Local traditions and culture in Antarctica

When visiting research stations, please don't ask to use their toilet. It is difficult as it is to remove garbage and sewage in a place like Antarctica. Can you imagine if 10, 20 tourists add on even more garbage to their toilet system in a single day? Just like all other landings, please go before or after back on your ship. It is only courtesy :)

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My husband (left) drew a "Puckered Penguin" tatoo on his buddy, Ed Wentling, with a magic marker. They had some fun...and some booze. :-) That was in 1962-1963.

*** Thanks to a VT connection, my husband has found his friend after 45 years Many thanks to "demonia" of Lynnfield, Mass. for the help in locating Ed. We all had some fun doing it.
I can't tell you how excited these guys were to be reunited after so many years. Ed and his wife drove up from Pennsylvania for a few days and Ed insisted on the 2nd photo in my tip. I told them they were going on VT and around the world with it. They didn't care. They were absolutely joyous. They are now emailing and phoning one another...visiting when possible. The guys traded sea stories, drank beer, and visited their old haunts down near Quonset Naval Air Station (now closed) where they were stationed in the early 60's.
THEY ARE A PIECE OF WORK, AREN'T THEY?

It is a custom in Antarctica to take off your shoes, when-ever you enter a scientific station ! So remember to take on some new socks without holes in them and be prepared to walk inside the station in these socks. It will be heated anyway and that way the penguin-poo that will be sticking to your shoe-soles will not get into the working-areas of the scientists. Scientists are normally very glad to get visits by cruiseships, at least when they dont have more passengers like we did. We made a visit in Vernadsky Point, an Ukrainian research-station. In Port Lockroy you may leave your shoes on inside the museum and postoffice !

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Stepping up into the rigg or climbing on the masts is possible for passengers any time, as long as they tell the crew. That makes sense for taking photographs from a special angle and it should be no problem for you, as long as your feet are not too wide, or you are able to make a wide jump, just hanging on your arms.
In any case you will always be secured by a strong rope, that is fixed to your body and also to a rope next to the masts.
In my photos : my brother Bernie stepping up the mast in order to take his HD-Video from above

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A young couple from Belgium had the idea to celebrate their wedding onboard the Bark Europa, but they were told by the captain, that such weddings are not legal anymore like in the old times, when ships-passages lasted several months and the captain had the power to do weddings, while at sea. So they agreed about an unofficial ceremony and all of us had a lot of fun that way in Peterman island.

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Yes,there is an Antarctical Tartan, it is woven in Scotland and will be sold exclusively here in the Antarctic in the souvenirshop of Port Lockroy. The tartan has a pattern of fine blue and white tones and you will be able to buy scarfs for ladies and geltlemen, but be prepared , they are really quite expensive:
A Lady's silk square scarf made of Antarctic tartan is 50 US $
A Gentleman's Necktie is 25 $

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Here in the Antarctic you will see blue snow at many places and the explanation of our tourguides of the bark Europa was, that the snow gets a different color, when the density of the snow and frozen water is different. ( so it is eighter more fluffy or more pressed togeather)
At first I had the feeling it has something to do with the reflections of the bright sunlight, but finally I saw that these extra-blue parts in the snow and glaciers will have exactely the same color when it is cloudy and even after sundown,like the one on my main picture, where my brother set his tripod into the snow and then this kind of blue was shining in the snow.

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It is really quite hard to find a perfect path to walk in the antarctic, because when you walk in the snow, your footsteps will mostly stay much too deep for the penguins and the moss is too precious to walk over, because it needs years to recover, when a shipload of people is walking over it.
Walking inside such small brooks is a good solution, although you have to be extra carefull there, not to slip or fall.
b.t.w.It is absolutely forbidden to walk insideof the penguin-paths, like shown in my 4th & 5th pictures !