In de Voetsporen van Shackleton
(In the Footsteps of Shackleton)
Albert Beintema
269 pages
Published in 1995

You may have already deduced from the title this is a book about Antarctica; it's in fact the personal story of one of the participants in the two Dutch scientific expeditions to Antarctica mounted in 1988-89 and 1990. These expeditions were held not for scientific but for political. They served as a pretext for the Netherlands to become a member of the Antarctica Treaty. This because we wanted to be able to vote on the extension of the Treaty which prohibits commercial exploitation (mining etc.) of the continent. Thanks to a bit of luck Albert Beintema took part in the first expedition and because this made him a South Pole "veteran" he could join the second expedition as well. This book describes his experiences.

I only discovered Voetsporen by accident. My library books were due this monday so I went to hand them in (always a traumatic experience) and while there I took a quick look at the books they had for sale. I noticed the cover, read the backflap and it looked as if it might be interesting so I took it home. Antarctica is not a subject I'm particularly interested in, but sometimes you have to take a gamble. Luckily, it paid off.

This is mainly due to Beintema being able to write engagingly and entertainingly about his adventures. He has a good sense of humour and this shines through in his descriptions of the daily routines in the base. There is e.g. his description of penguins:

I don't think that penguins look like smoking wearing gentlemen nor do they look like waiters. They resemble middleclass housewifes with only one worry: going grocery shopping at the Spar. That fanatical look in their eyes when they have to get food and the determination with which they fight themselves a way through the colony. Grocery shopping for their children, that's their duty.

But Beintema is also interesting when he tells of the research he did on the expeditions, which revolved around the thermoregulation of penguin chicks. He manages to explain the theory behind the research as well as the practical side of it clearly and interestingly, not afraid to use the occasional formula. He also isn't hesitant in describing the difficulties in measuring the little buggers, whose parents have the irritating habit of pecking him with their beaks, just above his boots and below his knees...

What he's also good in is describing the human side of things, telling of how life in the Brazilian base on Elephant Island went and in the second part of the book, what went on in the Polish base at Admiralty Bay where the second Dutch expedition stayed. That the first Dutch expedition, which consisted really only of him and one other guy was based with the Brazilians on Elephant Island also explains the title of the book. On his 1914 South Pole expedition Robert Shackleton got stuck in drift ice and when his ship sunk, he and his crew had to row themselves to Elephant Island, where he then had to walk for 36 hours to get help from a Norwegian whaling colony. All of which is also told off in the book.

All in all this was quite a fortunate find; a pity this is only available in Dutch. For those of you who've gotten curious, Albert Beintema has his own website, in English even.