Photograph by Robert Scheer
Doug Cheeseman (left) announces points of interest, while his son, Ted Cheeseman, holds Jasmine, his month-old daughter.
By Loretta McCarty
When you're conjuring up images of island-hopping, surrounded by the sights and sounds of exotic birds and wildlife, Antarctica may not be the first place that comes to mind. But for Doug and Gail Cheeseman of Saratoga, it's just another day at the office.
This past November marked Doug's sixth trip to Antarctica (Gail's fifth), where they led an expedition of 85 nature lovers to the icy waters of the Antarctic Peninsula on a nonsmoking, month-long ecological safari.
"It was hard to come back," said Doug. "I miss it. The great numbers of wildlife, the brilliant, pristine majesty and beauty of it makes me want to cry."
The travelers flew from San Jose through Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, where they boarded the Alla Tarasova, a 300-foot chartered Russian ice ship, and sailed to the busy penguin rookeries of the Falkland Islands. They celebrated Thanksgiving, eating Cornish game hens with their shipmates, before moving on to the South Georgia Islands, among the most remote islands in the world, before reaching their Antarctic Peninsula destination.
Doug, who has taught zoology and ecology at De Anza College in Cupertino since 1967, led the expedition. He is currently working on a reduced schedule and plans to retire in July, but said he will still teach at least one course a year for the next five years.
Gail, who runs the day-to-day activities of the business from their home in Saratoga, serves as assistant leader. Gail is a birder (politically correct for bird-watcher) and former French teacher who also leads her own expeditions to exotic locations all over the world.
By combining their talents as teachers and naturalists, the two found a way to enjoy the best of both worlds. Not only do they organize their ecologically rich expeditions from Africa to the Antarctic, but they get to lead them as well.
"The tricky part of this business is getting the word out," Gail said. "The good part is that we are able to keep our business small to ensure its quality. It allows us to keep our finger on the pulse of the business."
Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris: This official website provides full itineraries for upcoming tours, as well as several environmental conservation links.
The idea for their own business began to take shape back in the early '70s, when Doug began leading short summer trips to Moro Bay and the Sierra Nevada. The short trips gradually became two-week trips to Baja, and then in 1978 and 1979, he led expeditions to Africa. In 1980, when people began asking for their services in particular, the couple decided to start their own business.
Their decision paid off, and they now have trips planned as far ahead as 1998. Most of their safaris are shorter than the month-long trip they led to Antarctica. But for fellow adventurers like Juliette and Bill Wheeler of Saratoga, even a month was too short, despite the ice and snow and temperatures that averaged 30 degrees Fahrenheit.
"There was always something to see, and I was really surprised by how the time went by so fast every day," Juliette Wheeler said. "Antarctica was a totally different world with a raw primitive nature, glaciers, icebergs and gorgeous scenery."
"The environment is harsh, and it wouldn't appeal to everyone, but we thoroughly enjoyed it, and the animals thrive in it," Wheeler said.
From the Iowa farmer to the New Zealand nurse and the doctor from Australia, the people who signed on for the expedition made an interesting mix, the Cheesemans said. "We had a lot of single people, but there was a balance of men and women of all ages, from 20 to 80 years of age, including repeat customers from our other safaris," Gail said.
One of the advantages of their trips, the Cheesemans said, is the amount of time they allow passengers to be out in the field. Their expeditions average two landings a day, meaning that after the captain docks the ship, groups of 10 to 12 people are taken onto the beaches by large Mark V Zodiacs, inflatable boats. The passengers are then free to explore and photograph for up to four hours, having the maximum time to spend with the wildlife.
This is not a social cruise. "We have a lot of photographers and biologists aboard who need time to look around," Doug said.
"We feel that if people are going to spend all of that time getting there in the first place, they should have time to see a lot," Gail added.
And there is a lot to see. Dick Kuenne, a friend of Doug's for 10 years, said he's traveled to many places around the world, including Africa and Alaska, and has seen some spectacular sights, but felt Antarctica was very different.
"It was away from the human element, and the scenery was unique and rustic in a rural setting," Kuenne said. "And the idea of seeing seven different species of penguins in one place was something."
Although all of the passengers were nature lovers, many, including Doug, were professional photographers who went there specifically to photograph the unique wildlife. Marine mammals such as humpback whales and elephant seals inhabit the islands along the way. There are colonies of albatross and literally hundreds of thousands of penguins of various species, only too willing to pose for the cameras.
Unlike the wildlife in the Arctic, which has been hunted by man for thousands of years and is wary of humans, these species, the penguins in particular, are not afraid of humans. "They are not like the penguins we see here in zoos," said Juliette Wheeler. "These penguins are very inquisitive, and they walk right up to you."
Despite the fact that the wildlife is not afraid of man, the Cheesemans and their fellow adventurers are not allowed to touch the animals. "There are strict ecological tourism rules for every ship that enters the waters, and we make sure all of our passengers are well informed of the ecotourism code of ethics before they go on our expeditions," Gail said.
Kuenne said he observed the penguins from a distance through his camera lens in order to allow them their space. But he said as he sat quietly on the beach, he soon found himself surrounded by a circle of three-foot-tall king penguins, who were as curious about him as he was about them. "They began pecking at my shirt and boots to see what I might taste like, I guess, and I finally had to shoo them away," he said.
Their Russian crew wasn't as observant of the ecorules, according to Gail. "Sometimes the crew members tried to get too close to the penguins, and we tried to explain to them, in our limited 10 phrases of Russian, why they couldn't."
"They are learning, though," Doug added.
All of the passengers were briefed before they left at a pre-trip meeting, held at one of the passenger's homes in Saratoga. Gail said they like to have these meetings to inform all of the passengers of what to expect from the trip and what is expected of them.
But the learning doesn't stop there. Once aboard, during travel time from one island to the next, the passengers are offered lectures, given by a historian, an ecologist, a geologist and a professional nature photographer, to prepare them for what they are going to see at the next landing.
Most of the Cheesemans' trip itineraries are changed every year so as not to become mundane or repetitious. Their tours, particularly in Antarctica, are planned around the best times of the year because of the changeable weather. "We work with the weather," Gail said.
"It was amazing," said passenger Kuenne. "Gail could get our itinerary changed within hours if there was bad weather ahead. Instead of running into blowing snow, we'd find ourselves sitting in some nice sunny spot. They were always pulling rabbits out of their hats."
The Cheesemans' next scheduled trip, which is sold out, is to Tasmania. However, Gail will be leading an expedition in April to Costa Rica, home to more species of birds than can be found in the continental United States.
Doug and Gail also lead whale-watching trips in Monterey Bay in January to view California gray whales, who are migrating from their summer feeding grounds in Alaska to their winter breeding grounds in Baja, and in August to view blue and humpbacked whales.
For more information about the Cheesemans' Ecology Safaris, call Gail or Doug Cheeseman toll-free at 1-800-527-5330, or email them at cheesemans@aol.com.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, January 29, 1997.
©1997 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.