antarctica :: muellerworld

Antarctica

A 25-day boat ride around the Scotia Sea

December 29, 2003 - January 22, 2004

Photos:

A few photos from the Falkland Islands, South Georgia & the Antarctica Peninsula: http://www.muellerworld.com/antarctica/photos/

Also, check out Barb Edelblute's Antarctic Gallery

Itineary:

Click here to see the flight path from New Zealand to South America, then California, then back to New Zealand (25,618 miles).

Getting there:

Dec. 16: Wellington, New Zealand to Papette, Tahiti (layover).
Dec. 18: Papette, Tahiti to Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Dec. 22: Easter Island to Santiago, Chiile and on to Buenos Aries, Argentina
Dec. 25: Buenos Aries to Ushuaia

For the Antarctic leg of my trip, I traveled with Cheeseman's Ecology Safaris on the M/V Polar Star from Ushuaia, around the Southern Ocean, and back to Ushuaia.

Dec. 29: Embark from Ushuaia, Argentina.
Dec. 30: En route the Falkland Islands.
Dec. 31 - Jan. 2: Three days in the Falklands at private reserves on four islands.
Jan. 3 - 4: Cruise the South Scotia Sea to South Georgia Island.
Jan. 5 - 11: a week on South Georgia Island.
Jan. 12 - 14: Cruising the South Atlantic to Antarctica via the South Orkney Islands.
Jan. 15 - 20: The Antarctic Peninsula, "banana belt" of Antarctica.
Jan. 21 - 22: The Drake Passage and return up the Beagle Channel to Ushuaia, Argentina.

Getting home:

Jan 25: Depart Ushuaia. Buenos Aries, Lima, Los Angeles
Jan 26-Feb 4: Los Angeles & snowboarding in Lake Tahoe.
Feb 5: Los Angeles to Wellington, New Zealand and back to work...

Photographic & Computer Gear:

Fujifilm Finepix S2 Pro Camera Body
Nikon D100 Camera Body w/ MB-D100 Grip
Nikon F100 Camera Body
Nikon 70-200/2.8 VR lens
Nikon 50/1.4 lens
Nikon 17-35/2.8 AF-s lens
Sigma 14/2.8 lens
Nikon TC-14eII Teleconverter
Nikon SB-80DX flash
Gitzo 1228 Carbon Fibre Tripod
Kirk BH-1 Ball Head

125 Rolls: Provia 100F & 400F, misc print film
2GB worth of CF cards (1GB, 512MB, 2x256MB)
Macintosh G4 laptop (80GB harddrive)
External 60GB harddrive (firewire powered for backups)
Nixvue Vista 30GB CF card reader (for daily shooting)
Apple iPod (40GB) for additional back-up (and playing MP3 files)

It turned out that the iPod became my primary back-up device because I did not make enough space on my laptop or my 60GB drive before I left home. In retrospect, I should have made about 30-40 gigabytes available on both my laptop and back-up hard drive before leaving home.

Penguins

Types we saw:

King (Aptenodytes Patagonicus)
Adelie (Pygoscelis Adeliae)
Chinstrap (Pygoscelis Antarctica) a.k.a. Ringed, Bearded, Antarctic, Stone-Cracker
Gentoo (Pygoscelis Papua) a.k.a. Johnny Penguin
Rockhopper (Eudyptes Chrysocome) a.k.a. Crested, Tufted, Rocky
Macaroni (Eudyptes Chrysolophus)
Magellantic (Spheniscus Magellanicus)

Types we did not see:

Emperor (Aptenodytes Forsteri)
Royal (Eudyptes Schlegeli)
Fiordland (Eudyptes Pachyrhynchus)
Erect-Crested (Eudyptes Sclateri)
Snares Crested (Eudyptes Robustus)
Yellow-Eyed (Megadyptes Antipodes)
Little (Eudyptula Minor) a.k.a. Little Blue, Blue, Fairy
African (Spheniscus Demersus) a.k.a. Jackass
Galapagos (Spheniscus Mendiculus)
Humboldt (Spheniscus Humboldti) a.k.a. Peruvian

matt@muellerworld.com