Polar apparition In this remote place, the silence is The narrow channel into this mostly a nearly a living presence. We had submerged volcanic crater is marked FIRE AND ICE, AWE AND TREPIDATION: been cruising the Antarctic for several by a colossal pillar of basalt, rising DECEPTION ISLAND, A SEMI-SUBMERGED days, threading our way between straight out of the water as though VOLCANO IN THE ANTARCTIC, OFFERS snow-capped peaks and blue-tinged standing guard. We sail past it, into AN OTHERWORLDLY EXPERIENCE. icebergs. At first, knowing nothing a vast ring of stone dusted with snow, about Deception Island, we imagined as stunning as a Hokusai landscape. an immaculate white outpost, devoid At last we set foot on land, a wind- of any trace of human activity. But then swept black pumice beach. Facing us we were informed that our next stop is a bizarre, massive structure of rusted Page de gauche : tel un Moai qui aurait would be nothing like the others. metal: the ruins of a Norwegian > dérivé depuis Rapa Nui (l’île de Pâques), ce rocher garde l’entrée du cratère. La station Hektor. Ci-dessous et à droite : à Whalers Bay, ici une habitation, là une barque échouée ; tout ramène à la vie de cette communauté de marins qui vivait là il y a un siècle. AIR FRANCE MADAME / 181