I made it to the ship, and what an adventure that's been! As I shared in my previous Journal entry, we took two different flights and then a helicopter to get from Cape Town, South Africa to the Agulhas II near Penguin Bukta in the Weddell Sea. It was my first helicopter ride, and, my goodness, it was loud and riveting! The pilots have been working in Antarctica for many years, and they had no problem taking off from and landing on patches of solid ice. We flew in the helicopter from the Penguin Bukta Ice Shelf to the helipad on the stern (back) of the ship. One of the helicopter pilots sat with his door open as we took off, and it was only after we were in the air that he eventually shut the door!
It is summer here in Antarctica, but it is still really cold. Upon arrival on New Year's Eve day, we had a braii, which is the South African word for a barbeque. It was an incredible experience to have cook-out on the back of a ship in Antarctica as a new calendar year arrived!
The following day (New Year's Day, January 1) we organized a soccer match on the ice. In order to get on the ice, we had to be crane-lifted in groups of four from the ship.
