¨I mean, think about it, man.  When else are you going to be able to go swimming in Antarctica?¨

It´s a more persuasive argument for me than it seems to be for anyone else, though I´m not immediately sold.  Cold water is just so… cold.

It´s our first landfall on the continent itself; everything else has been on Antarctica´s surrounding islands.  A refuge had been here, but cleared failed at its job as a particularly harsh winter only recently leveled it, littering the ground with wood, glass and supply containers as of yet unclaimed by nature.  The base of the refuge has been taken by penguins who seem more densely gathered there than over the more natural surroundings on all sides of it.

The trek upwards is one of the longer and most exhausting hikes our group has attempted thus far, but leads to a spectacular view.  And if penguins can make it up there with their awkwardly short leg spans, how tough can it be?

From the top, immense views spread out over 270 degrees, including a great vantage point of our boat, and a tremendous glacial wall spreading out just below us.  It´s a great spot, and gets my blood just pumping enough for what has to come next.

Making the long hike up to the lookout point.

Looking back down at others still working their way up to the top.

No complaints.

Our Ushuaia, as seen from above

I´m actually in no danger in this picture.

The Swim

Mildly sweaty from the walk down, I knew that this had to be the time and any hesistation might kill the likelihood of my actually making it into the water.  So I didn´t hesitate.

¨Can you hold this? ¨ My camera.  ¨And maybe take some pictures of me?¨

¨Sure,¨ the Australian woman says, smiling.  ¨Where do you want to pose?¨

¨From there.¨ I nod my head in the direction the water while flinging my coat off and onto a nearby rock.  As if clothing removal were a speed contest, I rip everything off as quickly as possible while a crowd forms, and fling each thing down onto the steadily growing pile of necessary (or not) Antarctican protection.

Down to my boxers, I run with as little grace as possible into the water, making it down to my waist in less than four steps.  The rocky ground bumps uncomfortably at my feet, but they´re already numb enough as to not mind.  I´m not cold from the water yet — it´s too cold to have hit me.  Now past my belly button, I drop quickly, hissing a sharp burst of air from my mouth as I sink down to my neck then shoot forward again in a giant, dorky splashing motion.  Another drop down and subsequent splash (I felt the need to do something grandiose for those watching) and immediately I begin my sprint out to the warm embrace of my clothing.

Undershirt, pants, t-shirt, right sock, left so–

¨You shouldn´t have your foot in the water,¨ a woman tells me.

I look down and see I´ve set my right foot, freshly socked, into an inch or so of water.

¨Oh.  I didn´t see that.¨  I didn´t see that.  That´s not good.

Most of me has warmed up nicely, but not my feet.  Back in the zodiac and my body feels fine, other than feet that I only am vaguely aware of.  Tense and release, tense and release.  No sensations.  How great a story would this be for the losing of my toes.  It was a really great photo op!

Such grace...

I really did get neck deep. This was the best picture the lady got, unfortunately.

yay.

Back in the boat, my feet come back to me eventually.

On the plus side, Patrick´s gathered up some dark ice — most of it is white and porous and would make for bad cocktail ice.  But the old, really dense stuff tends to float a little lower and appear darkly transparent rather than lightly opaque.

Good ice for drinking!

Cutting the ice down to acceptable sizes with a steak knife. ¨But Yancy, why not use one of those many axes we see all over the ship in pictures.¨ Well, I did. Turns out this is frowned upon.

Salud!

Our good cheer is short-lived. The boat bar has a weird policy where you can`t use their glasses for your own alcohol, and confiscates the glasses upon providing us flimsier plastic alternatives. Suddenly, my ice cube is over-large...