Monday, March 7, 2011

Dulce de leche

They call it manjar in Chile and they put it on EVERY DESERT.

Like this giant slice of cake - Cheesecake Factory is JV next to this beastly cut.
How does this sound after a month in the woods?

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Café Cortado



Like a mixologist version of a latte

Los Pingüinos


From Shackleton´s account of Antarctica..

¨One day a team was tethered by the side of the ship, and a penguin sighted them and hurried from afar off. The dogs became frantic with excitement as he neared them: he supposed it was a greeting, and the louder they barked and the more they strained at their ropes, the faster he bustled to meet them. ¨

¨He was extremely angry with a man who went and saved him from a very sudden end, clinging to his trousers with his beak, and furiously beating his shins with his flippers. It was not an uncommon sight to see a little Adélie penguin standing within a few inches of the nose of a dog which was almost frantic with desire and passion.” 

“Whatever [an Adélie] penguin does has individuality, and he lays bare his whole life for all to see. He cannot fly away. And because he is quaint in all that he does, but still more because he is fighting against bigger odds than any other bird, and fighting always with the most gallant pluck.”

A gentoo penguin molting - these guys will sit here for a few weeks until they grow a completely new set of feathers. That´s why he looks a little rough.

A couple of Adelie chicks.

Great real estate for a penguin colony.  Look at that view.

You can see the paths the penguins have worn into the snow.

Mind the gap!

Another colony - this was a smelly one.

Not in the mood to pose for a picture.

It´s so fluffy!


Mother with a chick - sadly, this one likely won´t survive the winter.  It´ll get cold soon and this one is a few months away from being able to hit the sea.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Antarctica plants...

...not a lot going on.

No trees or shrubs, and only two kinds of flowering plants.  Moss, lichen and algae round out the rest.

Weirdly, it was a relief to see even these small patches of green after days of rock and ice.  Touching is a big no-no... apparantely it can take years even for this little patches to get a footing.

This is as big as they come - Antarctic hair grass.

Other than that its just moss and fuzz...

If its plants you want to see, hit up the Amazon on the way back home.



The southernmost free wi-fi on the planet



Ushuaia has come a long way since its days as a penal colony and whaling outpost...