On the 23rd of April 2008, we while having breakfast, we heard a helicopter. We were expecting a visit by the Russian team on 24th, when their ship was expected to reach Russian Bay. But they came a day early.
On going out, we saw the huge bird, MI-8 landing on the helipad. 4 people emerged. One of them was Dr Arnold Budretsky, an 80 year old veteran polarman. He is the oldest person to be still active in Antarctica. He has done 10 winters and 11 summers in Antarctica, apart from having served for 15 years in the Arctic. Out of 10 winters, 3 have been at Vostok, which is the toughest station in Antarctica to winter over in. It is located on the 4000 meters high on the Antarctica ice cap, about 1500 km away from the coast. The lowest temperatures on earth have been recorded at this station. Dr Budretsky was the expedition leader at Vostok in the winter of 1983 when the temperature fell to -89.2ºC, the lowest temperature ever recorded on earth.
His present visit to Antarctica is purely symbolic. He celebrated his 81st birthday on the 15th April. The customs officials at Cape Town could not believe that an 80 year old man is going to Antarctica and they insisted on meeting him personally, something they don’t usually do.
We celebrated Dr Budretsky’s birthday by cutting a cake and giving him gifts and souvenirs. This was followed by a question- answer session.There was a free for all for having photographs taken with him. He was more than happy to oblige. Then we all explored the chopper while our leader was huddled with the Russian team. They finally left after an hour and a half. It was a memorable visit by the grand old man of Antarctica
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