ANTARCTICA
November 29th - December 17th 2021
Eclipse on December 4th 2021
DAY 1
November 29th
Today was our first day on the ice, we left the hotel at 6 am to take a 4-hour flight to Union Glacier, Antarctica. The plane landed on the Blue Ice runway which as the name suggests is a runway made up entirely of Blue Ice. As we walked out onto the Ice we immediately got hit by the freezing air and struggled to even walk on the ice.
DAY 2
November 30th
Today was our first full day in Antarctica, after a hard night trying to sleep in tents because the sun doesn't set, we went on an excursion to visit landmarks around the campsite. With poles and spikes ready we went on a walk.
DAY 3
December 1st
Today was a very exciting day. In the early hours of the morning, we boarded a ski-equipped twin otter that took us to the base camp of Mount Vinson, one of the seven summits. The view was amazing and being here is in part what inspired me to climb Kilimanjaro this summer, so that one day I can come back and go to the top.
DAY 4
December 2nd
Today we went on an excursion to the ice hills which have been formed over millions of years and look like waves in an ocean due to the constant wind slowly moving the ice to create this natural formation
DAY 5
December 3rd
Today we went to the beach! (the Ice beach that is). In the evening we were given an eclipse briefing which included good news on the weather for the big day (the sky would be completely clear)
DAY 6 (ECLIPSE DAY)
December 4th
Today is the day we had all been waiting for, Eclipse Day. In the early hours of the morning, we got out of our tents and prepared our eclipse glasses, cameras, and of course extra warm clothes as when totality arrives the temperatures would drop by up to another 20 degrees Celcius. At approximately 4.45 am totality arrived and for 38 seconds me and all the other eclipse chasers who had come all this way to experience the eclipse, witnessed what is a once in a lifetime experience, a total solar eclipse in Antarctica
DAY 7
December 5th
Today was a rest day as the main eclipse group were packing and getting ready to go back home, as we were going to the South Pole we got to welcome new people arriving on the plane that was taking the main group back to Punta Arenas
DAY 8
December 6th
Today was a relaxing day where we got to ski part of the ice marathon route up to the Christmas tree (approx 5 miles from camp)
DAY 9
December 7th
Today we climbed one of the smaller mountains near the campsite, and after a long 3 hour hike, we were the first group of people to climb it in 5 years
DAY 10
December 8th
Today we were told we had to wait longer at camp before going to the South Pole due to the poor weather conditions. But the silver lining was that we could go on more excursions, which was all amazing news for me, as I felt so privileged to be there and any additional time was a bonus!
DAY 11
December 9th
Today we went on the same excursion as day one, however this time we added extra to it by going Ice Climbing (I managed to climb the highest despite it being quite frightening when I looked down)
DAY 12
December 10th
Today we went to the South Pole! We got to stand where all degrees meet up, saw the South Pole Station from outside, and took photos with both the geographic and ceremonial South Pole, we could even "walk around the world" by quickly running around the geographic south pole
DAY 13
December 11th
Today was a very relaxed day, we went on a long walk and on the way back from the excursion we got to see the Chilean Army packing away their camp into two C-130 Hercules
DAY 14
December 12th
The weather started to become extreme, we were told that until it gets better we won't be able to leave, the wind at some moments got so strong that it blew over tents
DAY 15
December 13th
Today was another day waiting in our tents for the weather to clear up, as the winds were so strong going outside was rather dangerous and the only time we could leave was for meals or to go to the toilet at the other side of the campsite
DAY 16
December 14th
Still no good news on the weather for the next couple of days, the wind went up to 100mph overnight and almost blew over one of the large mess tents, at one point part of it actually broke while we were inside however the amazing team quickly came to fix the huge hole in the side of the tent
DAY 17
December 15th
Towards the end of the day the weather started to clear up and we were able to go on one last excursion back to the ice hills
DAY 18
December 16th
Today the weather finally cleared up! It felt like the day we arrived, the sky was almost entirely clear, as the plane would come to pick us up tomorrow, we saw the camp make a few changes as the next visitors would be people running an Ice Marathon
DAY 19
December 17th
After a very long but amazing trip, today was our last day on the ice, at midday we packed our bags and went to the runway to watch the plane that would take us back home, land on the ice
