The passage from Antarctica to the rest of the world is shortest along a path towards Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. This dreaded sea is the only stretch of ocean on earth where wind and storm can travel around the world unfettered by any land. It has had been growing for 30 million years, when South America was the last continent to break off of a stationary Antarctica. Our travels so far, once we left Antarctica and headed north, have been without drama. The National Geographic Explorer was built with these seas in mind. While there was wind and swell, they were both gentle enough that the ship made good time and it looks as though we may be able to approach the Chilean island of Cape Horn tomorrow and see land’s end in South America. That is where we will see green again and not realize how much we have missed it. It is the lack of things familiar as well as the presence of things unfamiliar that make Antarctica unique. It is the dichotomy of extremes that define Antarctica; the highest yet lowest, wettest yet driest and so on.
Aboard ship there were presentations offered and views of some sea birds making their way north as the short Antarctic summer season is winding to a close. It has been an extraordinary expedition to the White Continent. We will take many memories home and have a new frame of reference for what we call home.
