ANTARCTICA
Wow! What an awesome adventure took place on October 20th at the young at heart group of the Waynedale United Methodist Church. Over fifty people were “spellbound” as Dr. Carol (Kellerman) Buttell took them on a “simulated cruise.”
Using a map, the group accompanied Carol as she retraced and relived her January 6-28, 2008 cruise around South America and on to Antarctica. After a flight of over five thousand miles to Santiago, Chile, she and a friend boarded the Holland America cruise ship and sailed down the Pacific (west) coast of South America.
Following the coastal lines of Chile and Argentina, port visits along the way included a trip to a penguin rookery. It was quite a surprise to see icebergs and glaciers along the way south to Cape Horn, the southernmost tip of South America. After traveling 600 miles from Cape Horn, the first Spectacular Sight of Antarctica was revealed. Carol agreed with the ship’s Ice Pilot who said, “No matter how many pictures are viewed or how many words are spoken about Antarctica, nothing will ever come close to the Awesome Experience of being there.”
However, Carol’s narration and presentation of extraordinary photos gave the group a first-hand account of what it may be like to visit Antarctica. The temperature had gone from 95 degrees in Santiago to freezing in Antarctica, where it is always extremely windy. Five days of cruising in Antarctica included viewing ice covered lava mountains and flat areas covered with ice one to three miles thick. There were also huge icebergs of many shapes and sizes as large as one mile by two miles. Icebergs are visible only 10% above water with the remaining 90% below water.
Wildlife includes whales, sea leopards, sea lions, petrels, and albatross with their six-foot wingspan. Penguins were a sight to see-walking around in formation in their rookeries-at the base of mountains. They were also swimming, diving and sliding down icebergs.
The days were all sunny and the temperature stayed above freezing the entire time. Much could be seen in the long daylight hours; darkness was from midnight to 4:00 A.M.
There are stations at Antarctica run by various countries. The U.S. stations are run by the U. S. National Science Foundation, with a budget of $300,000,000 a year. The main U.S. station is McMurdo Station, farther south, which has the highest level of recycling in the world.
Departing Antarctica, they cruised 600 nautical miles to the Falkland Islands. As they began to sail up the Atlantic coast of South America, the weather began to warm up. Temperatures again went from freezing to 90 degrees. The trip took them to Buenos Aires, Argentina to Montevideo, Uruguay and to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
One of the highlights of South America was to experience Sugar Loaf Mountain and to visit Christ the Redeemer Statue. A gondola ride was taken to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain where the Statue could be seen from a distance. Carol took a picture of the Christ statue surrounded by clouds and it appeared as though Christ was welcoming all into heaven. After viewing the statue from a distance, a cog train ride was then taken up Corcovado Mountain to stand at the base of the 125-foot Christ the Redeemer monument. Looking upward provided a profound view of the impressive statue.
From Rio de Janeiro, it was another flight of 5000 miles, which concluded this awesome adventure. Carol was so happy to share her wonderful experiences with such an interested group of people. She was touched when she was told, “It made us feel as though we were right there in person with you on your travels!”
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