Home » Antarctica » Back to Reality January 15, 2004

What is this strange darkness that falls upon the land around 5pm? I haven't seen that for weeks. The darkest it gets during the Antarctic summer is like a twilight around midnight for a couple hours, then goes back to being sunny. Only twice did we see the sky get orangey like a sunset, but the sun didn't sink fully below the horizon.

Back to Reality January 15, 2004

Ttrealtravels
2005-12-24 23:37:55

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that cannot be explained.

Varanasi, Stonehenge, Notre Dame, Carnac in France, and Karnak in Egypt, all have a touch of the immortal about them. But they are all intrinsically human in their spirituality. A cerebral thing, imbued with power that either arises from or pierces into the human brain.

Antarctica has nothing what-so-ever to do with humanity. This place is pure Nature. This is the last unspoiled continent, the only corner of our planet that remains unsullied by human hands. And you can feel it deep inside your soul. Antarctica reaches into every pore and whispers constantly: "The planet is alive. Nature rules all."

I felt a little of this viewing the hot lava in Hawaii too. We are so separated from Nature here in our world of suburban technolust. At best, we cultivate a tiny garden in the back, and we walk only on concrete. We can't hear Nature talk to us because she's muffled in plastic and steel. Even if we get away to the beach or the mountains, we know there is a super-highway screaming nearby. When we can't hear the roar of the traffic, we're drowned out by the constant babble of other people and their cellphones.

Not so Antarctica. I keep coming back to the word "pure" because that is the most accurate description of this place. It is pure nature.

Save Antarctica, Save the World

I've never been much of a tree-hugger, and "outdoorsy" is not a word anyone would use to describe me. I've always appreciated nature, but also appreciated going back home. I still do. But Antarctica is so different, so extreme, so beyond anything I've ever experienced. It really got under my skin, and I can understand why the cruise staffers go back season after season.

If you are not moved by this place, you are a harder rock than Antarctica's own stony mountains. I've gained a deep sense of satisfaction, accomplishment, and misty-eyed awe over this adventure. It was truly the trip of a lifetime.
As several of the staff said so eloquently at our last recap meeting, they bring you there so you'll fall in love with the place, and then you'll want to help keep it safe. Antarctic tourism has a positive effect on the ecosystem because the tourists become ambassadors for Antarctica.

In ship historian Ian's words, the heroic age died long ago and is buried in an unmarked grave near a Zulu mining village with Frank Wild. But we are on the verge of a new heroic age -- not of exploration, but one of conservation.

The continent has no native peoples to protect it. Only us, the ex-Antarcticans, can do it. We are responsible for making sure our governments respect the Antarctic Treaty that puts a moratorium on exploitation of the land and resources. We do not want to see oil wells at Half Moon Island or the golden arches at Paradise Bay.

Antarctica does not belong to any one country -- it belongs to the planet, and we must keep it pure.