Tag Archives: chinstrap penguins

Antarctica: Our Last Footsteps

Antarctica-last-1

Our last landing in Antarctica. An island covered in penguins – both gentoo and chinstrap. There is quite a bit of wind here, so the smell isn’t too bad. Either that, or I have gotten used to the smell of penguin poop… what a terrifying thought. There aren’t any glaciers around, so at least we can walk around with ease. The penguins are all molting, so there are feathers flying everywhere. Note to self: keep mouth closed so feathers don’t fly in when the next breeze comes along.

Antarctica-last-2

Aitcho Islands, aka land of the penguins

Continue reading

Exploring the “Crazy” Side of Antarctica: King George Island

Arriving to King George Island

Arriving to King George Island

China in Antarctica! Arriving to King George Island was such an odd experience. For days and days, all we’ve seen when we peered out the ship’s deck was glaciers and icebergs. Vast nothingness. But this morning, looking out, there were buildings and cars! Barely a penguin in sight. Quickly boarded the zodiac and got dropped off. Navigated through a bunch of trash at the shoreline, but once Team China has assembled, we were ushered into a truck operated by Chilean company DAP. Extremely odd experience. Riding in a truck in Antarctica, it almost felt unnatural, but now, here we are! As soon as we saw signs in Chinese, we knew we had arrived.

Team China on IAE 2013

Team China on IAE 2013

Continue reading