC documentaries instead.

Off to bed to see how bunks and high waves work…

Animal Count:
Cape Petrels – 8
Giant Petrel – 1

Scary Moment of the day – Even with a calm sea, at one point in the night, there was a big swell, and both Jon and I woke up thinking ‘Oh my god, what if we tip!!’