Base San Martín, Barry Island - red on white

Marguerite Bay (Bahía Margarita), on the west coast of the southern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, was chosen for its relatively mild climate and friendly shores to be the location of several antarctic polar stations. I've written about Rothera (UK) sometime ago, and in its vicinity is San Martin, an Instituto Antártico Argentino (IAA) base.

Marguerite Bay is a large and deep bay, but the access is quite difficult most of the year because the water surface is frozen, or dangerously covered with moving ice floes. Small islands, underwater cliffs and rocks compose a net of narrow navigable canals. Only during the short antarctic summer is the route easy for supply ships as well as for tourist cruises or scientific expeditions.

'Roman Four' promontory, a 830 m high cliff with the form of IV.

Barry Island was first charted by the British Graham Land Expedition (BGLE) under John Riddoch Rymill, who used it for a base in 1936 and 1937. He also named it after the eldest son of an expedition member.

On one of the small islets, Argentina built in 1951 a small station for scientific purposes, a few scattered red buildings that are easily visible from the sea.

San Martín, Barry Island.

Coordinates:  68° 07´ S , 67° 06´ W
       350 km south of the Antarctic circle.
Occupation:  ~ 20, all year round.

Base San Martín is a permanent, all year-round Antarctic base for scientific research on climate, seismology and geodesics.

The increased Antarctic activity that Argentina developed since 1940, along with the interest to exercise effective sovereignty over one of the most remote areas of Antarctica, created the need for a scientific station located south of the Antarctic Circle.

The main house, at right: dormitory, canteen and leisure rooms. At left, the laboratory.

A quick description: one two-story main house with double wooden walls, an emergency house, five metal warehouses for supplies, housing for the dog packs, a power generator and the four towers for the 25 meters high antenna.

The Radio Station and communication antennas.

The IAA meteorological station within the base has been for long providing detailed weather records and developing forecasts for the navigation of the sea waters adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula.

San Martín looking at the red laboratory.

The station's main house.

At the time of its foundation in 1951, it was the first human settlement south of the Antarctic Circle.

The oceanographic ship ARA Puerto Deseado.

In order to transport the personnel and materials to Marguerite Bay, the navy has several polar ships, some with ice-breaking capacities.

The Almirante Irizar, bought from Russia.

All emergency - supply, rescue missions - are usually done by helicopter, and in winter relief crew comes by helicopter transfer. In adequate weather conditions, the team can also be reached by plane.

The Twin Otter is the most popular light plane for polar operations.

The regular post delivery is a basic need for the crew.

Two Glaciars - Uspallata and McClary - face Barry Island. Now, just look how magnificent is Marguerite Bay and its glaciars at sunset, or during the midnight sun by the antarctic summer solstice:

Rackwick Bay and the Old Man of Hoy, Orkney Islands

The Orkneys can be anyone's Ultima Thule. They have the remoteness, the preserved authenticity, the wilderness of cliffs, bays and seas, quaint towns with an atmosphere and a history of their own. And they were certainly on the route of Pytheas the Greek when he adventured on the northern icy waters.

On the west coast of Hoy, one of the Orkney Islands, there are two great sceneries that attract visitors to the rather wild coast : Rackwick Bay and the Old Man of Hoy, a slim but high rock column.

Rackwick Bay

Coordinates: 58° 52' N, 03° 23' W.

The bay in half moon shape is a strikingly desolate yet beautiful beach between red sandstone cliffs.

A glorious pink sandy beach with  giant sea-smoothed boulders lies below the cliffs. Only the boom of the sea can be heard on a summer day.

The tiny settlement, previously a farm, was converted to a boothy for visitors, a hostel and a small museum.

The boothy at Rackwick.

Rackwick has its own microclimate and is often warmer than elsewhere in Orkney. The terrain is hard to walk on but the views and landscape make the suffering worthwhile!


Rackwick is also the home to the Crows Nest Museum and  the Rackwick Hostel.

Craa Nest Museum occupies three old farming cottages.

These are the oldest houses on the bay, from a hundred years ago.

The Rackwick Hostel

The best option if you must spend the night at the bay.

The three-mile path to the Old Man of Hoy.

Old Man of Hoy

Coordinates: 58° 15′ N,  5° 23′ W

The rock is tallest sea stack in Europe (137m) and the most famous sight on the island if not all Orkney.

The column is probably the remaining end of a complete arch.

-------------

A handful of houses are scattered around Rackwick Bay, but there’s no shop, pub or café which is probably the reason that the place has retained its charm. But also reminds us of how har life used to be there:

No bloody sport, no bloody games,
No bloody fun; the bloody dames
Won't even give their bloody names
                                                                                     atribb. to Captain Hamish Blair

Has inspired this little jewel on the piano, Rackwick Bay by Phamie Gow:

Kullorsuaq- 1060 km north of the Arctic Circle.

Kullorsuaq is among the most isolated and poorest communities in Greenland. Over 1000 km above the polar circle, lost in the far north ice desert, it's hard to belive that this community has been continuously growing (yes !) to the present day - to almost half hundred inhabitants.

Kullorsuaq (old Kuvdlorssuaq) is located in the Qaasuitsup region, in northwestern Greenland, on an island at the southern end of Melville Bay.

Coordinates: 74°34′ N, 57°13′ W
Population: ~ 450

The church.

School youths.

Football with nearby communities is a must, weather allowing.

The settlement was founded in 1928 and became a trading station, growing in size after World War II when hunters from several small villages around moved into larger settlements.
Today, Kullorsuaq remains one of the most traditional villages in Greenland.

Fishing and hunting – including the fur seal, narwhal and walrus – still are the primary occupations in the region. The fish processing plant for Upernavik Seafood (a subsidiary of Royal Greenland) and the Pilersuisoq general store are the only organized employers in the settlement.

Pilersuisoq store. The shop is red, the church is white, the school is blue. Strong colors are easy to notice in the distance over the white snow.

Kullorsuaq helipad allows year-round connection to and from the remoteness of its high arctic location.

The name of the settlement means "Big Thumb"; the Devil's Thumb is a pinnacle-shaped rock in the center of the island, not far from the settlement.

Life in Kullorsuaq runs according to the glace cycles and the polar night. Between December and Mars, people live in total darkness, except for the moon and stars if the skies are clear; temperature can fall down to -35ºC, the sea is frozen and no ship can reach the village. The sunny months are also the best for fishing, and warmer days up to 5ºC allow for the melting of the ice and the arrival of ships with provisions and a few tourists.

Watercolour by Maria Coryell-Martin, 2013


Midnight sun in Kullorsuaq