« Terra Incognita »
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It had taken several centuries before setting sights on Antarctica for the first time in the 19th century.
Thanks to Tara and its team, I only had to wait 44 years of my life to make my dream come true: to set foot on this frozen land in January 2011. I have come to appreciate more and more, in these modern times, that traveling to these regions is still an adventure, and that you can share it afterwards. When those pioneers showed us the way, only a handful survived. We follow in their traces and we are still amazed at their accomplishments, their bravery, their total commitment even in the face of extreme danger.
We are fortunate to learn from their sacrifices, their discovery, their exceptionally adventurous spirit, and sometimes, from their last breaths.
It was in the Arctic, 3 years earlier, where this dream occurred. After the glacial Arctic Ocean, the urge was forged to discover this land under the ice. When you've lived to the rhythm, in the frozen desert of the glacial Arctic Ocean, almost void of living things, the sight of land, even frozen, and the life going on, is even more inspiring.
In slightly more than a century, the Antarctic has ceased to be the "Terra Incognita" from back then. Its latitudes and geography have been clearly mapped. A part of it remains "Incognita" due to its vastness, a continent unto itself. I had the chance to stay there for a month, just on the tiniest part of this giant, on the Peninsula, which looks towards the South American continent.
I'll never forget its lights, its contrasts, its moods ranging from a sullen 'end-of-the-world' to a renaissance of life. Its fauna, from krill to penguins and albatross to humpback whales.
I was chastened with the respect and humility imposed by these towering tabular icebergs in the Weddell sea where we are but a speck of dust in the land of Gulliver's giants.
We spent a couple of hours in a clearing surrounded by ice at 630 S latitude below the Polar Circle. Three years ago after drifting on the ice-pack, Tara had now returned to a land of ice. Even with electronic instruments and satellite data, we can always depend on our instinct for survival. An instinct always on alert in proportion to what the 'white trap' seems to want - at the mercy of the winds and currents - to become recluse.
Autor : Vincent Hilaire