I don't normally do cruises, or cold destinations for that matter, but Antarctica had to be an exception. The last continent, a place I never would have imagined visiting even a few years ago as it was a place for explorers/scientists not a place where average people go. So after my original trip plan for this year fell apart, and this opportunity came up I knew I had to do it.

There were no really practical direct flight itineraries from Seattle to Ushuaia where the Antarctica cruise starts and ends, so my plan was to see the sites in Buenos Aires by spending a day there on the way down and another day on the way back. But sometimes adventures don't always go quite according to plan...

Buenos Aires, Argentina -

Customs and baggage claim in Buenos Aires was an insanely long process, like two hours just for customs and then another hour long queue to get your bags x-rayed before you can leave the arrivals area of the airport. But process for getting a taxi to the hotel is excellent, basically there is a transportation desk right outside baggage claim, you tell them where you want to go and they collect the money then a guy takes your bags & leads you to the taxi and tells the driver where you are going. Then there is nothing to do but sit back and enjoy the ride.

Travel tip: The guy that escorts you from the transportation desk to the taxi needs to be tipped!

I am told that the weather had been excellent before I got there (sunny 80° F), but it rained for my tour. Not that I ever let that stop me from looking around, in fact sometimes rain can be an advantage touring places that would otherwise be crowded with tourists if the sun was out. Such as with the start of my tour of Buenos Aires in the La Boca neighborhood which is known for the colourful houses and pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold.

Other stops on my rainy day tour included Avenida de Mayo and Plaza de Mayo with Casa Rosada (the executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina), Hacienda Palace, the May Pyramid, and the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires which looks like a temple you might find in Rome but is actually Catholic church. The historic underground tunnels of Peru street in the Manzana de las Luces, a former theater converted into a bookstore (El Ateneo) which is reputedly the second most famous bookstore on Earth, and in the San Telmo neighborhood I visited the life-sized statue of Mafalda in front of her cartoonist Quino's old home.

Ushuaia, Argentina -

Ushuaia is the capital of Tierra del Fuego and commonly regarded as the southernmost city in the world. But away from the waterfront, in mid-November (roughly the equivalent of June in the Northern Hemisphere), it would be easy to imagine this as a springtime village somewhere in the Alps with the mountainous background of snowy peaks rather than a city on the southern tip of South America.

I had another free day to spend here before we boarded the ship for our Antarctica cruise so I took the opportunity to visit the Tierra del Fuego National Park and ride on the End of the World Train (Tren del Fin del Mundo). The Train of the End of the World (so named because no train anywhere is closer to the Earth's North or South pole) is a narrow-gauge steam railway originally built as a freight line in the late 1880s to early 1900s to serve Ushuaia which was a penal colony at the time.

Late afternoon of the second day in Ushuaia we finally boarded the good ship Ocean Nova, and after a ship tour and lifeboat training we finally departed for a sunset cruise along the Beagle Channel. It was around midnight when we actually started our two day crossing of the Drake Passage. This was the hardest part of the trip, and we all knew that going into it.

Drake Passage -

The Drake Passage is notorious for rough seas, and from our experience on this trip I would have to say that reputation is well deserved. Half way through our crossing there were 18 to 28 foot swells, and when your ship is only 73 meters (about 239 feet) long you get quite a noticable amount of sea motion. Yes, I could have booked on a bigger ship and probably had a more comfortable crossing, but the trade-off is that on the larger ships with a lot more passengers you get fewer opportunities to disembark (I am told that on some of the largest ships you don't get off at all). But on an expedition class ship everyone gets to go ashore at every stop, and if I am going to Antarctica I definately want to maximize my opportunities to get off the ship and look around!

Other than nibbling on some of the ginger candy they had on board, I did not bother with Dramamine pills, patches, or what not for motion sickness and for the most part I was fine. However, I did get sick one evening during dinner when the ships motion was particularly bad. But in my own defense I don't think the mealtime conversation was especially helpful either, something along the lines of he's sick, she's stick, how bad is the sickness, what are the symptoms, etc., etc.

South Shetland Islands, Half Moon Island -

Having survived the Drake Passage we finally got our first zodiac landing at Half Moon Island, a small crescent-shaped island companion to Livingstone Island. Featured attractions here were a large chinstrap penguin rookery, and the Argentina's Teniente Camara station. Later in the season it is also supposed to be a great spot observing humpback whales breeching between the islands.

Although apparently not always the case, Teniente Camara station was staffed and we were welcome to visit. There was not really that much to see there, however it is doubtless worthwhile to take the opportunity to see the facilities if only to satisfy one's curiousity about the insides of a station as there will be many of them nearby to landings in Antarctica and not all of them are occupied or open to visitors. But the highlight of the stop here is clearly the wildlife.

Stray fact: There is actually something of an impromptu gift shop in some of these stations to accomodate the new tourism popularity. But does anyone really need a penguin snow globe from Antarctica?

South Shetland Islands, Deception Island (Whalers Bay) -

For me, Whalers Bay which was home to a whaling station/factory in the very early 1900s is quite an interesting stop as something of a touchstone since it was one of the places I had actually seen and heard about prior to taking this trip. There is just of a sort of a mental connecting of the dots to visit a site you have previously seen pictures of.

Interestingly, the bay itself while considered one of the safest harbours in Antarctica is actually the caldera of an active volcano. But once you get past the idea of standing on the rim of an active volcano, the black sand beaches near the old whaling station are a great place for observing penguins coming and going from the water.

South Shetland Islands, Trinity Island (Mikkelson Harbour) -

Discovered by a Swedish Expedition in the early 1900s, the harbour on the southern coast of Trinity Island is another location that was once used by whalers to moor factory ships. No research stations here, but there was an unoccupied hut with a radio mast and a large colony of Gentoo penguins.

South Shetland Islands, Gerlache Strait (Cierva Cove) -

The Argentine station Primavera is located here, but there was no landing as it is a protected area for some types of flora and fauna. However, as it is also an area where Weddell, Leopard, and Crabeater seals are often found on the ice floes, so we did take some time here to do a zodiac cruise to look for wildlife.

Antarctic Peninsula, Paradise Harbour -

Waterboat Point at the northern end of Paradise Harbour was the site of the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition of 1921, and is now home to the Chilean research base Gonzalez Videla although we were told not much actual research happens there as it is staffed by the military. But the Chilean staff are supposedly fond of announcing themselves to passing ships as the "Paradise Bay Harbour Master". Farther down the bay was the unstaffed Argentine base of Almirante Brown in the area where we made our actual landing. This was quite an exciting stop as our first chance to set foot on the actual continent of Antarctica.

Antarctic Peninsula, Neko Harbour -

At our landing here there was an amazing view over Andvord Bay (in which Neko Harbour is located) as well as a glacier which is very active and can create some impressive waves when it calves. We saw some of this happening before our landing, however unfortunately while I was there filming the local penguin colony with the glacier in the background it was just creaking and groaning but not making any waves.

I did get some great pictures with blue skies and snowy/rocky hillsides reflecting off the mirrored blue sea. Really all of this trip the weather had been fabulous in Antarctica, and even though the temperatures were reportedly zero and below the air was pretty dry and it didn't feel that cold at all.

Antarctic Peninsula, Damoy Point -

On the west side of Wiencke Island in the Palmer Archipelago, Damoy Point is located at the northern entrance of Port Lockroy. During World War II the British military established the Port Lockroy base which is now designated as historic site and has a museum & post office operated by the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust. Our cruise was also transporting the young couple who were to be caretakers at the Port Lockroy base for the season.

In addition to more penguin colonies, Damoy Hut is another historic site here which was used as a transit station supporting British Anarctic surveys in the 1970s.

Antarctic Peninsula, Melchior Islands (Dallmann Bay) -

Later in the season, Dallmann Bay is supposed to be another great spot for observing humpback whales. But for this trip it was our last Antarctic landing before we started our return voyage to Ushuaia.

Drake Passage -

As during our first crossing, the ship's company and expedition team continued a great series of lectures and presentations on the wildlife, geology, and history of Antarctica to keep everyone occupied and entertained during the Drake crossing. However, having picked up more than a few bruises moving around during the last crossing this time I elected to find a quiet spot in the ship's library and read to pass the time. Although in retrospect I do think the return crossing was a bit milder than the outgoing trip.

Ushuaia, Argentina -

As it happens this is where my original plans went a bit sideways, a general strike had been called as a protest against the Argentine government for that same day we arrived back in Ushuaia. This basically shut down the airlines and all flights were cancelled for that day. But luckily I did get a confirmed flight the following day and did not have wait around on standby like some of the less fortunate passengers from our cruise, I just lost out on the time I had planned to see more of Buenos Aires, so I guess that will have to wait for another future adventure...

Antarctica - November 2012

Korea & Taiwan - November 2013

South Africa Tour - December 2011