Today is another day filled with activities. We have a 3 hours window in the morning, so after breakfast, we went sea paddling in the Antarctic Ocean for like 1.5 hours. Sea paddling is actually very similar to a kayak, it is a little wider and takes much less effort. Still it sure did make my muscles work for it. The sky was overcast, and had some light snow in the beginning, but nonetheless the water was very calm and the weather gradually improved. I enjoyed the experience. That's what it's all about, taking as much experience as possible on this trip. It is extremely unlikely that I will have a chance to come back to this corner of the Earth realistically.
Because we had a much longer window this morning, those who did sea paddling also got a chance to land on Danco Island to see the penguin colony as well. Usually sea paddlers and sea kayakers would miss the planned zodiac expedition. Today is an exception. Though because our time on land was cut short from the sea paddling, I did not get to walk all the way up the hill, where it is supposed to have an amazing view of the ocean and mountains near the island. The penguin colony had these so called penguin highways where they go up and down the hill between the ocean and the colonies. They will always have the right of way. As a matter of fact, I was already out of breath walking up half that hill. I don't know how these little guys just run up and down all day long. They are really super cute though, they are curious about humans, as much as we are about them.
After lunch, I pretty much crashed from all the exercises from the paddling and walking. Around 3:30pm, we were called for the 2nd expedition of the day, to land at the Neko Harbour on the Antarctica continent. This is technically our first continental landing since we did not make the landings in Paradise Harbour yesterday. There was an Antarctica flag Quark provided for each of us to take pictures. One of my life goals is to visit all 7 continents, today I have completed that goal. When I die someday, I can say that I have achieved this in my lifetime.
In Neko Harbour, there was another penguin colony. Despite how cute they are, most people are a little penguin out. I would like to see King Penguins and Emperor Penguins if we encounter them though. They are the much bigger kind, half of human size. However, we were told that the chance we would encounter them would be unlikely, since their colonies tend to be in different parts of Antarctica. That being said, I am more interested in climbing higher grounds to see the landscapes. Avalanches and ice craving can occur any time. We did see a few avalanches this afternoon.
In Neko Harbour, I did another thing, my friend Scott from Boston died because of a rare type of cancer 2 years ago. I visited him 2 days before he passed, I promised him that I would bring his memories with me to Antarctica, which was also his last continent yet to visit. Scott and I made friends because of our shared passion for traveling. I knew he wanted to go to Antarctica as much as I did. With his husband's permission, I scattered some of his ashes in Neko Harbour. Wherever he is now, I hope he rests in peace. Many fond memories with him talking about places we have been.
Argentina won the world cup, we have a tour guide who is Argentinian, so the whole ship was celebrating with him. After dinner, we had a bar talk on "What happens to your body in space?" Our medical chief on the ship worked for NASA before and has a passion for remote healthcare and remote medicine. It was quite interesting actually.
Day 8 Photos: Here
