Endurance 2
I am fascinated by the tales of the early travellers to the South Pole, especially the doomed trip of Shackleton aboard the Endurance. It blows my mind the fact that Frank Hurley, the photographer, had the nerve to gather his heavy glassy negatives and cameras as the boat sank, and the crew escaped in lifeboats to Elephant Island. After all, we are talking 1914 to 1916 here, folks. Thanks to his cold blood (no pun intended ;-) ), couch potatoes like myself can follow that amazing two year journey in the South Pole practically step by step.
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/features/endurance/
In this page, you will find the whole story and some of the unbelievable pictures of Hurley. The ones that linger longer on my mind are those of the ship surrounded literally by an ocean of ice.
Shacketon and two others left the crew waiting in Elephant Island and went on a even more desperate journey, braving the sea and mountains to find help. The crewmen waited for months till rescue came, among them Frank Hurley (and his stuff). Can you imagine their desperation waiting day, after day, after day for boats that might not come at all?
Legend says that not a man was lost.
Years ago, I read in a magazine that wild arugula grows on Shackleton's grave in South Georgia. He died there many years after the expedition. A starved modern-day traveller who once visited there took some and ate, the first real food he had in many, many days. He said that the bitter, tangy taste made him feel more appetite for life than ever. From that day on, arugula became my favorite green.
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