Antarctica
Posted from: El Calafate, ArgentinaSomewhat delayed in making this post but the last few days have been quite busy nipping backwards and forwards between Patagonian Chile and Argentina. But more on that later :-)
Antarctica was never 'part of the plan', in fact I had previously considered it and simply ruled it out on account of being far too expensive. My rationale was that i'd much rather spend such a big chunk of the travelling budget on diving in the Galapagos islands. Well so much for that idea!
The hostel that I was staying in had a tour agency directly opposite - and as I walked out one evening I spied the new signs announcing "Last Minute Deal" to Antarctica! The seed now planted, it must have germinated, sprung roots and shown the first shoots over night because my first port of call the next morning was to see the tour operator. Leaving their office half an hour later, a few thousand dollars lighter but happy that I had a ticket on the penultimate ship of the season and from "the end of the world" I was heading south.
Well, the morning had started so well, but by late afternoon things had changed a little when I received an email from the tour company telling me that the ship had been cancelled! Apparently due to technical difficulties - however as it turns out, it was the last ship of the season for that operator/ship and it was less than have full (doesn't sound very technical to me :-))
From good news to bad news and back again. There was only one ship left going to Antarctica this season and as i'm sure you can imagine there was something of a mad scramble to snap up the last places on that ship. My good luck seemed to be holding as I managed to get the last space in the last cabin on the last ship of the season! Place confirmed, ticket in hand and heading for Antarctica (Again!) The ship - the Ushuaia was due to sail on the 13th March.
The mix of people on the trip certainly made things interesting. From 'gap year' Students to Retirees on permanent vacation. from Actors to Astronauts! (well a NASA Engineer, but Astronaut sounds much better :-)) and a self proclaimed (and slightly crazy) Viking!
The first couple of days of the 11 day trip would be spent crossing the Drake Passage, a notoriously rough area of the Southern Ocean. However, the good luck continued as our crossing was suprisingly calm. Despite the calm start we did have quite a number of sea-sickness casualties - some that litterally didn't make it out of the cabin for almost 2 days! The days of the long crossing were occupied by 3 or 4 lectures per day covering a wide variety subjects related to Antarctica - Environment, Wildlife, Climate, History, Exploration. Nice to put the old brain back into gear for a while :-)
First stop having successfully negotiated the Drake Passage was The South Shetlands (I must admit that i've never been to the North Shetlands, but feel almost obliged to do so when I make it back to the UK).
I'm not going to list all the stops on the expedition here, but if anyone is interested they can download the final trip record which lists in detail ALL the stops, places of historical interest, wildlife seen there, weather conditions and generally interesting information about Antarctica. The Route Map page of this site also shows the route.
Its not a huge report and you can read it HERE
The wealth of wildlife found at almost every stop was quite incredible. ALWAYS Penguins! Which, thanks to the lectures during our crossing we were able to identify as Gentoo, Chinstrap, Adelie (one poor fella who seemed to be all on his own in the middle of a Gentoo Colony - identity crisis maybe?) we even managed to find a few Macaroni Penguins (little fellas with 'Mad Professor' WILD yellow 'eyebrows') which was very unexpected in the area we were visiting.
Also frequent sightings of Elephant Seals, Leopard Seals, Weddel Seals, Crabeater Seals, Fur Seals and a personal favourite Minke and Humpback Whales. I was fortunate enough to be in one of the Zodiac dinghys when we spotted a couple of Minke Whales who seemed more than happy to show off for a while and came in for a closer look at these strange foreigners! On one of the days I was lucky enough to see a huge glacial carving as a block of ice about the size of a small block of flats broke away and crashed into the water, sending a mini tsunami wave (complete with chunks of ice the size of cars) towards the mainland - fortunately I was on my way down from the sumit of the island and therefore on high ground.
Its far easier to say what we saw rather than how Antarctica makes you feel! All this set in a world of white - Glaciers and Icebergs abound. Difficult to capute in words so just as soon as I can i'll post up a photo gallery.
As we reached our furthest point south, we were heading for a Ukrainian Science Station. we had passed a few other bases, some historical and some current but most were closed due to the onset of Winter. However, it would appear that the Ukrainians were mad enough to be staying for Winter and had invited us along to visit (probably glad of the company I imagine). But, the good luck had to run out eventually and the weather changed - quickly and quite dramatically. What had earlier during the morning been reasonably strong 25-30 knot winds soon became 50 gusting up to 60 knots! (over 110km/hr!) There was NO WAY to get a Zodiac out in these conditions - we'd already had a Zodiac flip a few days earlier in 25-30 knot winds - so the Ukrainians would have to do without our company and we made our way further north in search of some shelter.
After two more stop to islands off the Antarctic Peninsular we were heading back to the South Shetlands to overnight and then onwards to the Drake Passage.
This time we were not so lucky as the crossing was VERY rough. Tables, Chairs and People were thrown over (not overboard! We were told to stay indoors). The doctor was called out at least a couple of times to attend minor 'loss of balance' injuries. Even the Viking was looking quite ill. When someone asked him how a Viking could be sea sick he replied "I don't want to be a Viking no more!" and ran for the bathroom.
There were times when we rolled over so far that I thought the SIDE windows would give us a 'glass bottomed boat' effect! Its a little unnerving to look out of a window and see ONLY water with no sign of Horizon.
Anyway, the two days return across the Drake Passage passed with more lectures, albeit with a much depleted attendance and we arrived back in Ushuaia ready to celebrate!
Even though it had never really crossed my mind to visit Antarctica, it now stands out as one of the greatest travel destinations on any of my trips. A difficult one to top (won't stop me trying though :-)) Now i've just got to work out how to fund diving in the Galapagos!
