Photo of the day, 2/28/2010: Shagarific!

Shag Rocks, South Georgia

Song o' the day: Where In This World, The Notwist.

Photo of the day, 2/27/2010: The Moon and Antarctica.

getting better

Song o'the day: Setting Forth, Ed Vedder.

Ushuaia -> Falkland Islands, 2/23-2/26.

Tons of black-browed albatross glided behind the ship as we left Ushuaia and headed to the Falkland Islands. (SHIP! Don't say "boat.") We landed about 8am at Steeple Jason, a rare landing spot for these excursions. The crew was ecstatic; the day was sunny and calm. We were greeted at shore by the first of many Gentoo penguins I would see.

hello, penguin

Spent some time with them, then walked about a mile through tall tusset grass to the largest black-browed albatross site in the world (about 150K breeding pair).

hanging out in the tussac grass with the birds

the colony covered most of the beach on this side of the island

action shot!

After a while some of us walked up the hill to the ridge for a stunning and lovely view of the beach and hillside.

the other side of Steeple Jason

topside view

I was here

We enjoyed the view for a while, then headed to the ship for lunch. On the walk back we encountered more Gentoo penguins and stopped for a while to get some pictures.

the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) requires keeping 5m from wildlife. It was OK if they approach you though - they don't know the rules.

Back on the ship, Peale's dolphins swam alongside us for a few minutes during lunch. The expedition staff were really good about alerting us to whales and dolphins while we were at sea, and I started carrying my camera everywhere just in case.

Peale's dolphins ship-chasing

We spent the afternoon at Saunders Island, and on the way to shore the Zodiacs encountered a handful of Commerson's dolphins racing alongside. Brandon, our ship's excursion leader, was like a kid at Christmas - he later said this was one of his favorite moments of the trip, and he was able to capture an underwater video that was included on our excursion DVD... I will someday figure out how to access the files and post it.

Brandon watching the dolphins play

On the beach were hundreds of Gentoos (very busy, always moving, very entertaining) and Magellenics (quite stoic in comparison).

Magellenics have the ring of white around their eyes

Half mile up the beach were the ridiculous Rockhoppers, and up the hill from the Rockhoppers was a colony of beautiful blue-eyed shags.

and I'll hug him, and kiss him and call him George

fuzzy baby blue-eyed shags

curious? angry? I never could tell

The moon was almost full that night and I braved the cold to try to get a shot. Between my inexperience with night shoots and the rocking ship, it didn't work so well.

The next morning we landed at Stanley (capital of the Falkland Islands). Everyone turned right toward the museum so I headed left to the cemetery, which was very peaceful in the drizzle.

Stanley Cemetery, Falkland Islands

Next, a quick stop in Christ Church Cathedral to see the stained glass.

Miss Mary loved her bike, and I loved that they included this in the stained glass

We paid a little extra money to go up to Gypsy Cove. It was very, very cold and I almost regretted going until we saw a rarely spotted baby black-crowned night heron. There were also more Magellenics, kelp gulls, upland geese, rock cormorants and some local plantlife...

lush

baby black-crowned night heron

parts of the beach were sectioned off due to asbestos concerns - we would see this in South Georgia too...

That night we set sail for South Georgia. The water was very rough and the ship pitched quite a bit...

... but that didn't stop the chef from crafting a rather amusing dessert in honor of all the flightless birds we'd encountered in the Falklands:

All in all, an excellent start to this adventure.

Photo of the day, 2/26/2010: Stanley.

keeping it old school in the Falkland Islands

Song o'the day: And This Is What We Call Progress, The Besnard Lakes.

Photo of the day, 2/25/2010: Saunders Island.

Gentoo penguins romping on the beach

Song o' the day: Penguins, Lyle Lovett. (Natch.)

Photo of the day, 2/24/2010: Southern Ocean.

"I now belong to a higher cult of mortals for I have seen the albatross!"
~ Robert Cushman Murphy

Song o'the day: The Tain, The Decemberists... Excellent sea day music.

Photo of the day, 2/23/2010: Ushuaia.

Not to see land again for three weeks... Amazing.

Song o'the day: Shiver Me Timbers, Tom Waits.

Photo of the day, 2/22/2010: Buenos Aires.

Hasta pronto, Buenos. Aires.

And song of the day, which I only did through the Antarctic portion of my trip: Waiting for the Bus, the Violent Femmes.

I must have sat in the BA airport for at least six hours waiting for the plane to Ushuaia. I was NOT going to miss the ship departure, gosh darn it, so I got there two hours early... and then the plane was delayed four hours due to inclimate weather.

But I got there. And that's all that mattered.

Photo of the day, 2/21/2010: Buenos Aires.

Ahhh, San Telmo. I have found my people.

Expect the nonlinear.

I forgot about yesterday. Yesterday I went to Cementerio de la Recoleto, housing graves of many important political figures including Evita herself.

Evita's tomb

It's really an amazing place - paths and paths of mausoleums, some classic, some megolomaniacal and some outright ridiculous. I think I spent two hours there and could have easily spent two more. All that in the midst of high rise condos and busy city streets.

condos above, tombs below

looked totally out of place amidst all the white stone tombs - I loved it

also lots of cats here, this one was about to send a butterfly to an early grave

After the cemetery I headed to the Museo National de Bellas Artes. Lots of familiars (Degas, van Gogh, Pollack, Monet, Renoir) as well as classic Argentine artists. Free. Another two hours there, an hour waiting out the afternoon thunderstorm, a quick wander through the neighborhood and back downtown for an attempt at grub (pasta, still not a good idea).

Floralis Generica near the museum: a 20m structure that opens at dawn and closes at dusk.

Now I am in the hostel listening to a live band in the hangout area, waiting to see if a computer opens up so I can IM, while the USA plays Canada in Olympic hockey, and suddenly I have no idea where I am. Life is good. :)

Oh right, the eats.

Buenos Aires is great for eating, so long as you like meat. I had been acclimating to meat in prep for the trip, but by no means did I wish to make it my primary intake. Nor did I wish to eat pizza for every meal. Without significant effort, these were my options. I got cocky the first night and ate meat... And suffered... And opted for granola bars and bananas for two days. Today I sort of felt back to normal so I chanced the aforementioned street vendor burrito and that was actually really good.

Lucky for me, I don't travel to eat or shop. But yeah, I hear the food is great.

Hasta leugo, Buenos Aires!

I finally found my BA people. They were in the neighborhood I considered staying in (San Telmo) and while I'm still glad I stayed central instead, I am so glad the Lonely Planet fail that led me in search of vegetarian fare down here led me to Feria de San Telmo. The best comparison would be Portland's Saturday market, only bigger and better quality.

it went on for blocks and blocks... and blocks

how I knew I'd found my people

Even the veggie burrito I bought from a street vendor (with much trepidation) had no ill effects on my stomach, unlike everything else I've consumed here.

I am on a mission to not purchase anything until I have offloaded all my polar gear but I made an exception for a small photo that will grace my next kitchen:

kitsch for my next kitchen

Really great stuff. Also today: Jardin Botanico Carlos Thays and Jardin Japones. The former featured lots of mosquitos and non-feral cats (they feed and care for them) along with cool plant life including a sole US tree species from Ca/Or.

and I shall name him One-Eyed Willy

Celocedrus decurrens ("Libocedro") - Estados Unidos, California y Oregon

Saturnalia - Ernest Biondi

a closer look

The latter was much lighter on the mossies and heavy on very hungry koi. I have never seen koi beg before. The Japanese garden is between two major byways and right under the air traffic, so not so zen. But still very pretty, and not at all crowded for a Sunday - thank you, "partly cloudy with a chance of showers."

pretty gardens with planes flying overhead

feed me!!

I walked there (maybe 2 miles of pleasant neighborhoods) but I had gotten tired of getting caught in afternoon downpours so I opted for the Subte (subway) on the way back. I forget how nice subway consistency is. No matter where you go (DC, SF, PDX, Paris, London, BA) the process is the same - you buy a ticket, you go through a turnstile, the routes are color coded, the train has the final destination and the elderly get priority seating. Sometimes you buy the ticket from a machine, sometimes a person. Sometimes a nice lady tells you the doors are closing or to mind the gap, sometimes (like today) there is a loud honk before the doors slam shut. But it's pretty much the same. Is there a universal subway standard I don't know about?

Might seem silly to notice such things, but after four days of feeling somewhat like a fish out of water as I get my travel legs on (?) little things like that make my day sometimes.

Photo of the day, 2/20/2010: Recoleta Cemetery, Buenos Aires.

Not sure if this qualifies as megalomaniacal or ridiculous...

More on the cemetery later.

Photo of the day, 2/19/2010: Buenos Aires.

Toilet museum, Museo del Patrimonio.

Keeping BA weird.

Realized today why everyone moves so slow, in addition to cultural adjustments. It's called 100% humidity.

As a quick repose I went to the Museo del Patrimonio because of the Lonely Planet description: "if you like quirky museums..." Already they know me so well. It's full of old pipe fittings and toilets. Strange, yes, but a nice break from the loud, dusty, congested city streets.

pipe fitting display at the Museo del Patrimonio

Cool building on the way to/from the toilet museum

And finally, the Washington Monument in Buenos Aires... donde estoy?

El Obelisco de Buenos Aires

Photo of the day, 2/18/2010: Buenos Aires.

Mark said something about it looking like the Jolly Green Giant's shoe. I would agree.