After a couple of days of uncertainty and several times going to and disappointedly returning from the airport, we were almost surprised when in the afternoon of the third day of attempts they told us we were going. We got quickly packed up in a small plane and around 5 pm we took off. The plane was just big enough to hold two pilots, six tourists, a guide and our things. And that was it.
In the plane flying us to Antarctica
We flew over the Strait of Magellan and Tierra del Fuego. From the plane I could see quite well the deep bay at the end of which there was Porvenir that we had visited a few days earlier, as well as a good portion of the island we had neither seen nor visited. Still, after the initial parts of the island that seemed mild, it turned out that Tierra del Fuego also has other, higher sections, covered in snow and that it is much bigger than what I used to think. And then, any trace of land disappeared and we continued to fly over Drake Passage.
The flight to Antarctica took around three hours. Let me immediately clear up one thing – we were going to King George Island, which is a part of the South Shetland Islands and they are located at the very edge of the continent. In terms of territory, it would be as if one embarked on a beach at Rhodes in Greece and then wrote about his visit to Europe. But, we were not that petty at all.
The organization was such that we flew by a Chilean plane, with a Chilean guide, the landing was on a strip which is maintained by the Chilean army and which is a part of the Chilean base (Presidente Eduardo Frei Station), while we slept and ate at the Russian base (Bellingshausen Station).
Sneza and I were excited and joyful like children.
At some point we got the first glimpses of Antarctica. It was mostly low land with patches of snow and with an elevation here and there. So, not everything was white, for one needs to bear in mind that at the time it was “summer” there.
Antarctica
Having flown over a settlement that is a part of the Chilean base, we landed on a strip made of black, well compacted soil and at the end of it the plane turned and took us back to the hangar where it stopped.
When we got out, we encountered a mildly muddy runaway, but we were happy nonetheless. Our good mood continued when we saw what they were using to move some of the things from the airplane – a wheelbarrow, which in this case was old and completely covered in dried plaster or mud. Our things were taken to the base by a small van.
What I found interesting was that it was not very cold at all. While we were waiting to start going to the place where we would be staying, I looked around. A little farther away, I could see “houses” that were a part of the settlement we had just flown over and then at a small hillock I noticed a church. First I thought “Not really,” but it was. It was a Russian Orthodox church.
As I’ve said, the programme stipulated that we would sleep and get our food at the Russian station. The Russians, i.e., the Soviets installed their base here for the first time in 1968. Across the bay, we could see a Korean base nicely lit by the sunshine that made its way right there, passing through low and mostly dense clouds. Chileans and Russians were certainly next door neighbours here and there was a Chinese station in the vicinity.
As we walked from the airport to the nearby Russian station, we commented on the gorgeous small wooden church that was seen on an elevation and Alejo, our guide, told us with a lot of admiration in his voice that the Russians were absolutely the readiest and most skilful of all nations by far. To support this he told us an anecdote. An SUV from the Chinese base broke down and since they could not repair it they brought it to the Russians. The following day, a Chinese guy came to see what was happening and there it was – the SUV laid down on the ground in pieces dismantled by the Russians. When he saw it, the Chinese started to cry as he had no idea how he would justify this in front of this superiors, but the Russians told him not to worry and to come back the day after. He came, of course, and the SUV was waiting for him, put together and fully functioning. Sneza and I liked this story a great deal and for a while we used an expression “he started crying like the Chinese by the SUV,” but as we rarely speak of people who have started crying, the expression never caught on.
Antarctica, road from the airport to the Bellingshausen Station
And now – the accommodation. I must say that I love it when I can laugh wholeheartedly at myself in situations when I realize I got carried away and uttered some nonsense. This is what happened in the case of our accommodation in Antarctica. When I planned and paid for this trip, without getting into any details of the arrangement at all, a friend of mine asked me where we would be staying. I immediately said: “Well, probably at some 5-star hotel!” Of course, this idea was firmly embedded in my mind taking into consideration the price of the excursion. However, to my great joy and happiness, there is nothing of the sort there. I’m saying “to my great joy and happiness,” as I’ve realized that something of the kind would be a disaster for the nature in Antarctica. So, instead, we were all placed in construction site containers!
Antarctica, accommodation ad
Our container had two doors, one of which had a hole and the other one could not be properly closed, so we had to use a fire-extinguisher to keep it from constantly opening. Inside, there were two beds with mattresses, there were also sleeping bags that had already been placed on the beds, and in addition to a couple of chairs we also had an oil radiator, since the container had electricity and the radiator had already been turned on, so that the “room” was getting warmer. Other than the central lighting which worked fine, there were also reading lamps above the beds.
One larger nearby “container” on pillars served as a living room, the place where we kept our belongings. This was all within the Russian station. We also had our meals at the Russian base, in a spacious dining room that was a little farther away and that was also used by the residents of the base themselves. The toilets and the showers, however, were at a hanger that belonged to the Chilean station and this is also where there were sport terrains.
Antarctica, the Russian and the Chilean stations; our white accommodation containers are to the right, just under the black hill, between two bigger red containers
After settling down and leaving our things, we went to the dining room to have our dinner. We didn’t get a treatment to be expected at a top-class hotel there either, everything was rather modest and served as a buffet, but neither Sneza nor I minded this in the least. We don’t speak Russian, but very joyfully (Hey! We are in Antarctica!!!!) we somehow managed to communicate with a couple of Russians who were in charge of the kitchen and the dining room. As we had our meal, probably disappointed and even perhaps angry on account of the food offered at the Russian base, the “Lawyer” asked me: “And what do you eat in Bosnia?” I looked at him and with patience, as well as boredom in my voice, I said I had no idea what people ate in Bosnia, but as far as I could see here there was Lipton tea (British brand) and frankfurters (as in Frankfurt, Germany). I don’t know what exactly happened at that moment, but from then on the lawyer had not mentioned Bosnia in our presence, not even once.
On the other hand, in this situation one should also have understanding for him (see: https://www.svudapodji.com/en/chile-4/). If I had expected a 5-star hotel, he must have expected it, too. The only difference, as it seems to me, was that I was ready to see my own ridiculous error in judgment and let it be, enjoying in everything as it was and even laughing at my own expense, while he found it all quite difficult.
After the meal, we went for a walk although it was almost 9 pm. However, at this time of the year, the sun almost does not set, for it was summer in Antarctica (!!!). So we all headed for the church.
Antarctica, Russian Bellingshausen Station. On the ground, by the direction-post, there are whale vertebrae
When we got to the elevation going towards the church, in one spot we saw a couple of skuas, a species of large birds living here, which peacefully walked across the ground. It was possible to see rings they had on their feet. We also saw very nicely both of the “settlements” with large construction containers placed on pillars, one of which was our dining room, and in one place we also saw Russian and German flags. Alejo, the guide, explained to us that this meant scientists from these two countries worked together on some project. A little farther away we saw a small iceberg. We were in Antarctica after all.
Antarctica, the Russian Trinity Church at Bellingshausen
The Russian church had been completely made in Russia, brought here in parts and then assembled on the spot. So, this was sort of a pre-fabricated church. The small church was completely incredible and utterly gorgeous. It was all made of wood. Inside, everything was as it should be – the altar, icons, candle stand, as well as a book-shelf. As there was nobody there to ask, we found a small drawer that contained candles and matches, left some money there and lit a couple of candles, but we also stayed there for a while in order for the candles to burn a little. And then, before leaving, we extinguished them so that we wouldn’t leave burning candles in a church made of wood. By the way, there are no trees growing in Antarctica. There is grass, moss and lichen, but nothing bigger than that. For this reason, the church was made of some special trees that grow only in Siberia in order for the wood to be more resistant to the harsh climate of this part of the world which has a particularly damaging effect on the material.
Antarctica, iconostasis of the Trinity Church
And then we walked to the shore. As we approached it, we startled a little a group of penguins, so they all dived into water and swam there for a while, but then they slowly came out. The guide told us that generally speaking they are not too afraid of humans and if you calm down and sit in one place, they are even ready to approach you. We tried it, but one of the group members kept moving around, taking photos of them, as well as scaring them.
Antarctica, waiting for penguins to approach us
While we were there on the beach it was already half past 10 in the evening and yet it was still day or at least it was fairly visible. Also, there came a guy we had met at the dining room, so he took a couple of photos of the two of us and also mentioned that at this time of the year the night lasts for only two hours.
We made a deal with this guy and another one to come later to visit us at our container. This “You may drop at our container for a coffee” sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, be as it may, Sasha and Ruslan did come a little later, bringing with them some food and vodka, as well as a laptop in order to show us photos they got from some professional photographers and that was really a treat. The two of them even remembered to bring a couple of empty CDs, so they copied the photos for us as well. On this occasion we also witnessed with admiration the resourcefulness of those Russians. Namely, the laptop battery was at its end and the socket in the container had too small the openings for the prongs of the computer’s plug. Sasha then took out a hunting knife and stuck its tip into the opening in the socket!!! This is precisely what we are all told never to do. But, what Sasha actually did was to put the knife’s tip in very superficially, then he rotated the knife, thus scraping off the plastics of the socket and consequently enlarging the openings and plugging in the laptop. Still, warning: don’t do this at home!!!
We had nice time together, but Sneza and I were soon ready to go to bed, particularly taking into account the programme for the following day. We also found it funny when at some point we realized the guys poured full glasses of vodka for us and half-full for them. Ah, that innocent and naïve youth!