A Trip of A Lifetime (Part 2)

-Pramod Aryal

To read (Part 1) of the travel log click here

Finally 8th of February was there. We were very excited to fly down south. I woke up at 6AM in the anticipation of wonder that I would experience that day. After waiting till 8:30AM, we came to know that flight was cancelled because of poor weather in Rothera base. We had another day to wait. Wayne and I decided to go for walk to Gipsy Cove. The most of the people in Upland Goose were recommending us to go there. They told us it was only 2 miles.

Gipsy Cove of the Falkland Islands

We started to walk in normal shoes since we thought it won’t be long. Along the way we missed our turn and end up walking a very long way. Finally we made it to Gipsy cove. By this time we had already walked for 3 hours. The place was beautiful. Beach was amazing with a group of penguin on the sand. We took some photos, had bit of rest and headed back. This time we came right way but still made little mistake. By the time we got back to Upland Goose we had blisters on our foot and whole leg was aching. One thing I noticed in our walk was the DANGER MINE signs. I had not seen like that before. Landmines from the war between Argentina and UK were left there. Though it was well marked, it was little scary. I really think these landmines should be banned from the world.

Finally on 9th of February at 5AM we were going to fly to Rothera. We headed to airport early morning. We had to load our own bag in DASH 7 aircraft and immigration clearance was done while we were standing. I remember at times I had to line up for hours back in Melbourne/Sydney/Kathmandu to clear customs and felt what if we get this luxury back there!

At last we were in air. As soon as plane took off, we wonder around the cabin. There were only about ten of us. We were chatting up, making our own tea and sandwiches. It was relaxing casual environment till we came to know that we might have to return. There was strong head wind and we might not have enough fuel to get to Rothera. There was still some chance and we kept on flying against the strong wind. Eventually we crossed the point of no return. That meant if we had to return, we might not have enough fuel. That was not very comforting to know. I started to wonder what happens if the wind became stronger and we ran out of fuel mid air. Actually wind eased off and there was very strong indication that we were going to make it.

When we approached near runway, visibility was poor but we still saw iceberg floating on the ocean. When I saw them my body just shook with excitement. The long waited day was about to come. We landed smoothly. When I got out of the plane, there was strong cold wind flowing. My ears and chicks start to ache instantly. I was moderately dressed as a result it was almost unbearable. While stepping down the aircraft stairs, I saw this huge glacier only 200m or so away. It was magnificent. At northern end there were greenish iceberg floating on the ocean. There are no words to describe the beauty of it.

Steve Marshall, Rothera base commander welcomed us and took us to the base. We had to cross the runway to get to the base. It was about 5 mins walk but felt like forever because of aching ear and chick. Absolutely freezing!

Rothera base of the British Antarctic Survey

We went inside the base. God! That felt good. It was heated to about 20degrees. My chick and ear came back alive. While inside we received arrival briefing concerning health and safety of the base station by base commander. We arrived in right moment too. It was just time for lunch. I was getting hungry and headed straight to dinning hall. Dinning hall was on first floor with stunning view of South beach and Glacier. A part of glacier was about to fall off. Sun light was passing through the crack and it was literally glowing in greenish colour. While standing for the que to get the lunch, I didn’t stop for a second from looking outside. Just below the glacier there was bay and had few icebergs floating. There was the runway between glacier and the base station. I was surprised to see that around base station and runway there was no snow but stones. I got to the buffet lunch. Food was good.

After lunch we were told where our rooms were. Mine was in the building called “Gaint’s house”. I went to check the room first. There were 2 bunk beds and total of 4 beds. There was a wardrobe, a table and a chair. I was sharing with a Air Mechanic. I carried my luggage in the room with great struggle since it was fairly heavy and little stones were making my walk difficult. During lunch I setup plans with Peter and Neil to visit the radar site after we unload ourselves. Peter was our customer from University of Bath. Neil was British Antarctic Survey (BAS) engineer. They were there to help us out to install the radar.
(To be continued....)
To go to next part(part 3) of travel logueclick here