Hi everyone,

Allan and I are leaving this morning for a polar adventure on the Viking Expedition ship, the Octantis. We packed our capilene long johns, fleece lined pants, ski goggles, down hats, fleece jackets, mittens, heavy boot socks, sock liners, and our electronics all in carry-on luggage and knapsacks. Viking will be providing our expedition jacket and liner (which we get to keep). They also provide snow pants, snow boots, trekking poles as well as waterproof garments for the submarine and kayaking adventures we hope to partake in.

We will fly to Ushuaia, board our ship, and make our way to the frigid continent via The Drake Passage, where the most treacherous waters in the world reside.  Hopefully, we will safely traverse the three oceans that converge there, and ultimately arrive at our destination – Antarctica.

Throughout our trip, we hope to have answers to the following questions:

1.  Will the Drake Passage be the Drake Lake or the Drake Shake?

2.  If it’s the Drake Shake…will my seasickness patch come to the rescue?

3.  Upon entry into the submarine, (which is a shore excursion we signed up for), will the “green button” that they mentioned in the safety video, that we push in the unlikely event our submarine pilot loses consciousness (say what now??), which will allow the submarine to rise to the surface on its own, be clearly visible and accessible? 

4.  Will the floating apparatus attached to our phones and camera actually work to keep them afloat in the event they drop overboard while we are kayaking through the ocean waters? 

5.  Do penguins really poop every 20 minutes? 

6.  Do capilene long johns keep you warm in the frigid cold while zooming along in a zodiac?

7.  Is the only vineyard on Antarctica open to tourists?  (Asking for a friend….)

8.  Will the Drake passage be the Drake Lake or the Drake Shake? (Asking again since we will pass through it on the return trip.)

9.  Are the rocks that we have to walk on when we alight from the zodiac to get to land, as slippery as they say?  (Asking for my orthopedist…)

10.  Is a wombat’s poop really square?  (Oh wait…that’s a question for another continent.  Never mind….)

So tune in daily, and I hope you will enjoy reading about our escapades on Antarctica as well as reading the answers (hopefully) to the above questions. I’m sure there will be more questions (and answers) that I haven’t even thought of yet.  I will try to post daily if the internet is cooperative.