Speed bonnie boatOct 31, 2009
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A bit of a baptism of fire today, in preparation for my upcoming Antarctic trip...
It was a rather grim early start at 6.30am in order to get a bus to the harbour where we boarded a catamaran. I had checked the weather the previous night and the first line of the forecast was "windy" but assumed this was par for the ocurse in Patagonia. However, "windy" must actually be quite serious when used in this sense because as we arrived at the lake (biggest in Argentina) it was pretty obvious that this was not going to be a nice serene sail that we´ve been used to. It looked rough and i was very glad I´d not had the opportunity to abuse the buffet breakfast in my normal quantities.
Taking a quick dose of ginger tablets (good for sea sickness) we got on board and all remarked that it didnt seem that bad. However, once out of the shelter and into the lake, I felt like I was on a ride at a rollercoaster park. It was pretty hairy! Although I did have some comfort from the fact I was sat next to two nuns so was hoping something was on our side...
It took about 15 minutes before the bin bags were passed out and we had at least 5 people throwing up inside. The kindly noted that smokers could indugle their habit on deck but quite frankly it would be a miracle if anyone could have lit up, but those feeling greener than others made their way to the open door for a bit of fresh air and hope. And so the severe ups and downs continued for the next 2 hours (!!!) and although I was mostly fine, by that point I was feeling very faint and clutched my way to the deck for the cold which seemed to help. God knows what the drake crossing is´going to be like!! Anyway, at that point, the nuns had obvioulsy had words, and the lake flattened sufficiently for us to be able to pause at an iceberg for some nice photos. We continued on this calmer water towards the Uppsala glacier and we met a whole field of icebergs with some incredible colours of blue. There were so much of them that we couldnt actually see the glacier or go any further but it was worth it for some shots of the ice and I think everyone had calmed down and the bar started doing some serious business.
After this stop we moved on to the Spègazzi glacier, with the tallest ice wall in the glacier park. It was really incredible and again we were all glad that the wind had died down or rather we we sheltered enough in the valley to enjoy the views without having to avoid vomiting co passengers! Our final glacier was back to the Perrito Moreno glacier again, but this time the north face. At this point I risked half a sandwich as the waters were much calmer. I only had half because one of the afforementioned nuns had accidently sat on the other half which was a bit annoying but I think she´ll have bigger problems trying to explain away the mayonnaise stains on her habit to the Mother Superior!
And so, 8 hours later we made it back to dry land!! It was a lovely feeling, although I definitely had not suffered anywhere near as badly as some of the others. I just hope that I can get my sea legs for the big trip in a few weeks.
For dinner (much less stressful than last night) we ate at a nearby restaurant overlooking the town and enjoyed a beautiful sunset and wonderful food (filet steak and mushrooms) and chocolate brownie!! ( i think i am getting a reputation for being a brownie fan in the group)
