The last two times we visited Antarctica on Holland America ships I wrote codas on the experience. One entitled “You Can’t Let Nature Run Wild” quoted the late Alaskan Governor Wally Hickel. Of course, in Antarctica nature does run wild and I don’t think there is anything Wally could have done to stop it. The quote came up because one of our expedition lecture team members was an alumnus of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks and used it as the title of one of his lectures. On that trip we were fogged in on our last day in Antarctica and missed the same areas we missed this time, Antarctic Sound and the Wedell Sea. Mother Nature does have her say.

Following our departure from Antarctica our expedition team continued their lectures. We learned even more about Shakleton and especially about the successful attempt to find Shakleton’s ship, Endurance.

When we got to the Falkland Islands, I was able to get the first day covers of the commemorative stamps honoring the rediscovery of endurance.

In the Falklands (which I will deal with in the next post) I also bought some stamps from the British Antarctic Territory. I can’t mail them from anywhere but Antarctica, but I can send them from the Falklands to one of the British stations in Antarctica for them to mail back to me. Britain (along with Argentina and Chile) claims the Antarctic Peninsula as part of their sovereign territory. The rest of the world does not recognize this, but Britain dutifully issues Antarctic stamps, both to demonstrate sovereignty and to make money off suckers like me. Who knew that Royal Charles was also King of Antarctica. I suppose the penguins really don’t mind.

The world agreed to disagree on those territorial claims (Australia, New Zealand, France and Norway also have claims) but both the United States and the Soviet Union (later Russia) which have made no claims reserve the right to do so later. To secure these rights, the Russians built a base on every claim. The Americans built one base at the South Pole that has a leg in each of the claims.

The different bases in Antarctica have led to some interesting architecture on the continent. We had a lecture on that and learned about Antarctic Architectural evolution from the flat packed prefab cabins at the beginning of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration to the more elaborate prefab buildings that incorporate airfoils to direct snow over or under the structures. Some are on stilts with controls that allow the station to level the building as snow shifts. Some are designed to be buried in the snow. One was built on an ice shelf, got too buried, was evacuated and continued to move toward the sea. Part of it fell into the sea when the glacier the station was buried in calved.

Some of the newer Antarctic cruise ships also show innovative design. New bow shapes allow the ships to cut through Drake Passage Waves with more energy efficiency and a smoother ride than our traditionally designed ship. On our ship the swooped bow pitches down and slams into the waves creating a jolt and slowing down the ship shutters, causing more energy consumption. On the newer designs the ship lets the wave wash over the bow without the slam saving energy and giving a smoother ride. The waves reach higher on the ship and the design compensates for that. I find the design of the Viking ship particularly attractive. The Ocean Victory calls at Sitka in the northern hemisphere summer, the Viking cruises the Great Lakes out of Toronto, Thunder Bay and Milwaukee.

And as we left the Antarctic Volendam held a silent auction, selling off a chart autographed by all the navigation staff and the Antarctic flag the ship flew. The proceeds will go to fund shore excursions for the crew and some free internet time for them.

I didn’t make a bid, but we all got souvenirs, certificates! I told you we would. They came with a map of our Antarctic voyage on the reverse side.