“I used to think that a journey to Antarctica would be a once-in- a-lifetime experience. Now I am sure that I will return.”
Silje Våtvik, guest on MS Fram, January 2015
As a child, Silje Våtvik admired explorers such as Amundsen, Shackleton and Scott. During her journey to Antarctica with Hurtigruten, she not only explored in the footsteps of these great adventurers, she became one too.
SILJE VÅTVIK
Silje grew up on Svalbard, The Kingdom of the Polar Bear. As long as she can remember, she has been fascinated by wildlife and extreme nature. A trip to Antarctica, where close encounters with penguins, leopard seals, whales, fur seals and elephant seals are common, has been on her bucket list all her life. And last year, she made her child- hood dream come true.
After sailing through the Drake Passage and spending two days on the open sea, Silje eventually got a glimpse of land. This was a soul-touching experience that she will never forget.
„MOST PEOPLE RAN OUT ON DECK, AND I WAS ONE OF THEM. FINALLY I GOT TO BREATHE THE SAME AIR AS MY HEROES DID MORE THAN 100 YEARS AGO.“ SILJE EXCLAIMS ENTHUSIASTICALLY
Also putting her feet on this huge continent of ice, felt very special. She tried to imagine how it must have been for the first people who
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came here. Completely isolated, thousands of miles away from civilisation. “Going ashore, I was surprised how close we came to the wildlife. Suddenly, we found ourselves in the middle of penguins and fur seals. With huge smiles on our faces, we took photographs like there was no tomorrow. It was almost like we needed the evidence to prove that this was really happe- ning”, says Silje.
Their first day in Antarctica was celebrated with champagne in the Jacuzzi on deck. This felt like a huge contrast to how things were 100 years ago when the polar pion- eers travelled here with their lives at stake. “I hardly think Amundsen and his crew ended each day in the wil- derness with bubbles in a hot tub”, laughed Silje.
NUMEROUS OPPORTUNITIES Silje likes to stay in shape, and had big plans to make use of the fitness room on board. This didn’t happ- en. “The days were so filled with adventures that I didn’t find time to use the fitness room. OK, I knew that MS Fram was famous for landing just
about everywhere, but getting the opportunity to go ashore in so many places, that was really mind blowing”, says Silje.
MS Fram did about two landings every day and the opportunit- ies, both on land and at sea, were numer ous. “There were new activit- ies all the time, and I felt I had to try everything. I was on a boat safari, I paddled kayak, and then I spent a night ashore. The feeling of lying in a tent on land, like many polar ex- plorers had done before me, was something I wouldn’t miss! We slept
© Anne Maanum
© Anne Maanum
© Anne Maanum
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