waiting to board.....Ushuaia

,The excitement is growing here, as we have successfully completed the very last Covid test and have been cleared to board. We arrived into first BA and then onto Ushuaia a few days ago. It's been a long wait, but finally we are ready and allowed to get on board and begin our sailing to Antartica. Besides getting over the new stresses of travel, we are in good shape and took the time to become familiar with any new bits of equipment and simply check that everything is working after its journey from Cork. Let me begin with a few impressions of Ushuaia....... (the end of the world or fire Island as it is called!)

View of Ushuaia mountain range from plane on entry.

I managed to get the hydrophones out in Tierra del Fuego national park to listen to the under-life in the many lakes and bogs. Some surprising sounds, as ever in the most unlikely spots! The trees here are rather fascinating in that they are so so many. All crammed and competing for space and light and yet somehow surviving. This leads to very cluttered woodlands with the trees all bending and contorting, as they reach for the sky. Some beautiful sounds of the cold winds as it moves through the canopy.  (Obviously I am not the photographer on this trip so......)

I've also had a chance to test out the wonderful on-loan contact mics from David Stalling on some of the tree trunks and am very excited about their further us in Antartica. Thank you David for this beautifully constructed and powerful contacts. 


So, it's been a few days of jet-lag, PCR tests, hiking, testing and listening. Although I will say that my ears have been a bit distracted to date, so it's taken a little longer to tune in that we are actually here.


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We now board and sail for 2 days down to Antartica, but I look forward to time to explore the ship and listen for any sounds that peak my interest! See you in a few days. 

Tree Arch

Glacier Mountain View out to Antartica.....