Orange-Bellied Parrots Janet de Morgan Our tiny plane flew down the south coast of Tasmania to Maleleuka; next stop Antarctica. Deny King, mined tin there for years and his daily journal is now an important resource to ornithologists. He kept track of the annual population of the Orange-Bellied Parrots and called attention to their diminishing […]
Golden BowerbirdJanet de Morgan Near the end of our trip, rain pelted the roof of our B&B so the next day we prepared for its return. On a rural road near Cairns, Del, our local guide and driver, pulled our bus off and parked in a place where there were no signs or anything to […]
Ancient Tractor In the last ten years, the increase of tourism in the Antarctic has increased awareness of how precious the area is. Many of the abandoned man-made structures have been removed, and others have been declared historical sites. One of our guides cynically suggested the historical designation was an easy way to avoid the […]
In the Falkland Islands, we encountered our first penguins, a colony of Rock Hoppers. The name is self-explanatory, except that most of the other penguins we saw were also able to hop up and over rocks with energy and skill. The Rock Hoppers are two feet high, and can hop up a rock face about […]
Ancient Tractor What I will remember is the isolation. I won’t see the ship or the people I traveled with, but the pristine land, pure water, hanging ice cliffs, abundant wildlife and the floating icebergs, astonishingly beautiful while reeking with danger. We only touched a tiny area in our time there. It’s like sailing around […]
Postcard to MyselfBradley Stahl photo Icebergs are almost as unique as penguins but far more dangerous. When we neared the first point of land on the Antarctic Peninsula, the ship’s watertight doors were closed for safety. One of them was right next to my cabin on Deck 1. When it was closed, I had a […]
Homestead We joined the ship in the Falkland Islands, where whalers and explorers took on their last supplies before the jump across Drake Passage to Antarctica. After the islands lost their usefulness as a provisioning stop, the tough inhabitants grew sheep for wool. When the wool market went down, Britain heavily subsidized the tiny population […]
Crossing Drake Passage from the Falklands was so smooth we arrived earlier than planned and had an extra day for explorations. Knowing I get queasy in rough seas, I chose a cabin on the lowest deck, in the center of the ship, where the motion would be the quietest though on the first crossing I […]
Livingstone Island Hike The pictures I’d seen of tours of Antarctica always showed people in bright red jackets and we were told the ship would provide us with one. I expected the weather would be so harsh, no jacket I had would be good enough. Images of men with icicles dripping off their beards caused […]
As Peace Corps Volunteer Wind from a passing vehicle flicked my skirt, disturbing a colony of flies on my legs, as I watched, in shock, the last bus of the day disappear in a cloud of dust. The driver of the seriously overloaded Dar-es-Salaam-to-Nairobi bus only slowed down enough to yell out the open door […]
Saturday, May 7, 1966. Dear Allen and all, View from the Porch with Cattle I have launched my career as a senior science mistress. Four classes with 140 students totalhave now been exposed to “discovery science” from my class in Dar. One class is doing photosynthesis and the other transpiration, closely related subjects. Each student […]
Harriet, Still Travelling Those years in Tanzania were historic not only for me but for the country. Two years before my arrival, Tanganyika joined Zanzabar to form the new country. Mwalimu (teacher) Julius Nyerere became the first president, a brilliant and peace-loving man doing his best to guide his country through the pitfalls of independence. […]
Mwanza 16 January, 1966 Air Letter Here at last! Steve Sterk, Winnie Golliday and I climbed onto the train in Dar-es-Salaam with several others in our group. Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) usually take second class, but those seats were sold out, so Winnie I and travelled first class. The car was a bit younger and […]
Wednesday, April 13, 1966. Dar-es-Salaam Dear Family, School closed a week earlier than we’d planned. Three religious holidays were coming up in a row, so Mrs. King’ori, our new headmistress, decided to send the girls home on Saturday, April 2nd. The girls on the athletics (track & field) team stayed that day for the meet. […]