Hello World!

So I just got back from probably the coolest place a guy could visit, Antarctica! Just to start off, I have to say I'm not going to write too much about it, all I can say is GO VISIT IT YOURSELF! It costs and arm and a leg but it was worth both. The pictures I've posted give you a small glimpse of what it was like, but that is shows about 2.5-5% of the awesomeness it really was. So there is my pre-blurb. For reals, just go there.

Anyways, so the trip was awesome. Someday, if I'm lucky, I'll come back again with my own kids, when they are older for sure though. Antarctica was an amazing place, somewhere like no other place. Honestly, when I think of all the amazing things I've seen in my life, they all pale in comparison.

So let me begin. I had known that I wanted to go to Antarctica before I ever came to South America, and tried to find some way of going there with some sort of research crew to help out. However, that never panned out and I was left wondering whether I would be able to go. I put it on the back burner until I was travelling through Patagonia and had heard that there were last minute tickets available at two different ports in Chile and Argentina. I decided to let fate play its cast and if there were any tickets available when I got to Ushuaia, I would go. Well, my first morning in Ushuaia I went and inquired, and there it was, a ticket. I booked it lickadee split and shipped out 2 days later. Lucky dog? I think so.

So the first two days of the voyage to Antarctica were on the Drake Passage, one of the most fearsome waters in the world. I was lucky on the way there; the waters were very calm for the voyage and I didn't get any sea sickness from the rocking. It was an enjoyable crossing during which I spent most of my time at the front of the boat looking for whales. I wasn't left empty handed and spotted the first whales of the trip, though what kind they were was never discovered.

I really don't think that I could continue giving a daily account of what happened and where we were. I can say that we went to the southern Shetland Islands, just north of the Antarctic Peninsula. From there we finally hit the continent, though most of our landings were on the Islands dotting the coast. The animals we saw were amazing, such as leopard seals, elephant seals, weddell seals, fur seals, crabeater seals, minke whales, humpback whales, pilot whales, some small dolphins, gentoo penguins, adelie penguins, chinstrap penguins, giant petrals, albotrasses, skuas, blue eyed shags, arctic terns, and other species. I was suprised with how much wildlife there was, and that was only part of the trip. The other part was the scenery. Words do not do them justice in reality. If you want to get an idea of what it was like, you know what to do.

Another part of the trip was the people I was with on the boat. There were a little over 40 passangers, consisting mostly of Aussies, Brits, and Americans. Actually, the Aussies were the funnest and largest group; I got a kick out of hearing them talk to each other with their accent! All I can say is that I look forward to visiting Australia and seeing some of the folks I met. They were great!

So yeah, the trip was an amazing one, and I gotta thank my parents for it, cause without their help, I would not have been able to see it. Now I just got go get my parents to go for themselves.

Anyways, that awesome adventure is over now, and though I have a hard time thinking of what could possibly top that trip, I have plenty of adventure left to go. Take care and PEACE OUT!