ZECO TRAVEL TALK

March with the Penguins

We’ve just returned from what can only be described as a pilgrimage to see “chicks on feet,” the minute, most picturesque, avian youngster of all – the Emperor Penguin. Yes, it was cold. Yes, it was hard. It was also Antarctica in its purest and most elemental form. Temperatures and sea ice this year were the coldest and most extensive since records began in the early 1970s. Even for our 23,000 hp Russian icebreaker, the Kapitan Kblevnikov, getting so far south so early was a huge challenge. The ice eventually stopped us some 40 miles from the colony. During the next two days our helos flew over 2,800 miles to take everyone to the colony and back safely. Considering the distances involved it was the most ambitious and audacious expedition made in recent times to see a bird that is justly named, the “Impossible Penguin.” We spent two days at the penguin colony witnessing one of the greatest spectacles on Earth – Emperor Penguins, “Lords of the Antarctic,” in their icy and ethereal domain. We witnessed firsthand the “March of the Penguins,” the steady stream of adult Emperors making their way from the sea edge to the colony to feed their youngsters, many of whom were still on the feet of adults and provided incredible photo opportunities. Even for those of us who have been to “the deep South” before this will long be remembered as one of the most challenging, yet rewarding, of all Antarctic voyages.