ANTARCTICA ADVENTURES

You know how people convey that the only way to truly appreciate a destination is to visit yourself?  That is certainly true for Antarctica.

To say that it is a unique experience is definitely an understatement.  Perhaps that is enhanced by the fact that the window for visiting is very small (late November through March). And the number of visitors allowed is likewise tightly controlled.  I compared this trip to an African safari in my previous post (click here), which likewise requires many hours to get there, is expensive, and has definitive rules one must follow.  Those rules include maintaining a pristine “footprint” so as not to contaminate the area, keeping a certain distance from the animals/mammals, and absolutely no interaction.

The rules in Antarctica are not materially different when stepping onto the land to explore.  The biggest difference? The layers of clothing required. Renting the essentials is key — boots, poles, neck gator, waterproof pants, and more.  Let the experts provide guidance for necessities! And have them delivered to your room when you arrive.

Similar to a safari, there are typically two daily opportunities for excursions.  One via the Zodiacs (seen below, named for the manufacturer) for a cruise; the other stepping onto land to explore.  The cruise excursion is less tricky, as we only needed to get on an off the Zodiacs. But it still requires an army of Silversea personnel to steady the Zodiacs to do so.

Below, expert help from the Expedition staff in blue

The land excursions required us to step off the Zodiacs into fairly shallow (and freezing) water.  The rental boots worked like a charm! Again, there were a slew of personnel to help.  So once on stable ground, the trek to see wildlife began in earnest.  Sometimes there were countless penguins right there; other times it was to explore the unique landscape.  Members of the Expedition team were posted at various locations advising us to maybe rethink going further if balance is an issue.  Or if the going was very steep.  Heeding their warnings was beneficial.  They didn’t issue them lightly nor did they exaggerate what skill level is necessary for a particular outing.

Below, approaching a landing with the team ready to assist. 

Trudging through the snow — steep and deep 

We received the ship’s daily “Chronicles” each evening detailing where we were headed, all the following day’s offerings plus various factual information. We had a few instances where the published itinerary was altered due to weather conditions — case in point below.  But the crew knew very well how to re-route us so as not to miss anything crucial to the experience.  Silversea has an exceptional system in all the rooms showing our exact location and the daily schedule of events as seen below.  We were assigned to a Zodiac group, and the groups were rotated in terms of leaving first or last.

Announcements from the expedition head were frequent.  Not only did they advise us of which group was ready to board but also calling our attention to something.  While cruising one day, it was announced that Orcas were visible from the starboard side of the ship (which is that again??).  Many of us headed up to the Panorama outdoor deck to get some photos.  And no time to grab a jacket or gloves — it was cold but worth it!

I personally think my photo below was worthy of winning the Photo Contest! (It did not) This was from our Zodiac and it is a Humpback Whale. Pretty cool. 

At the end of the voyage, our final Chronicles offered a great summation of the entire trip.  I’m grateful as it saves me alot of time recounting where we went!

Here’s a fun fact:  Cruises to Antarctica used to leave exclusively from the southern tip of Argentina, a port called Ushuaia. It became so crowded that Chile’s Puerto Williams became a departure port as well.  Puerto Williams is known as “the southernmost city in the world.”  But look at the proximity of the two — and you can see the dividing line between the two countries.  Puerto Williams is the red pin.

Finally, I mentioned it takes many hours to get to this incredible destination.  What does that mean?  Well, here was our journey home.  Friday, Nov. 29: Exit our room by 8am.  Depart the ship 8:30-9 for the local airport (10 minutes).  First flight from Puerto Williams to Punta Arenas at 10:30am:  40 minutes.  Next flight departs roughly 2:30pm (a long time in between flights) and arrives in Santiago at 5:40pm.  Our flight home doesn’t depart until just before midnight.  LATAM Airlines which I thought was just great allowed us to check our bags straight away.  Silversea included a hotel room for the night so do we drive to the city for a few hours and have dinner but then drive back? And is there enough time?? We opted to stay at the airport, which by the way is very modern and LATAM has an outstanding lounge.  Nevertheless, boarded the plane at roughly 11:15 for the 10+ hour flight.  We arrived at LAX about 6:15am or 11:15 am Santiago time – Saturday Nov 30.  That was a helluva journey.  And worth every single second.  One more post to follow — some extraordinary photos.