GETTING TO THE 7TH CONTINENT

Let me just say that getting to our cruise ship (Silversea Cloud) involves a slew of transportation.  First a flight to Santiago, Chile, via a brief plane change in Lima.  One always thinks of Chile as California’s twin — just flip the two and you will have pretty identical climate.  So that makes the 5-hour time change a bit of a surprise.

Our itinerary includes a one night stay in Santiago where we did nothing besides have dinner in the hotel.  Given the departure time the following morning is at 6:20 am, trying for a decent night of sleep was in order.

Flight one: Santiago to Punta Arenas — 3-1/2 hours south.  Not much to report except the seats were atrocious with legroom suitable for children.  Otherwise, fine.  Then deplane, into the terminal for a short period and then a second “roomier” flight of 40 minutes to get to Puerto Williams — the southernmost city in the world!  The population is just 2,500, and half of those folks are in the armed services.  The other half, I presume, work in hospitality with large numbers of ships passing the area.

And finally we board the ship. As I suspected (click to read previous post), the first suite was just too small for the hubby and me to cohabitate for 10 days and stay married.  A bid on an upgrade prior to departure wasn’t successful so I asked if they could take my bid amount for a different upgrade, and it worked.  The accommodations are twice the size as the first and there are two bathrooms (excellent news). This bodes well for a great trip.

Below, at orientation

Once aboard, there are some requirements such as the mandatory safety briefing.  I watched on the tv in our room but still had to show up in person to sign a form. Next is trying all the gear to see how it works.  There needs to be a lot of layers inside and outside of the complimentary parka.  I am hopeful I can move my arms when all suited up! I must say the staff is great — super pleasant, knowledgeable, abundant, and very helpful.  For this particular cruise, the staff outnumbers the guests – 234 to 203.  Guest capacity is 254.

So, what to do all day long at sea?  A massage.  Looking for wildlife with a cruise expert on the ship’s top deck (two whales spotted in the distance).  But it’s cold outside!  Maybe 25 degrees (Fahrenheit) and very windy.  Good practice donning gear for when we go on land in a day or two.  Mostly it’s R&R with lots of reading books we brought.

Oopsie, below — I must have stated somewhere that this is a milestone birthday trip (true), but the actual day is in January!

What’s fascinating to me is that the schedules change a good bit, depending on the weather.  We were told the Drake Passage route varies based on currents, winds, etc.  Whatever gets us to the first stop fastest is the path to be taken.  The Drake indeed was choppy, but I am ecstatic my ear patches for seasickness got me through without a hitch.

And then it was finally time to go on land.  In this case, the Antarctic Sound (Palaver Point).  We’re called by assigned groups to get our stored boots, disinfect them, swipe our keycard (every person must as that is how they track us), then board the zodiac.  These are large rubber open boats with a hard bottom which hold up to 12 passengers.  There’s ample staff to help us board. One then manned the engine as we cross the water to our landing.  It is very windy and very wet as the waves splash.  We had to literally hold on to one another for the return trip as the swells were high! Back to the mudroom after a series of disinfecting stations before storing our boots from the next excursion.

Below, with untold numbers of Gentoo Penguins

I have now changed my mind regarding which kind of travel takes the most effort! Previously it was an African safari, until this trip.  One really must want to do this because there’s a herculean effort involved — getting to the ship, getting ready for an excursion, the zodiac’s landing where you step into shallow water before getting to somewhere flat to mingle with penguins and other wildlife (no closer than 15′ please!).  Oh, and it’s expensive!

Below, so much gear.  And not shown is the layers were already wearing.

In the “mudroom” where our boots are stored.  A sea of red while people change before and after the excursion

Next post will cover more excursions.  Below, Adelie Penguins in Hope Bay.