Palmer Station, Anvers Island, & the Neumayer Channel, Antarctica
"The first time you come for the adventure. The second time you come for the money. The third time, because you don't fit in anywhere else."
So goes the saying at Palmer Station, the U.S. research facility we visited today, where scientists and support staff fit in just fine. Many of us wondered what life would be like if we managed to join them and gave up on the hustle-bustle of the rest of the world. What a spectacular setting for an exile, here on the Danco Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Yet for all its isolation, Palmer Station made us feel at home with a warm welcome, lots of information, and an interesting tour. And don't forget the "best chocolate brownies in Antarctica." Or the shopping! We've seen some recent sneak attacks by skuas, but with Christmas coming we made a frontal assault on the Palmer gift shop.
Just a quick Zodiac trip away, we visited the much-studied Adelie penguin colony on Torgerson Island. Our own naturalist Brent Houston, who spent years at Palmer doing penguin research, explained the various behaviors we witnessed - the penguins commuting back and forth, greeting one another, fighting off incursions by skuas.
As we boarded the zodiacs a final time, we lingered, not wanting to leave Antarctica. What an adventure. We've seen and felt so much, from savage cold winds, to sunny calm days with mirror reflections on the Lemaire Channel. From blue ice castles, to black volcanic beaches, to pink pastel sunsets. And the penguins. We now know this: You can watch nature videos from here to eternity, but until you've stood in the bracing wind and watched these impossibly small yet resilient little birds make their way one step at a time, you cannot imagine it. Once you've seen it, you cannot forget it.
"The first time you come for the adventure. The second time you come for the money. The third time, because you don't fit in anywhere else."
So goes the saying at Palmer Station, the U.S. research facility we visited today, where scientists and support staff fit in just fine. Many of us wondered what life would be like if we managed to join them and gave up on the hustle-bustle of the rest of the world. What a spectacular setting for an exile, here on the Danco Coast of the Antarctic Peninsula. Yet for all its isolation, Palmer Station made us feel at home with a warm welcome, lots of information, and an interesting tour. And don't forget the "best chocolate brownies in Antarctica." Or the shopping! We've seen some recent sneak attacks by skuas, but with Christmas coming we made a frontal assault on the Palmer gift shop.
Just a quick Zodiac trip away, we visited the much-studied Adelie penguin colony on Torgerson Island. Our own naturalist Brent Houston, who spent years at Palmer doing penguin research, explained the various behaviors we witnessed - the penguins commuting back and forth, greeting one another, fighting off incursions by skuas.
As we boarded the zodiacs a final time, we lingered, not wanting to leave Antarctica. What an adventure. We've seen and felt so much, from savage cold winds, to sunny calm days with mirror reflections on the Lemaire Channel. From blue ice castles, to black volcanic beaches, to pink pastel sunsets. And the penguins. We now know this: You can watch nature videos from here to eternity, but until you've stood in the bracing wind and watched these impossibly small yet resilient little birds make their way one step at a time, you cannot imagine it. Once you've seen it, you cannot forget it.