Well, somehow, I made it through the bright, cold night! I crawled painfully into my tent, over the plywood that was used as a base and through the zipper hole onto my -35 sleeping bag. I shed my outer layers and set them to the side. I had stopped by my suitcase on the way to the tent and tossed fresh undies and socks into the sleeping bag, then I crawled in with them. When the bag started warming up, I shed my base layers, tossing the dirty undies and socks outside, but leaving the base layer in. I was wearing them again tomorrow. I tried my blow-up camping pillow, but it sucked, so I tossed it to the foot of the tent and put my parka under my head. I pulled my Ozempic out of my inner coat pocket and into my sleeping bag, too, so it wouldn't freeze. I tried to read, but was too tired. Put on my eye mask and had a mild panic attack, so I took it off. Surprisingly, I had difficulty sleeping with the daylight. I used to sleep with the light on, falling asleep reading! But I couldn't sleep without the mask. Eventually, I was so exhausted, I went out with the mask.
I did wake up well rested-ish, though. It was interesting trying to give myself a shot of my Ozempic in a sleeping bag, but I was able to do it! That was the last dose in that pen and I would be home in time for the next dose, so I didn't have to worry about it anymore. I "shimmied" into my undies and base layer, threw everything else I needed for the day into the little vestibule of the tent, stepped into my boots, and headed for the outhouse! After that trip, I grabbed the rest of my clothes, meds, and other things from the vestibule, zipped the outer layer (couldn't reach the little inner circular zipper from outside), and headed to the dining tent to finish dressing. This became my routine. I could stand and move around in the dining tent, and since I left my suitcases outside my tent, I could just go over there to get my toothbrush and hairbrush and other things I may need. About the time I was ready to go, the guides woke up and powered up the generator, giving some heat.
Oatmeal and oranges were the first breakfast. I never developed a taste for oatmeal, but the oranges were quite good! They had Tetley black tea, but one of the other ladies in the group had some really good other tea she brought with her. King Cole orange pekoe. I'm going to have to order some. I traded her hand warmers for tea bags! Dropped a bag in my big, old fashioned, Stanley thermos to take to the floe edge with me.
While outside, I got a shot of the guides harvesting part of our iceberg for water! That Greenland glacier water sure is good!
After breakfast, we loaded up in our komatiks and headed to the floe edge, where the ice has melted away from the open water. On the way, we saw some ringed seals hanging out by their holes in the ice. They apparently dig several holes in the ice with a claw they have on a flipper. Anytime a polar bear comes, they can just drop down into the hole and come up at another. Kind of like a "whack-a-mole" game! Even though we were going pretty fast, and they would drop down if we got very close to them, I got a couple of decent shots with the Lumix hanging around my neck. I liked the iceberg behind this guy, too!
We drove past several very lovely spots, but they just weren't right for the narwhals! Mostly it was because the wind had been blowing toward the floe edge, blowing chunks of ice in. Narwhals apparently prefer a bit of clear water without all that brash ice mucking it up!
We know narwhals have been in the area because we also passed by some carcasses left by some hunters who had already harvested the meat and tusk. Narwhals are not endangered. They just have such a small normal habitat that few people can see them! Here, glaucous gulls are feeding on a fresh carcass.
We got a little close and the gulls flew away.
We made a quick stop to check out...
the polar bear tracks. This area along the floe ice is known as the "polar bear highway". Our guide said these prints appeared to be made by a 4-year-old, barely weaned and on his own.
The sun (when it peeks through the clouds) moves in a circle since it doesn't set. It was clear on our first day, and the sun behind the distant icebergs gave them an otherwordly glow.
We finally found a spot with some water devoid of brash ice. When we got there, there were some thick-billed murre, a member of the auk family. Relative to the puffin and dressed like an adele penguin. So adorable!
It didn't take long for Elisha to set up our lunch. You could always tell when it was lunch time on the floe edge! If you blow the picture up, you can tell that one of the chairs has a parka hanging off the back. That would be my Antarctica parka. My base layers were apparently really good! One of the people with us asked what they were. (Just FYI, I got MerinoTech 320 superfine.)
This is where we all were. Scarfing down sandwiches and soup.
After lunch, we were back watching the floe edge. Don't worry, though. Our local guides were watching for narwhals while we ate! Also, when the wind started blowing, I had to put my parka back on. There were three Antarctica cruises represented by the jackets on the floe ice. Mine is Albatros Expedictions (blue). There were also Quark Expeditions (yellow) and Lindblad/National Geographic (orange) jackets.
It wasn't long before a ringed seal came by and played in the area. After checking to make sure we were looking,
he floated on his back for a while,
did some side stroking,
and even posed for us!
Before time to head back to camp, we also saw the black-legged kittiwake
and pomarine jaeger.
There was one call for "Narwhal!" (pronounced narwhale by our Inuit guides), but our guides and Ken (the group leader) were the only ones who saw it, so it doesn't count as far as I'm concerned.
On the way back, we stopped by the narwhal carcass. Apparently, they only have the one tooth, and it's the left molar, which protrudes through its head as the tusk/horn.
Not everybody got their pix before the guide let go of the head, and I'm one that likes to touch things and see how they feel, so...
It felt like a bunch of small barnacles! The guides said the head is hard and prickly, but the skin is softer and smoother on its body.
All of you who know me know that I was still taking pictures all the way back to camp, and I really liked this shot of the tandem komatik behind the bumpy ice with Baffin Island as the backdrop.
Dinner of pasta and meatballs was waiting for us when we got back to camp. After dinner, I dumped all of my pictures on my computer and the new external hard drive Chrissy got me for Mother's Day, talked a little bit with my new friends, and headed to bed. Same routine as last night!
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