An Emperor Penguin almost finished molting.
I had 3 goals when I came down to the Antarctic.

1.  See penguins. Emperors and Adelies.
2.  Stand on ice thats at least 2km thick.

3.  Visit the South Pole.

So far 1 and 2 are crossed off my list.  Tomorrow we are scheduled to go to the South Pole, so soon I’ll be checking that one off my list!

Looking out over the Ross Ice Shelf from Observation Hill, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.

It has been a while!

I’m now stationed in the Antarctic for a few months.  The journey down here took me through Australia, and New Zealand via Airliners, and finally on a U.S. military C-17 to McMurdo Antartica.

McMurdo reminds me of a typical northern town with different earth colored buildings on piles, no vegetation and surrounded by snow.  There isn’t much snow left in town, and the temperature is a balmy 5 degrees today.  Pretty typical to see people walking around in T-Shirts.   Out my dorm room window I can see the ice shelf and the mountains in the background.

We park our aircraft down on the ice about an hours drive via a huge bus with HUGE wheels.  From that vantage point we are surrounded by beautiful scenery including 2 volcanos, Mt. Erbus and Terror.  Both active.

I haven’t done much flying yet, but I will be headed out to a camp on the Ice pretty soon.  Looks like we will be stationed there for about 6 weeks.  No internet, no showers, but at least we will have a phone.

I’m taking lots of pictures, but I won’t be able to post any when I’m camping.. But, I’ll save them for posting when I get back.

A dog guarding the road up to an old house.  Sri Lanka.

A general laborer digging a ditch in Male, Maldives.

A woman bathing in the Mahaweli River near Kandy.  The Mahaweli is the longest river in Sri Lanka, running through most of the island.  These days it is primary used for irrigation and hydroelectricity and is heavily dammed throughout the country.  It is also used for bathing, washing clothes and sewage.

Young monk in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

A man in a yellow Taxi truck in Thailand.

A man selling Vegetables in Kandy, SriLanka.  After I took this shot, the men in the opposite stall offered coconut and some kind of brown sugar combo, was delicious.

A glacier running down the side of a fiord on Ellesmere Island.  See location on Google Maps.