Cape Evans, the Ice caves, and Penguins, oh my! (pt 1)

Much has happened here in Antarctica and abroad since my last entry...

I've had the opportunity to travel around a bit...

I visited Richard F. Scott's Discovery Hut at Cape Evans, which was quite an experience. The trip out was over the sea ice along a snow road marked by flags. The first time we got stuck in thick snow but the driver was able to get us out by moving forward and back, side to side, and other creative driving techniques...

A few minutes after we got out of the first drift we got stuck again and this time we had to dig out. Our fellow passangers and I grabbed shovels and planks and got out of the delta and began to shovel snow out from under the wheels and through the thick drift. Unfortunately we got stuck soon after this again...Eventually, a tracked bulldozer / snowplow known as a challenger came to our rescue... This vehicle was able to tow the 14000lb delta all the way out to Cape Evans through even the toughest snow drift.

While we were being towed we encountered a group of penguins. Everyone wanted to stop and look at them and luckily, so did the challenger driver. We got out and everyone gathered around in a tight little group, (there were about 18 of us) and began to photograph this group of six Emperor penguins. They were majestic, noble animals and yet had the feeling of being cute and cuddly at the same time... (maybe because they are small?) The six penguins approached our group but stood off at a distance of maybe 50 feet or so.

They talked to each other in their strange high squawks as if they were conversing about the strange hominids who have invaded their home, and how funny they look in their silly red parkas, and why (if they are so smart) haven't they learned to communicate with other species? The penguins' mode of locomotion is very curious. They will walk along and then when they tire of walking, will jump down and slide forward along their bellies until they come to stop by friction, then get up and walk until they are able to slide again. I imagine if they could slide indefinitely, this is how they would prefer to travel (wouldn't you?)

Eventually, the group tired of us and began to wander off. After much squawking and shaking of beaks, two of the penguins broke off from the group and began to walk back toward us. By this point most of us were sitting on a snow drift taking pictures and talking quietly. These two penguins approached our group to within spitting distance, maybe a few meters away. They made their way down the line of humans, giving each of us an appraisal and a deep look. As they continued their inspection, they would talk to each other and shake and bob their heads and gesture with their wings, sometimes slowly and meditatively and sometimes forcefully. I was standing on the end of the line and the pair of penguins approached me at last. One of the penguins looked me in the eye and I felt as if I was face to face with another intelligent, sentient creature rather than a mere bird...