Antarctica. The continent and the cruise were better than I could have ever imagined. Here is a recap for your reading enjoyment. 

Day 1
Course: Ushuaia, through the Beagle Channel, then into Drake Passage
Waters: calm.
Morale: very high.

We’re on a boat! The cruise that motivated this whole trip has finally arrived. This will be our home for the next 10 days, after it pulled into port after just having returned from — where else — Antarctica.

While not a luxury cruise ship, it’s still awesome, with a very spacious lounge and ample deck space. Our room is one level from the bottom and has one window. After a lengthy orientation, we participated in an emergency drill where we waited for an alarm, rushed to put on our life vests, and then congregated in the lounge to learn how to properly board the life rafts.

 

This feels like the start of a whole new trip. Also, everyone is a little anxious about passing through the Drake Passage which has very choppy waters, but mostly we’re all excited.

One of the guides mentioned a quote, “Life without penguins is definitely possible, but it is senseless.” I’m looking forward to appreciating this.

Day 2
Course: All Drake Passage, all the time.
Waters: mildly choppy
Morale: pretty high

We have now entered the Drake Passage, which is where the Pacific and Atlantic oceans meet. Typically it has some of the world’s choppiest water, but forecasts for the next few days call for calm conditions. So far, it’s actually been so calm that the crew is calling it the Drake Lake.

Activities of daily living such as sleeping and showering are much harder on a rocking boat. The first time I peed in the toilet was in the middle of the night, when I got up but forgot I was on a boat. I stood there half-asleep with both hands holding down my pants when the boat rocked so violently that the toilet lid fell shut as I was peeing on it, and then I was thrown backwards into the wall. I don’t get up in the middle of the night anymore.

Finally, it’s a very strange view to see only water but absolutely no land. It’s even stranger that we’re at the very bottom of the earth and yet none of us have fallen off.

Day 3
Course: Shetland Islands
Waters: Choppier than yesterday, but tolerable.
Morale: Getting slightly bored.

We entered the Antarctic Convergence this morning, but I’m not quite sure what that means. Temperatures dropped to 1 degree C. That’s not warm. In the early afternoon we saw our first icebergs…finally, something to look at other than water. Soon thereafter we arrived at the Shetland Islands and had our first zodiac ride. (Zodiacs are large, study inflatable rafts that shuttle us from the ship to shore.) And what did we see on land? Penguins!

 

These little guys waddle and look a lot like people, flip flopping from side to side on their feet. We saw hundreds of them, sleeping, walking, feeding their chicks, pecking one another, and avoiding us. And there’s no escaping penguin poop.

 

Funny, I never knew where the Shetland Islands were and now I’ve been on them. (And somehow I still don’t know where they are!) And technically we were on Antarctica today since the Shetlands are part of it, but I won’t count it until we step foot on the mainland continent.

Day 4

“Gooood morning, good morning to everybody!”

That’s how our daily overhead morning announcements all start (although it is spoken very quickly and with a strong Argentinian accent.) Today’s went on to say it was -2 degrees C, which is even less warm than yesterday.

We hopped on a zodiac to our first landing, the Cuverville Islands, which are a small group of islands next to the mainland, where we hiked up a small mountain. The view at the start was spectacular and ranks among the most memorable I’ve ever experienced. We couldn’t have asked for sunnier or better weather, and our guides say this has been the best weather of this season.

 

Penguins everywhere, of course.

 

Later in the day we set out for our first landing on mainland Antarctica. Here we approach our site, which has an abandoned base.

 

We finally set food on the continent…it’s Antarctica, baby!

 

Upon returning to our ship, the staff had a BBQ on the deck that served tasty choripan sandwiches with chimichurri sauce, which hit the spot so perfectly. This was truly an amazing day.

Day 5

We woke up as our ship was trying to pass through the Lemaire Channel, a very narrow passageway filled with icebergs. For the last two days, other ships have have tried to pass but were not successful. Unfortunately, we too had to turn around because of the conditions. Regardless, the view of the icy channel was beautiful.

 

Plan B was to visit Port Lockroy, which is a small former scientific station turned museum that is manned by several women from the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust. They live there for five months of the year restoring the place, educating visitors like us, and running the museum and post office. There’s also a gift shop, which is the only place in Antarctica where you can buy something.

 

Our afternoon landing was at the nearby Danco Island. Here I am on this very Antarctic day standing next to a whale skeleton.

 

Penguins are very polite, and apparently they bow to one another before they mate. I decided to give it a shot and see where it got me. Oh hello Mrs. Penguin!

 

Back on the ship were treated to a great Christmas Eve dinner of roast duck (but between you and me, I think it was penguin. There are lots of them around.) A fun night of celebration and music and drinking soon followed in the lounge. Then suddenly we went from Antarctica to MANtarctica:

Oh, and Wilkie found a husband.

Day 6: Christmas Day

“Gooood morning, good morning to um…ok”. Click.

Our morning announcement took multiple tries as our expedition leader may have been a little hung over from the previous night’s partying…as were most passengers. The dining hall was half empty at breakfast, and Wilkie didn’t even get up for our first landing. Here I am high on a cliff overlooking the glacier surrounding Neko Bay, with our ship in the distance and me wishing you all a Merry Christmas.

 

When I got back at noon Wilkie was finally awake, and we exchanged Christmas gifts. I got him a season of the Big Bang Theory on DVD…and he got me this.

 

In the afternoon we went for iceberg tours on the zodiacs. Mine was one of the first to return to the ship, and once we were back up on deck, we were told to look down as there were two Minke whales playing with some of the remaining zodiacs. Minke whales are the smallest of the whales, typically no more than 10 meters long (yeah, metric system, son). They are very playful and were circling the zodiacs for at least ten minutes.

 

 

We got yet another Christmas treat after dinner when a group of humpback whales appeared near our ship and gave us a show for almost an hour. Normally I’m not into whales, but these guys were great.

Merry Christmas!

Day 7

Pull up a chair. Let me educate you, peoples. Not all penguins are the same, even though it might appear that way at first glance. There are three species of penguin in the region of Antarctica we’re visiting. There are the Adelie and Chinstrap penguins (it’s pretty obvious why the Chinstrap is so named):

  

Those two are not very common. The most common one, and by far my favorite, is the Gentoo penguin:

 

Anyway, our first landing of the day was at the Hydrurga Rocks, a small landing at the entrance of the Gerlache Strait. We got to see both Adelie and Chinstrap penguins here. Our second landing was at the Mikkleson Harbor, which is a small bay in the southern side of Trinity Island. There are lots of Gentoos here, and sadly, this will be the last time we’ll see them on this trip. These penguins were so entertaining to watch and were definitely the highlight of my trip. Goodbye friends.

 

They didn’t even bother looking for the photo.

In other news, I’m getting a litle tired of the cold. The daytime temperatures aren’t too extreme (typically right around 0 degrees C) but with the wind chill it’s much worse. Although, being an American might be making me a wimp. I was talking with a Russian guy here on a particularly snowy and freezing day, commenting how cold it was. He replied “Dees? Dees is warm. I veel go for walk now without hat.”

Day 8

Time for our cruise to start returning back to South America. First, though, we stopped by Deception Island, which is the top of an old volcano that filled with water. But because waters were choppy, we moved to Half Moon Island for our final landing of the trip. We saw more ice, water, penguins, and seals…but more importantly we did this:

The water was 1 degree C.

Remember all those gifts we received earlier this trip — the calm Drake Lake, our beautiful sunny first day, all the great whale sightings? Well it’s now time for payback. Forecasts call for very windy conditions through the Drake Passage, and thus very choppy waters. Upon hearing this, many passengers freaked out and got quite dramatic.

A few of us, however, put a more positive spin on it … because when life gives you lemons, you make the lemons vomit. We started a bet where you chip in one dollar, don’t take any seasickness pills, and the person who didn’t vomit at the end of the trip won all the money. I got permission from the captain and announced it on the overhead PA system. People loved the idea, and about 25 joined. I even made a big sign for our lounge room, with people crossing off their names as they dropped out. Guess who was the first one out, just ten minutes into the game?

 

Turns out I get seasick!

Day 9

Waters: Choppy
Morale: Medium

Things aren’t looking good, peoples.

Large waves (8 meters high) are thrashing this boat every few seconds.

It’s an effort just sitting upright. Walking and eating are even harder. Few people are showing up for meals, and sick bags are being used up all around the boat.

And yup, people are dropping out of the Great Drake Challenge.

Day 10

Last night was the worst night of sleep this entire trip for everybody. We were all thrown around like rag dolls. Thankfully we had railings on the side of our bed, otherwise everyone would have ended up on the floor.

They say we should be out of the Drake Passage later today.

That’s good because morale is dropping quickly. 

Day 11

“An Antarctic expedition is the worst way to have the best time of your life.”

We are back in South America, safe and sound. 

This experience has been one of a kind. Getting there is no small feat, the weather is oftentimes unbearable, and many places are simply dangerous … but once you’re there, you’ll be rewarded with sights and animals and scenery you won’t find anywhere else on earth. Anyone with an interest in travel, photography, or cold weather should seriously consider doing this trip once in their life. It is worth every minute and every penny to earn this passport stamp:

Thanks for following along, everyone!

Antarctica advice

It is certainly not cheap to visit this continent, and people should expect to pay at least a few thousand US dollars for the cruise alone, in addition to any airfare getting to/from Ushuaia, Argentina.

However, I quickly discovered from other passengers that cruise prices can vary dramatically. I paid slightly over $6000, while I met many who paid closer to $4000. My booking company, Polar Cruises, was a great company with excellent customer service (especially when our original cruise was cancelled), but I would encourage people to look around for the best prices.

But the best advice I learned is that for the lowest prices, be flexible. Because of work obligations, my travel dates were essentially fixed. If you do have flexibility — meaning you have a few days or weeks of wiggle room — fly to Ushuaia and look for deals there. There are great deals to be found at the countless travel agencies there, especially on last-minute deals. And there are lots of these deals. Most of those tickets were between $3000-$4000. Not bad.

Travel Insurance

Get it. After my cruise was cancelled, I was lucky that the replacement cruise had almost the same dates as my original one. But they were still off by two days, and so I had to book a few new flights. Not having bought travel insurance, I had to eat the cost myself. Luckily again, these new tickets cost me only $300, but some people had to pay as high as $2000 for changing around their (international) flights.

There is much uncertainty with trips like this that deal with very harsh weather conditions, so play it safe and purchase travel insurance.

Anti-American sentiment

People really have a dim view of the US. While most non-American travellers are very polite and do like the American people, they think we know nothing about the world or its geography. OK fine, they may be right, but still.

Case in point, there was a really annoying Scottish passenger on the ship who only talked to me about how obnoxious and narrow-minded Americans are. At one point she was squawking about how I probably thought no country in South America was important. I replied “South America?? I thought we were in Mexico.” Finally … I then got some silence out of her.

…

OK people, until next time, goodbye.