Antarctica II - The Penguins Appear

Here is a link to more photos of penguins and seals

Penguin colony with sea lions lurking in background

Dawn comes early here, so we were up in the 5am hour to catch the show. And it is quite a show! Lot's of penguins, seals, and whales in the calm water making for a magical Antarctic morning.

We saw our first penguin colony and passed one of the Antarctic research bases that dot the land.

Antarctica is a continent surrounded by oceans, as opposed to the Arctic, which is an ocean surrounded by continents. Look at a map of this great land mass and notice the Antarctic peninsula that juts up toward South America.

It's the peninsula, really a continuation of the great Andes mountain chain, that attracts visitors like us. The rest of the continent is not accessible and it's off limits to visitors. In fact, tours to Antarctica are limited each year, and they only visit the northern reaches of the peninsula.

Chilean base

Nap time for seals

Mountains in the foreground, but look at the snow and ice in the background!

Antarctica Part I (The Arrival)

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Okay, it's really freakin' cold here! It's summer and the sun is up for most of the day, but the cold just stings!

The ocean temperature is 29 degrees and the land is covered in ice. And icebergs are everywhere, laughing at us. We coulda stayed in the northern hemisphere for this!

There are steep, vertical mountains along the shore but one can see the snow and ice layered over, yes, over the height of the mountains. I've known that the ice is thousands of feet deep here, but to see it! My god, it's awesome (as in fearful)! There's land along the shore line but the ice builds up and up and up into the distance.

And all of this water and ice radiates cold everywhere. It's colder in New York at the moment, but this just feels permanent (and, of course, it is).

I'm fascinated and thrilled to be here. I can't stay inside for missing the wildlife or the beautiful mountains of ice. But, I can't stay here and I'll be thrilled to leave and get wrapped back up in warmth!

Stay tuned for part II!

We are not alone! (Notice ship on left)

We had visitors from Palmer Station

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Peruvian Countryside

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View from high over the Urubamba River Valley

Our 2 hour drive from Cusco to Ollantaytambo gave us a glimpse of the Andean countryside. The people are clearly decended from native Americans and here one sees the Andean dress as if lifted from our school textbooks. They don't dress like that for effect, it's a real part of their culture, though it seems confined to women.

We got serenaded!

Everyone seems to be working all day in the farms, which are plentiful and largely devoid of mechanization.

Women also work at crafts and textiles which are widely available, beautiful, and attractively priced. Bottom line: the countryside is stunning, made all the more so by the colorful dress of the people.

As it happened, on our return trip to Cusco, we decided to stop at one farm to shop. They had some particularly nice things there and seemed to be doing much of the labor on site.

We were happy to make a few purchases, but not as happy as they were to host us. We were served tea and heard the whole story of textile manufacturing in the Andean highlands.

We were also dressed up and serenaded before we could depart. There was no pressure to keep buying, just an expression of thanks for what we did purchase. A really nice experience.

Flowers amid Inca ruins

Things got out of control...

The traditional wedding photo with llama

This is a hostel, three rooms suspended high on a cliff. The rooms are lowered each day to accommodate the guests.

Cusco

Here is a link to more photos of Cusco

Cusco

Here is the ancient Inca capitol that the Spanish conquered and dominated in the 16^th century. It is the geographic and social center of pre-Columbian South America. The ruins and trails emanate outward from the city and one marvels at the extent of this old civilization. We have nothing to compare to it in North America.

Let's face it: Cusco has large swaths of poverty. The drive through some sections of town is fairly difficult as housing is inadequate and packs of dogs roam everywhere. City center is much nicer, of course, with great restaurants, clothing stores, and art galleries everywhere. Tourists are comfortable there, but much of the city suffers.

We stumbled upon this rally in the Plaza de Armas

The Plaza de Armas marks the center of activities and the magnificent cathedral is found there. It's a remarkable structure, built on the site of Inca power by the conquering Spanish as they established their control in the New World. It rivals any of the European cathedrals for opulence and splendor and it is a wonder to behold.

Alas, Cusco reaches 12,000 ft in altitude, so by day 2 altitude sickness tightened its grip. I was prescribed medication to counter the effects, but even though I took as prescribed, it didn't seem to help. 

We were the only guests in this beautiful hotel!

Streets could be steep....

...and narrow!

That, and the delicious, but, perhaps ill advised alpaca burger, put me down for a day. The situation was remedied by boarding our plane for the trip to Santiago. Just entering the pressurized cabin seemed to wash oxygen over and around me. Ahhh... sea level.

Diane was right to plan Machu Picchu first, the Cusco. Most people think they'll adjust to altitude at Cusco, then visit the lower elevation Machu Picchu, but one doesn't adjust so the MP visit feels miserable. Recommendation: visit Machu Picchu then hope for the best in Cusco. 

Look closely. The moon is facing backward!

That's an original Inca wall to the left with the most famous 12 sided stone

Church of la Merced completed 1675

Lunch!

 

Cathedral of Santo Domingo built by Spanish on Inca site 1539

Plaza de Armas

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Machu and Huayna Picchu

Machu Picchu

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It's the stuff of dreams, isn't it? I distinctly remember seeing a photograph of Machu Picchu in a 4^th grade text book and being immediately enchanted that such a thing could exist. A city in the mountaintops? Made of stone?

This is an enchanting place, and the arduous nature of the journey adds to the mystique. Even after traveling for a day by plane, van, and train, we arrived near, not at, Machu Picchu. One still needs to climb from the village of Aques Caliente to reach the city of stone.

We took the bus. As do thousands of others each day. But many climb the 3k trail and look worse for the weariness of it. If nothing else, Machu Picchu is...really is, on a

mountain top.

The first thing we noticed was the fog, er...the view, or lack of same. We arrived at this wonderous world wrapped in a cloud, and visibility was non-existent. That didn't dampen our enthusiasm a bit, and as the day wore on, the cloud slowly lifted.

Notice the far stones are finished while the near stones are still rough

With Johathan, our guide in the king's residence

Huyanu Picchu

You know this place. When one sees The Photo of MP, the mountain peak Huyanu Picchu is in the background. The needle like peak is 1,800 ft higher than the ancient city. Steps were constructed to the top by the Inca where there are more terraces and at least one large structure. Climbing HP is a challenge. It's steep and dangerous in spots. And the elevation doesn't help.

Four hundred people per day are permitted to follow the HP trail with 200 granted access at an assigned time of either 7 or 10am. I had the 10 o'clock slot, and I shared the climb with about 60 students from both Lafayette College and Lehigh University.

Looking down on Machu Picchu and the road leading up the mountain

Huayna Picchu summit!

The climb was killer, with many stops taken along the way to recover from the lack of oxygen. When I say there are “steps”, there are, narrow and steep with a high, painful rise to each.

But the descent! Here was the terror! The mountain top trail is one way because the summit is so narrow, so there's only one way down. There were cries of woe with climbers choosing to go down on their butts for fear of falling. At the conclusion, I realized that while 200 may start the ascent, far fewer finish.