Memories of a trip to the Antarctic
How it all started
This is a story about an adventure the Chilean journalist Pamela Ohlbaum had in the Antarctic in February 2010.
As a reporter for the Chilean newspaper
El Mercurio, her editor gave her the chance to travel to report the 62° anniversary of the Military base “O’higgins”, located in the Antarctic.
The trip consisted on an invitation from the Military, to be part of a group of nine civilians contacted to visit the base and commemorate the anniversary. Among the other civilians, there were two historians that were documenting the history of the old and the new base, and an architect, university professor, who was interested in the architecture of the base. Pamela and them were to become best travel companions.
The route
The route to get to the Antarctic was an adventure itself. In total, two flights (one commercial, one of the Air Force) and one night of sailing with the Navy were needed for Pamela to get to the military base.
Click on the map to see images and the exact location of each step of the trip.
1. Meeting in Punta Arenas
The first part of the trip consisted in the group flying independently in commercial flights to Punta Arenas, a city located at the bottom of South America. There, they met with Coronel Castillo, who was going to lead the team and explained the itinerary.
2. Flying together to the Antarctic
After three days of waiting for the sky conditions to be safe for flying, the group flew in the Air Force aircraft Lockheed C-130, known as "the Hercules". After aprox. three hours of flying, they landed in the Air Force base Presidente Eduardo Frei Montalva, which is the most important Antartic base of Chile.
3. Arrival at the military base
In the Air Force base, the civilian group was divided in two. One team would fly in a helicopter for around two hours; the other, would sail with the Navy, for around eight hours. Pamela opted to be part of the latter. On board of the tugboat AFT Lautaro, the group sailed through the Antarctict waters and ice.
The main highlight
The main highlight of the trip was seeing the penguins that live in the island. It was a colony of Adelie, the littlest species of penguin in the Antarctic.
The penguins were sleeping when Pamela found them, a bit before sunrise. They woke up at around 5 am, and, just like a human would do, they stretched their wings and open their eyes slowly. They even looked sleepy!
Then they marched in line to a cliff from where they jumped to the sea to catch some food.