In striving to encapsulate experiences so incredible that they simply exceed one’s vocabulary, it is sometimes necessary to have a thesaurus on hand. We use certain words to try and impart emotion, to put a reader into the world we are describing, that we so very much want to share. Descriptors like grandeur, splendor, magnificence, impressiveness, glory, resplendence, majesty and greatness are sprinkled throughout a story to try communicate what the reality felt like. To wax poetically about the massive scale of the peaks rising up thousands of feet directly from sea level is all well and good but it doesn’t truly convey the wonder of the moment of looking up and then having to look up even more to see the top. However, being on an expedition is all about these moments. Bobbing about in a Zodiac in Orne Harbour, watching the wind expertly slice slivers of a wave off into the air where the water momentarily is suspended, as if not sure what to do next, then promptly deciding and whipping away in a swirling spray. You are not just viewing the landscape and the coastline but you become a part of it.
The nearness between the wildlife and us on this voyage, combined with the utter vastness of the terrain is nothing short of immense, enormous, gigantic, colossal, tremendous and Brobdingnagian. The landscape really manages to escape capture by text, overpowering syntax and remaining wild and free in its boundless expanse of beauty. Danco Island allows for panoramic vistas, each direction a scene worthy of individual appreciation. White and cerulean icebergs drifting through channels flanked by towering islands, a masterpiece painted only with black, white and blue. Squeezing the last drops out the day, our after dinner stop off at Port Lockroy further connects us to this unreal world. Sending postcards home to tell loved ones and remind ourselves of the wonders that exist here at the bottom of the world which our memories will tie us to forever. Grasping for words almost forgotten, the comforting propinquity of this place and the expedition send us into a well deserved sleep after a full to the brim day.
