Things about Antarctica that seem obvious . . .

. . . but only hit you a few days after you have arrived.

Perhaps its because of the shock and excitement of arriving somewhere completely new, the relief after ending nearly three days of traveling, or heat exhaustion for wearing the extreme cold weather gear all morning of the flight to McMurdo. Regardless, there are some obvious things I figured I would talk about to give an idea of this place.

(1) Its really cold here – Yes, now give me my Nobel prize. Its not as cold here as the South Pole station (-56 F yesterday), but it hovers around 0 F, which combined with the blowing wind here makes being outside for any period of time not something to be taken lightly. It feels like a very cold Montana winter, the kind just before they close the Ski Resort because of the cold. This is about as warm as it gets.

(2) Its very dry – You may not have known Antarctica is the driest place on earth (yup, drier than the Sahara Desert). This is a good thing temperature wise, as the cold feels less chilling (experience winters in the UK or North East and you know how a damp cold chills you to the bone). However, you wash your hands and instantly become white and cracked. Lotion and drinking a ton of water are serious requirements down here.

(3) Its dead – There is no vegetation, at all. This is best shown from the photos from the launch site, but you can look to the horizon in all directions and not see a tree, shrub, grass, or even moss on a rock. Apparently, there is some mold somewhere in the dry valleys, and even some fungus. So far the only animals I have seen are Skuas (think of a seagull with a serious steroid abuse issue, including the increase in hostility), but there are Penguins and Seals near the ice shelf and ocean (which I can’t go to).

(4) Its never dark – Ever. You get up at 5:30 am, its bright out, lunch at noon, its bright out, coming home from the bar at 11:00, its still light out. The sun just circles high in the sky, it won’t start dipping to the horizon until the end of February.

In a few days I’ll see if I have any other enlightening thoughts. Until then, enjoy looking at the stars for me.

P.S. – Yes, I know the dates on when I am posting this stuff is a bit off, I don’t always have time to post to the blog when things happen, so bear with me.