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Hi Everyone Had a frustrating night last night when the internet provider at the hotel decided to firewall me from my website. So what did I do? I still wrote my blog. Wrote in in notes and then copied and pasted when the problem was solved. Just like I do when I am somewhere with no internet. You mean you have been to places with no internet? How could you survive? I survive very well in those places and sometimes yearn for the golden years of long ago when the internet did not exist. Met Zayaa for breakfast at 7:30 in the dining room. Our hotel serves your typical Asian breakfast. Fried rice, porridge, meats and vegetables. Of course there are some egg dishes and lots of coffee. Sarrak picked us up at 8:30. I have known Sarrak for almost ten years and he is one of the most gentle and beautiful people I have ever met. He and I have a special bond and we enjoy each others company so much. We were hitting the road again into rural Cambodia to a high school in a village named “Srei Snam”. This is the first year that a Dream Team was established in that high school and the third high school that has established a Dream Team. Remember what the Dream Team is. First we stopped at a place named “Theam’s House”. Theam is a local artist who paints mostly portraits of the Cambodian people. He also has a workshop where other artists make and display their craft. Theam has a gift for capturing the unique facial features of the Cambodian people. I thoroughly enjoyed wandering through this beautiful studio and house seeing his work and the crafts of others. It was then time to hit the road for the long journey ahead to “Srei Snam”. Dena, a graduate of the Scholarship program, also joined us. So here were all were. The four of us, Sarrak, Zayaa, Dena and myself driving through the beautiful and interesting Cambodia countryside towards a school and village that I had never been to and to speak to children that I had never met. We first stopped for an early lunch. Lunch was good, but I could not eat much due to the heat and humidity. It was then onto the school. We passed people who were fishing with nets in small rivers around the rice patties. Some of the people just waited in the water for a fish to arrive and then net the fish. Imagine standing in almost stagnate water waiting for a fish to swim close enough to you so you can net the fish in very hot and humid weather. Almost all of us could never imagine this. Zayaa was amazed by what we passed. I kept on taking pictures of Cambodians in their weird looking vehicles. We finally arrived ate the school. The school was so organized. As soon as I got out of the truck a small group of girls greeted me with their hand greeting and great Cambodian smile. I love that smile so much. It was now into the room to wait for the new Dream Team to arrive. What should I say? I kept on thinking of my talk in my head and practicing it in my mind. About twenty students finally arrived. About 50/50 boys and girls. None of them spoke much English so Sarrak acted as interpreter. Sarrak is such a great interpreter. He is so enthusiastic when we work together. I took a small chair and sat in the middle of the room facing these twenty strangers. Here I go. I started with telling them how many times I have been to their country. Where I come from, why they are special and all about my family. How many children I have, how many grandchildren and how many years I have been married. I then get into why school is so important. I tell them that I treat the scholarship students like my children. I then share with them my travel to Mongolia last year and introduce Zayaa. It was then time to get into some pictures. I then explained to them “Eagle Hunters” and where the eagles come from, how they are trained, what they are used for, and that they are returned back into nature. The students loved this tale. Then Zayaa passed around a Mongolian winter hat made from fox with fur and hide. Many of them tried the hat on and we all got to laugh. I also explained to them the Gobi dessert and showed them pictures of the camels and people. Zayaa then showed them pictures of the Yert Tents the people live in. How they heat the Yert with dung and furnish the inside. Zayaa also explained to them the difference between her face and theirs. Her high cheek bones and almost no eye lashes. She explained to them that their beautiful black eyes are so rare and desired in Mongolia. Zayaa did such a wonderful job of relating to the students and how she has spent her whole life in school and how school is so important. The students wanted to see and hear more. I asked them what is the only continent in the world that no one lives in? One girl guessed Antartica and here I went. We showed them a map of southern Argentina and Antartica. I explained to them what the “Drake Passage” is and how I traveled by boat to Antartica. We also showed them a youtube of the Drake Passage and many of them could not believe the size of the ocean and the enormous waves that were created. I explained to them as to why the ocean is so rough there and that there are numerous ship wreaks there. I also explained to them that this was the main reason why the Panama Canal was built and we got into a brief history of that. It was

Hi Everyone My website is blocked and I do not know why. Have emailed my great web person and I am sure she will work this out. We found out that the hotel internet provider had put a firewall on my website since the provider did not recognize it. So how did my first full official day work in Cambodia. Amazing. Had a day that I so enjoyed. Zayaa and myself were picked up at 8:30 for a drive to a high school in rural Cambodia. We were going to visit the dream team in Kralanh High School. The High School is located near the village where the original Pepy school was built back in 2005-2006. As we were driving down the road towards the school, we decided to stop at the Silk Worm farm to show Zayaa the farm and get a tour of the facility. I have been there many times and enjoy seeing the birth of the silk worms and their development through the knitting and dying of the silk as well as the making of beautiful garments and scarfs. The farm is located in a dense area of many different types of tropical plants and flowers. We walked through the various workshops and saw the people weaving the garments. I had previously seen people weaving by using their feet in Myanmar. Here they were using their feet, arms and electric power to run the weaving machines. The farm is run by a local charity that supports local arts and crafts and gives the people the opportunity to display their skills and work. We finally stopped off at the gift shop to see the beautiful finished products. It was now time to refresh ourselves in the hot and humid weather. Fortunately there was a refreshment pavilion there and the girls, Zayaa and Kimsru, had durian ice cream while the men, Manin and myself had our coffee refills. It was now back on the road. As we drove along the countryside, Zayaa was amazed by the thin condition of the cows. They are so thin and boney. They do not produce milk. She was also in awe of the of the many things and people the Cambodians manage to fit on some of their  weird looking vehicles. We first visited the original Pepy school. How this visit took me back to some of my memories. We then turned around for an early lunch at a local restaurant. After lunch it was time to visit the dream team at Kralanh. The dream team is an extension of the scholarship program. Pepy identifies students who are scholarship candidates and they enroll them in a pre scholarship program that helps them prepare towards acceptance in the scholarship program. There are about twenty students in this program from this high school. We met them in a small building where I told them who I was, why I am here and why I keep on coming back to Cambodia. I then told them them about Zayaa and where she was from. These students are not that good in the English language so one of the teachers acted as a translator. I also told them about some of my most recent travels and showed them some pictures of those trips. Photography is such a powerful communication tool. The students see where I was with their own eyes and experience a little of my experiences as well. Zayaa then asked each one of them their names and what they want to be. Most of them wanted to become teachers. I told them to set their goals and work hard. We spent around two hours talking with the students and answering their questions. Kimsru had to get back so we finally left. I have such a good time speaking to the students and giving them motivational talks. They are so focused and committed to making their lives better and more rewarding. On the drive back, we stopped at a beautiful monastery to show Zayaa what a buddhist monastery looks like in Cambodia. It is totally different from the Mongolian monasteries. There were beautiful paintings of the lives of Buddha and the entire temple was open air. Kimsru and Manin talked to her about they way they pray and meditate while she shared her thoughts and how the Mongolian people do the same. It was then back to the office and learning center of Pepy. We met with two scholarship groups and talked about similar topics. It was so much easier talking tp these students. They were much more fluent in English and most of them remember me from my previous visit in October. They were all so happy to see me. It seems that they now were convinced of my commitment to them and their schooling.  We talked about some of my more recent trips. It was then time for them to go back to class and for Zayaa and myself to rest uo a bit before dinner. We were taken back to the hotel and I decided to take a nice long swim. The water was not even cool. The hot and humid weather had made the water in the swimming pool barely refreshing. I then went back up to the room and fell asleep. How tired this weather makes you. For some reason I woke up at 7 PM and immediately realized that I had to meet Zayaa and Kaia in the lobby at 7 for dinner. Off I ran, getting dressed and running down to the lobby. We had dinner at a very nice restaurant named “New Leaf”. The restaurant donates 30% of its profits to various local charities, including Pepy, and gives 20% of its profits to its staff. She had a very enjoyable dinner as I enjoyed hearing Kaia and her story of how she arrived in Cambodia. A great and rewarding day in Cambodia Love Larry

Hi Everyone I have finally reached my destination, Siem Reap Cambodia. How and when did I get here? My nonstop flight was supposed to leave from Newark (NYC) at 1:55 AM Monday morning and fly nonstop to Hong Kong. Only a sixteen hour jog around the world. The plane took off at 2:30 AM and shortly thereafter I fell into a sound sleep. What a sleep I had. How do you cope with a sixteen hour nonstop flight? The answer is to sleep for over twelve straight hours. Did not take any sleeping pills nor medication. This was a marathon sleep. I woke up and was told that I missed two meals, but the third one would be served within an hour. The person sitting next to me told me that I snored. I felt bad but felt great and refreshed. I was now determined to stay up. Found lots of “Curb Your Enthusiasm” reruns and got down to staying awake. They served breakfast and we finally landed in Hong Kong. The airport in Hong Kong is beautiful and modern. I checked my connecting flight and then found an oasis. Starbucks called. I was even able to use my Starbucks app to pay. All my prayers are answered. I am content with the world. It was raining in Hong Kong and my flight was delayed for around 90 minutes. Finally off we went into the flying blue yonder. Cambodia is one hour behind China or eleven hours ahead of NYC. We finally landed in Siem Reap and what was the first thing that hit me as I was walking out of the plane? A rush of hot and humid air engulfed me and I finally knew I was in Cambodia in May. Went through all the immigration and customs nonsense and picked up my beautiful new North Face suitcase. As I walked out of the terminal I was greeted by Sarrak, Kimsru, Konnitha and Manin. How I have missed them all. Their smiling faces were so beautiful. After plenty of hugs and kisses we were finally off to have lunch. We went to a great vegetarian restaurant and some of the dishes were hard to decide if they were meat or not. The mushrooms were fantastic. It was then off to hotel. I must put high praise on Konnitha for arranging rooms at a beautiful hotel at a very low price. The hotel has a beautiful pool, big spacious rooms, great A/C (the most important item) and a warm and friendly staff. PERFECT. I then spent around three hours taking a long cold shower and moping around. Hope moping is spelled right now. I have previously defined moping, but if anyone needs an explanation, please email me. At 3:30 I was picked up by Manin and Kimsru and taken back to the Pepy offices. I said my hellos to the staff and then was brought up to meet the new scholarship students. I introduced myself and explained to them who I am and why I am here. We talked about lots of things and they were full of questions about me, my travels and my family. All in due time. It was then to the airport to pick up Zayaa. How do I remember Zayaa? She is this beautiful Mongolian woman who is full of life and energy. Zayaa is exactly as I remember her. She is now finishing up her masters in Social Anthropology and cannot stop talking. What a couple she and I make. Both of us continually talking with Kimsru adding her comments and Manin just looking on in wonder. We took Zayaa first to the hotel. She couldn’t believe the scene in front of her. Trees and plants that she had never seen. People in motor bikes and weird looking vehicles and of course there heat and humidity. Having never experienced these conditions, I told her to drink lots of water all the time. We checked her into the hotel and went for dinner. The people of Mongolia do not eat fish so we ordered lots of fish. Zayaa tasted squid, salmon and a large grilled local fish for the first time. She enjoyed sampling the different spices and local saucers. We all talked so much that I was becoming exhausted from the talking. When dinner was finished, we decided to walk around the area. Zayaa was surprised by the vendors selling pineapple, papaya and mango. She had never tasted papaya so we gave it a go. Finally we stumbled on the misunderstood one. Durian was starring me right in the face. Couldn’t resist the taste so we had some hacked in half and scooped out. I dove right in and enjoyed every mouthful. Zayaa took the plunge and enjoyed it. I have now converted another poor soul to the world of Durian and the misunderstood fruit. It was then off to get our feet cleaned and taken care of. How do you do that in Cambodia? You sit on a plank and put your feet in a large tank of small fish. These fish nibble at your feet and clean them the old natural way. This activity has been banded in America by the local Dept of Health’s. The fish were particularly interested in my feet. Their meal was at hand. Zayaa put her feet in and Kimsru was constantly laughing from the tickling of her feet by the fish. Would this work in Mongolia? I don’t think so. The heat has finally gotten to me and we went back to the hotel to shack out. Tomorrow is full with lots of activity and excursions into rural Cambodia. More on that tomorrow. Love Larry  

Hi Everyone How is everyone? It’s time to wake up. I am ready, willing and able. Where are we going and what are we doing when we get there? Let me set the stage for you? Got back from Antartica the morning of December 14 and Lindsay immediately put me to work. Lindsay is my beautiful daughter who is my partner. The long journey of tax season started then. When you play hard you have to work hard. I have been experiencing tax season for over forty five years. You work hard, answer lots of phone calls and help people who are mostly uptight and very anxious. The work is a grind and you start to see the end around the middle of March. I don’t know how much longer I can experience tax season. Semi retirement is on the horizon. Furthermore, one of my two dogs, Marley, developed a lymphoma and over the winter, and we  watched her get worse and worse. Dogs are special in my life. They become my soul mates and spiritual companions. Marley eventually passed two weeks ago. We had a very long and difficult winter this year. Lots of storms. My electricity went out, after one storm, and lived and worked off a generator for six days. Enough said. We should all always remember that life is precious and every day should be an adventure and blessing. So where are we going and when? We leave for the airport on Sunday night and my plane takes off at 2 AM Monday morning for Cambodia. This will be my ninth trip to Cambodia. Why go there so much and what do you do there? I have been going to Cambodia since 2005. I have developed a love affair with the Cambodian people. I find their gentle nature and personality to be very soothing and comforting. It is the only place that I can get my soul and spirit refreshed. Will be spending eight days there. I work with a local charity named “Pepy Empowering Youth”. Google them. They manage and run a scholarship program for rural high school students. When Olivia, myself and Pepy first set up the program, in 2010, there were two students. Now there are thirty students. Furthermore, Pepy has set up a high school program for candidates of the scholarship program. I go to some of the high schools and give talks with the high school schools. I also have lengthy sessions with the scholarship students and Pepy staff including field trips around Siem Reap. My photography has also become a good topic to talk about. I show the students where I have been and my experiences while there. Last year, the students loved hearing about my dog sledding experiences. When I showed them pictures of the Northern lights, their eyes lit up.This years trip will have a special wrinkle. When I was in Mongolia, last year with a small group of photographers, our local guide was a graduate student named “Zayaa”. Zayaa is a buddhist and has never traveled outside of Mongolia. One night, in Western Mongolia, I showed Zayaa pictures of Cambodia. She was mesmerized by the way the people live and I told her some of the differences in the way they practice buddhism. The following morning, I came up with the idea of bringing Zayaa to Cambodia and having her experience the people, their culture and religion. Trying to blend two similar and dissimilar cultures. She will be meeting people who have never seen snow and last year, where amazed by my winter clothes. She would be a great role model for the students and staff. That is happening. Zayaa is meeting me in Cambodia on Tuesday. I look so forward spending time with her, the students and staff of Pepy. We will be there until the night of May 16th. Where to next? We both fly to Beijing and arrive there at 2 AM on May 17th. We will be meeting Andy, Kevin and a small group of photographers at a hotel. Both Andy and Kevin have become special people in my life. They are two of my photography confidants and have both become dear friends. They have taught me so much and I feed off them and learn all the time. After some sleep and reunions, Zayaa will leave us and take the Siberian Express back to Mongolia. I will join Andy, Kevin and the others for a two week photography trip in China. We will be traveling all over. More on China and the places will be visit later. Fly home from Shanghai on May 30th. It is now time to pack. It will be so comforting only packing summer clothing. No gloves, sweaters, snow pants and warm shoes. My camera gear needs to be woken up as well. Every year, the first time I pick up a camera, I realize how much I love photography. Photography for me is a mental state of mind. I look at the world differently and experience all that it has to offer. Hope everyone will enjoy the travels and hearing about this amazing trip and experiences. Love Larry  

I invite you to view my latest photographs.  Enjoy!   Patagonia Antarctica   Click here to visit my complete photo gallery.   Love, Larry

  Hi Everyone   So after I got finished writing the blog, I went up to my room as the boat rocked and rolled. It was about 12:30 AM. I could see the waves crashing against the boats port holes as I sat in the lounge. How am I going to sleep tonight? Lets try. I first tried reading. That did not work. I then shut off the lights and tried various positions. As soon as I got into a reasonable position, I slid down the bed and almost off onto the floor. I had to hold on for dear life. I always sleep on my back. I tried every position imaginable. Back, stomach, head, feet etc. Nothing worked. The Drake chased me around my small cabin with a force that is hard to describe. What makes the Drake so powerful? The currents from the Atlantic and Pacific meet here. There is no land mass to absorb the currents force. Before the Panama Canal was built, there were lots of ship wrecks going around Cape Horn and being beaten up by the Drake. At 4 AM I had enough. Did not sleep at all. Went downstairs to the lounge to get some coffee and watch the Drake batter the ship. The beating took until about 3 PM when we entered Beagle Bay. Beagle Bay protects the ships from the Drake. We are currently anchored in calm waters.   Breakfast was an experience chasing our food around the table. Lunch was a little bit better. Mark conducted a critique in the morning and we also had to return our waterproof boots to the ship. Very useful on land and walking over penguin poop. He critiqued some of my images and complemented me. How sweet it is.    After lunch Mark continued his critique, but I nearly fell off the chair asleep. I went up to my berth and laid down for a quick nap. Got up, took a hot shower and packed. I have run out of clean clothes. Twenty days away in extreme conditions. No lying on the beach like the Caribbean. Everything is dirty and my camera gear has taken a tremendous beating. We all survived and will live to tell everyone our tale. Andy invited me to sit at the Captains Table for our last dinner. The dinner was fabulous. Great meat. What else do you eat in Argentina? Meat and more meat.    It was now time for our farewells. Mark and Andy made a video of our adventure and showed some of our pictures. We were also given something special. Each of us was presented a certificate signed by the ships captain saying that we had walked on the Antarctic Continent and passed through the Drake twice. I also thanked Mark and Andy for giving me the chance to join them to take pictures at places I once only dreamed of going to.    So, was it worth it going to Antartica? Of course. Where can you get sprayed by a humpback from his blow hole? Where can you go to a continent where the only citizens are penguins? I know of almost no other place in the world. The icebergs and their beautiful color. Traveling on a zodiac around the icebergs while taking pictures. Laying in penguin poop and watching the penguins interact through your telephoto lens. Antartica is not for everyone. I have said this before. Many of of the places I visit are not for everyone. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. The solitude of Antartica and the unspoiled environment. The rules strongly followed to ensure that this special place will always remain special. I get great joy in knowing that if one or more of my grandchildren go to Antartica, they will see much of what I have seen. I hope the world can come up with some solution to global warming.   My pictures of Patagonia and Antartica will follow eventually. I hope they will do these two wonderful lands justice.   I am currently scheduled for three trips next year and have booked them already. Cambodia and China in May. Not tourist China but rural China. Living with the fishermen and farmers. In June, I will be in Botswana, Victoria Falls and Zimbagwe. Mark has talkled me into going with him to see the Caribou Migration in the Canadian Rockies in September. I know at least one more trip that will be scheduled. October is reserved for Olivia.   I will be staying in contact with everyone during the next five months. I love to write my blog and love all the people who subscribe.   Hope everyone has enjoyed my latest adventure.   Stay tuned for much more adventure and fun   Love Larry

  Hi Everyone   Have spent the last twenty four hours in a washing machine? What? How did that happen? Let me tell you.   After leaving Deception Island and writing my blog, I crawled up to my room and immediately fell asleep. Got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, but could not get out of bed. The Drake kept on throwing me back into bed. I tried and tried but just gave up. No sense in fighting the Drake. He always wins. Trust me. At about 6:30 I finally said to myself “Do you want to do your thing in bed?” You have to get up and fight  the two steps to the bathroom. One of the most difficult and physical things I have ever had to do, but did it. Did my thing and then went back to sleep. I need sleep and some serious moping. At 7:30 the announcement came that breakfast would be tried to be served at 8. What do you mean tried to be served? It is not easy serving and eating breakfast in a washing machine. Do not try it. After a breakfast that had more dishes and food on the floor than on our dishes, we were then confined back to our rooms. I tried to read, but that was useless. Decided that I needed to fall back to sleep and did. Woke up at 11 AM and felt very wobbly and sea sick. I know why. Forgot to take my twelve hour sea sickness pills I was given at dinner last night. Immediately took them with my muscle back pills and just laid in bed thinking “Why did I get myself into this?”    At 12:30, the crew decided to try serving lunch. Another disaster. The boat feels like a roller coaster that never stops. Have you ever gotten on a ride in an amusement park that is a big boat that rocks back and forth? That ride eventually stops. This ship never stops. I went back up into my room and everything was thrown all around. Luckily I had put my cameras, lenses and computers on the floor wrapped in my clothing. I sort of hoped I had done this to myself. I can never describe the ship ride back through the Drake. Don’t do it.    For the rest of the day we just stayed in our rooms and tried to hide. Useless. I saw Monica, the ships captain. She has been doing these crossings for over twenty years. I asked her how this crossing would rate. She told me that on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst, this crossing would rate a strong 8 1/2 to 9. The waves hit the windows on the middle deck. Some water has gotten into some of the lower cabins. I hope the ship dies not sink. I wrote Olivia an email last n night, telling her I loved her and if she does not hear from me in twenty four hours, to send a rescue party. I also told her she can have everything. Is this the end?    Dinner was another disaster. In the middle of eating, all the dishes and water came sliding down the table and off. Stay away from eating in a washing machine. Does not work.    It is now 10 PM and the boat is still rocking and rolling. When will this stop or am I back in the Twilight Zone and will wake up back in my bed in Ossining.    Love Larry

  Hi Everyone   What a final day in Antartica. Spectacular. Lets start. I woke up at 5 AM and went downstairs for my java. Saw Duane get up. Duane was the groom at the wedding. Very nice man from Maine. Duane went out on the deck at 5:45 and immediately came back in yelling at me to go get my camera. Two humpback whales were next to the boat. I immediately ran upstairs and grabbed a camera. Went outside and was blown away. I looked down and saw one of the true beautiful creatures in the world. Two humpback whales were playing with the boat. I looked down and one of the humpbacks blew some air in my face from his blow hole. where can you experience something like this? I was in awe and frozen by what had just happened. The smell was like rotten fish, but who cared. I got sprayed by a humpback whale. I will take it all the time. I then started to shoot. Could not stop shooting as the humpbacks played with the boat. At 7 AM, others arrived and crowded the deck. I believe that these humpbacks knew what they were doing. If they did not, they would have swam away after ten to fifteen minutes. They played with us for over two hours. How beautiful and extraordinary this scene was. I am so blessed I got to experience a humpback blowing water into my face from his blow hole.    The day stayed on an upbeat after that. Breakfast was breakfast as we traveled to Deception Island. What is Deception Island and why go there? Deception Island is a small island in South Sheffield Islands off Antartica. Deception Island was a whaling station from 1910 through the 1930’s. Before we dropped anchor in the harbor of Deception Island, we passed through a gap in the caldera wall known as “Neptunes Bellows”. Deception Island is volcanic and has an active volcano. There have been three recent eruptions. You have to pass through “Neptunes Bellows” in order to drop anchor in the harbor. The harbor is a caldera created by the volcano. The structure reminded me of Santorini in the Greek Isles. Santorini has a caldera and is also volcanic. “Neptunes Bellows” is called this because there are violent winds that sometimes prevent you from going through the entrance. Lets get back to Deception Island. At the start of World War II, the British established a listening post there to listen for German and Japanese ships and submarines. The British also built some gas tanks, a runway and a large hanger for airplanes. After World War II, the British used Deception Island as a research station. The research station was abandoned in the nineteen seventies after the facilities were damaged three times by the volcano. We took zodiacs across the bay to the beach. The beach was rich black sand and stone. We then walked around the abandoned structures and took some great pictures of these structures and the landscapes of the caldera. My back started to ache and I left the Island at about 11 AM for the boat. i then went through my ritual of downloading and cleaning all the camera gear.    Laid down and woke up after lunch. I am so tired and exhausted. Lack of sleep and taking pictures will do that to you. It was now onto our last land excursion at “Half Moon Island”. For you geography buffs, Half Moon Island is located between Greenwich and Livingstone Islands in the South Sheffield Islands. Now you all know where I am. Have been always looking at a large map posted in the lounge of the South Sheffield Islands. I boarded the zodiac at 5:30 for a trip to the island. Chinstrap penguins greeted me as I got off the zodiac. I have grown to love taking pictures of penguins. They are unique and would love to spend a whole day sitting in a beach chair and a thermos of coffee, observing one of their colonies. I look through my telephoto lens and wait for them to interact. Great entertainment and photography. Could not stop take pictures of my new found subjects as I boarded the zodiac for the ride back to the boat.    Boarded the boat at around 6:45 and we were told that there was an important message to be delivered by the captain at 7 in the lounge. The captain told us that we would be entering the dreaded Drake at around 11 PM and the forecast is bad. We were told to expect forty foot waves and at least 60 knot winds. These conditions should last for 24 hours and we would be confined to our rooms. We were given bottles of water and told to practice going to the bathroom on our hands and knees and the men should go to the bathroom like women. Do not stand up.  Hurricanes normally have 20 to 25 foot waves. I immediately sent my beautiful wife, Olivia, an email, telling her that if she does not hear from me in twenty four hours, that everything is hers. All hell is expected to break loose. The doctor walked around the boat giving everyone medication for sea sickness and she gave me some medication for my back. Will I survive? What will this crossing be like? I can tell you the crossing over here was the worst time I had ever had on the sea. This crossing is expected to be much worse with waves double the size. I need to hold on for dear life and hope I survive The dreaded Drake.   Hopefully talk to everyone tomorrow night to assess the damage.   Love Larry

Hi Everyone    So how do our day go? We are currently passing through the Bransfield Strait. The Bransfield Strait is between the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands. The boat is rocking and rolling. We were told to put all our computers, cameras and lenses on the floor so that nothing breaks overnight. This is not the dreaded Drake, but we were also told to walk carefully and hold the handrails. I just took some sea sickness pills just in case.   So how did the day start? Did not sleep well last night. Am yearning for my good old bed at home. Got up around 5 AM, dressed and went down for coffee. The original plan was for us to do a land excursion at Orne  Harbor and walk up a mountain to a viewing platform. The weather was wet and very foggy. The land excursion was cancelled since we would have seen almost nothing form the viewing platform. We were first given a lecture on the history of Antartica. Very interesting and informative. After that we had a lightroom session and then lunch.    At 2 PM all the people on the port side or even cabin numbers, such as mine, were told to dress warm and go down to board the zodiacs for iceberg cruising around Bancroft Bay. So beautiful. We saw some whales and I got some dead on pictures of their tails Monica, the boat captain, was driving our zodiac. She is so nice and informative. She has been doing this for over twenty years and is German in origin. She took us around some beautiful icebergs. We saw icebergs that looked like faces and even one mushroom iceberg. I took almost one thousand pictures of these beautiful sculptures of nature. I then asked Monica the dreaded question. Has she gotten any weather forecast on the Drake since we are due to start the crossing tomorrow night. She looked at me and put her thumb down. She said it will be bad as of this moment. I don’t know how I will be able to endure the Drake again. Need to get fully medicated. A woman sitting next to me at dinner told me that she took a shower the first morning and was thrown out of the shower. She grabbed onto the shower curtain and everything came tumbling down. She received some bruises and two black eyes.   After the iceberg cruise I took a long hot bath, downloaded my pictures and cleaned all met gear. A daily chore that needs to be maintained during a photo workshop.   After dinner we had a long picture critique. After the critique, we were warned again to make sure everything in our room is secure and to walk around with nothing in our hands and try to anticipate the situation.    Hope I sleep some tonight. The boat is rocking more as I finish.   We are heading to Deception Island. More on that tomorrow.   Love Larry

  Hi Everyone   I finally had some well deserved sleep. Slept about five hours and jumped up when my alarm went off. Hooray. Needed that.   Breakfast was served at seven AM. Breakfast is a la carte and everything imaginable is served. I am eating less for dinner and making breakfast my main meal. A good practice to follow when I return top the real world.   The weather was perfect for picture taking. Cloudy and just a little tint of sunlight. We boarded the zodiacs at 8 AM. I am becoming adept at boarding and disembarking from the zodiac. A very easy vessel to get on and off. We landed at a place called “Curverville Island”. “Curveville Island” is located at the northern entrance to the Errera Channel. Now we all know where I am. Why land here? This island is home to over five thousand pairs of gentoo penguins. Yesterday we landed on an island and took pictures of Chinstrap Penguins. Penguins build and use highways. How could penguins build highways? They build and carve out of the snow and ice pathways that they use to go around their habitat. Very cool looking. There are long pathways extending all over the penguin islands and the penguins always use them to walk around. We are very careful to not step on them and navigate over them. Curverville Island was magnificent. I even got down on my stomach, in penguin poop, to take pictures of these beautiful creatures at their eye level. This makes for as much more effective image than towering over them and shooting down. You need to enter their world. Many of my penguin pictures are either taken on my knees, sitting down or on my stomach. Did not care about the poop. I wanted to enter their world and see them looking at me. I wandered all over Curverville Island shooting until my fingers and hands ached.One thing I would like to mention. Before we board our zodiacs, we must walk through troughs of cleansing fluid to make sure that no foreign germs nor substances are taken onto Antartica. When we return from the landing excursions, we go through the same process.  My equipment is taking a major beating. Ice and snow is not good for electronic camera equipment, but the gear I use is professional and weather sealed.    I took the zodiac back and immediately went up to my cabin before lunch. Had to clean my equipment and lenses thoroughly. Downloaded another thousand pictures onto my external hard drive and was now ready for lunch. Walking over soft and hard snow and ice is difficult and takes lots of energy. My back is going and my legs ache. The boat doctor gave me some pills for my back. Lunch was fabulous. The crew made a barbecue on deck. There is a large barbecue bolted down to the back of the boat. The beef, chicken and sausages were great. I had the beef.   It was now time to take a small rest and get ready for our next land excursion. The first two land excursions were on islands. Meaning that we have not set foot on the Antarctic Continent until now. We were landing on “Neko Harbor”. Neko Harbor is a small bay located on the west coast of “Graham Land”. Don’t say it again, Now you know where I am. There were lots of small floating icebergs and ice on the water leading to the landing. The zodiac traveled very slowly around the ice, but once in a while bumped into some ice. We finally landed and I officially stepped onto the Antarctic Continent. The Drake tried to stop me, but I fought him off and finally succeeded. I took some amazing wide angle shots of the landscape as we approached the landing. The beach was all rocks. I walked down the beach to take some pictures of some more Gentoo penguins. When I reached their colony, a large piece of ice fell down into the other side of the bay that I was facing. When this happens it could cause a large wave to wash to the other shore. This is what happened. As I was standing on a rock beach looking at a penguin colony, a large wave approached me. Not from the ocean but from the fall of a large piece of ice. The force is that strong. I immediately got into shooting mode and stood my ground. We were told that if the ice is large enough, a tsunami wave can be created. I then walked down the other side of the beach to the zodiacs and got back on one for my return to the boat. The scene was awesome in the zodiac. Could not stop taking landscape pictures of this amazing environment. The zodiac created interesting waves in the calm water and with the ice and icebergs, the scene stood out.    Got back on the boat and went up to my room to undress and take a nice long hot shower. Needed that.    Before dinner, we all had a surprise. A couple from Maine got married on the brow of the boat. It was the second marriage for both of them. They took their vows overlooking an ice filled channel of icebergs. We all cheered and clapped as the boat moved forward.   Dinner was fresh local salmon probably from Patagonia. Very good.   After dinner we had a photo critique. I love sitting through these and seeing what others are doing and how they do certain techniques in post editing. I presented three of my pictures for the critique. A fun way to enjoy and learn.    Hope I sleep tonight as the adventure continues.   Before I say good night, I want to leave everyone with a quote I found.    “An Antarctic Expedition is the worst way to have the best time in your life”. Said by Arsley Cherry from