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The Fourth Estate

The Student News Site of Laguna Blanca School

The Fourth Estate

Travels to Antarctica & Africa

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Fowlers in Antarctica

“My family and I went to Antarctica for seven days over winter break. My parents want us to go to all seven continents before I go to college, so they decided to go to Antarctica this time.

christian antarcticaWe went on the cruise called Antarctica XXI on the Ocean Nova. We took zodiac boats to the shore where we were able to hike and look at wildlife, like penguins and seals.
The cruise ship took two trips to the beaches every day so people could see the wildlife and they would take you back to shore and teach you about the history of Antarctica and about whaling and how it has affected the culture of Antarctica.
It’s a pretty painful series of flights to get to Antarctica. We went from LAX to Panama, from Panama to Santiago, Chile. Then to Punta Arenas, Chile, and finally to Antarctica where we landed on a Chilean army base. We then walked for 30 minutes to the shore of Antarctica where we took a small boat out to the main cruise ship.
All of the flights are from five to 10 hours long, except the flight from Puntarenas to Antarctica.
One day, we hiked on the shore of Antarctica to see the penguins, and my brother got too close to them and one of them, in defense, sprayed feces at him.
It was -30 degrees when we got there even in the summertime. Then it heated up to about 20 or 30 degrees Fahrenheit. This experience has made me a more grateful person for living in Santa Barbara. It was a really fun trip and a great experience and I would definitely go back at some point in my life.”

Berci Family in South Africa

bercis africa“We were in Africa for around a week and a half, not including the travel days for my grandparents’ 60th anniversary and my grandpa’s 80th birthday.
We stayed in Cape Town for four days. We visited Robin Island and went on a tour guided by an ex-political prisoner.
We also went to see the Cape of Good Hope, which is the point where the two oceans meet. We did all the touristy things and explored the city—it was an awesome experience.
Cape Town is a really cool city, and it’s really pretty with the ocean and Table Mountain. We saw the outside of the stadium where the 2010 FIFA World Cup was held.
We took small planes to two safari camps. Every morning at 5:30 a.m., we would go on ‘the morning game drive’ for a few hours, looking at tons of different animals.
We saw elephants, giraffes, hippos, hyenas, lions, cheetahs, leopards, zebras, water buffaloes, antelopes, frogs, and many birds.
I loved the giraffes because they were so regal and beautiful. We had elephants walking so close to us that we had to bend in the rearview mirrors of the truck we were in.
We watched, and heard, an elephant eating a water buffalo 10 feet away, and had lions coming as close at two feet from the truck, which was definitely scary.
One day, it was raining when we went out, and we were all ready to go back because we were soaking wet, and our rain ponchos really didn’t help us much, but then we saw two rhinos slipping around and falling in the mud and it was really funny and adorable.”

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Travels to Antarctica & Africa