Day 8 — Feb 22

Today becomes magical very quickly! First up after breakfast, we suit up for our first kayak trip. Pulling on wool socks and long johns. Fleece lined pants and insulated top. Throw on a sweater on top of that.

And now to pull on the Dry Suit. A challenge that will improve as the trip progresses. But this first time, it’s kind of like, step into it and pull the footie parts up. Then pull the legs up your body. Follow that with finding the armholes. Sounds simple, right? Not so much. Once the armholes are found, you have to pull the neoprene stretch neck down over your head at the same time. Easy! I lie. How the heck does this work? Oh. Ok. Here it is. Got it. But there’s a huge gaping hole across the front from over my shoulder down across the front to my waist. And a zipper. Wait, the zipper starts over my shoulder behind me. I think I saw a pull strap, like a wetsuit of sorts. Got it. Give it a tug. Not moving, hmmm. Maybe pull it this way. Hey, it moved. Pull again. Here it goes. Yeah, I’ve got this! Pull it all the way around. I feel like a contortionist. Ok, give it that last tug and make sure it’s sealed. There.

Oh wait, not done yet? Oh yeah, the life jacket. Well, at least this is the easy part. It’s just a couple of tubes and straps. Hmmm, I think it goes this way. No wait, pull that strap around this way. Ummm, I think that looks right. What’s that? My booties, I forgot my booties. Where are they? Oh, over there. Here, sit down and put them on. Gloves too? Ok, got them. Can we go to the kayaks now? Don’t forget the camera. Got it, ok, let’s go.

So we head out of the room and around the corner and down the stairs to the lounge where we have been told to meet. Walking in the dry suit feels like a penguin waddle. But not to worry, when we get to the lounge, we find 20 more dry suit penguins waddling around, looking quite like us. We mingle and swap waddling jokes as we start to overheat inside the ship. So we all head outside on the back deck and the stewards check us out onto the list of kayakers for the morning. Soon, we are instructed to step into the sanitizing foot bath and we all head down and board the zodiacs for our first trip into Antarctic waters.

The zodiacs take us away from the ship with the kayaks in tow like a mother duck and her ducklings. We arrive near a set of ice flows and now to learn how to get from the zodiac into the kayaks. Sit on the rail like this? Oh, okay, I can do that! now put your feet into the kayak. No, don’t tip it! Remember the lesson on the deck of the ship? Oh yeah, that’s the way. Now slide down in. Easy peasey! Wait, I’m not done? Oh yeah, the skirt. Okay, put it on like this. Hey, that wasn’t so bad, was it? Where’s my paddle? Oh, thanks, here it is! Push off now and I’m on my own in the Antarctic!

We’re in the kayaks and the excitement builds as we start to paddle. After several minutes, we come to a stop near a small iceberg. We have been cautioned against paddling close to the icebergs as they may calve without warning. And then, here we are! Kayaking in the Antarctic!

Life is good. Hands are cold. Views are wonderful. Hey, let’s paddle over there. Take a picture. Paddle some more. What’s that over there? Hey, that’s kind of cool, a shipwreck! Let’s get closer! This is fun, but I wonder why the shipwreck is 20-30 feet above the water? We never get an answer to that question but we continue to kayak through the frigid waters and enjoy our first kayak excursion in the Southern Ocean.

After a couple of magical hours kayaking through glacial waters and around ice flows, we reluctantly re-board the zodiacs and head back to the Ocean Diamond.  Back on board, we go through the sanitizing process of stepping in disinfectant and then into the hallways and back to our room where we reverse the procedure of suiting up and figure out how to get our dry suits off.  The challenge this time is doing it with cold hands and feet!

Back in the hallways of the ship, we chat with other passengers and swap stories as we head for the restaurant for a buffet lunch.  The ship is underway to our next stop while we eat and share amazing stories with our fellow guests.

Then it’s back up on deck with our cameras to get shots of ice flows and frozen mountains as we near our afternoon stop.

Soon the ship drops anchor at Cuverville Island & Goudier Island (Port Lockroy), a British Port that has a working Post Office.  We go ashore and are immediately greeted by hundreds of Gentoo Penguins that call this place home. Colorful signs and buildings, some of them built on stilts on the rocky shore assault our vision and we hike up the short trail to the Post Office.  To save us time and give us more time to explore, a ships employee goes ashore with everybodies Passports and has them stamped for us!

Inside, we find not only the Post Office where our Post Cards are mailed home, but we find the building is pretty much a museum celebrating the early life of researchers that lived there studying the weather and wildlife.  Researchers still live and work in the Port, however they have newer buildings and facilities and we never saw any people.  I can only assume they avoid nosey tourists that would only disturb their way of life.  So for the couple hours that we are there, they stay pretty much out of sight even though we can see their buildings.  The paths to these buildings are roped off and signage tells us to stay away.

We get our fill of this wondrous place and board the zodiacs again.  We take a zodiac ride while the second half of our ship visits the Port.  For this day I have brought the big camera rig with the good glass and the long zoom lenses and start capturing Penguins and Seals from a distance, although we did get close at times.  But the ride comes to a close after a couple more hours and we head back to the ship for the evening.  Back on board, we disinfect and take our excursion gear off for the evening and head for the dinner hall.†

At dinner, we are informed that we have a Medical Emergency on board and have to turn around and head back to King George Island where there is an air transport available to evacuate an elderly passenger that has already contracted pneumonia.  So the ship heads back north tonight.  We had been speculating that we would step foot on the actual Antarctic Continent today but our hopes for that have been dashed. (So far, we have only stepped foot on islands, not the actual Continent!)  But everybody is in the right spirit as we all hope for the best for our shipmate and her safety and welfare.  One has to wonder about the age of someone in their 80’s wanting to visit Antarctica.  But I have to say that I would want to visit at any age, but we decided a few years ago that we didn’t want to be in our 80’s to go so that is why we are here now!  I can’t tell you how bad I would feel if we were the reason a ship like ours had to turn back!

DAY SIX (Feb 21

1st full day on the ship. Fun people, fun times. Halfway across the ‘Drake’ now.  We walk about and mingle with other guests as we check out the ship and get used to the location of everything.  We see random sea birds and the occasional whale in the distance.  Walking around today is easier than we thought it would be and the seas are not horrible like we were told this passage could be.  We’re told we will step on land in Antarctica tomorrow.  We go to our scheduled meeting with the Kayak Group and meet everyone, including our two Kiwi Kayak Guides that are fun and playful, yet all business when it comes to safety.  We get our Dry Suits for Kayaking and all the gear necessary for that.  Then we go to the meeting for our Land Excursion Group and get our Land Excursion gear including boots and Life Vests.  We walk around the ship and familiarize ourselves with the layout of the Ship and look out at the lonely Southern Ocean as we continue to cross the Drake Passage.  The seas are moderate and we wonder what is really in store for us over the next two weeks.  But we know where the food is served and where the bar is!  We visit with other shipmates and start to get to know them.  Some music plays in the lounge and drinks are poured to calm any nerves that may still be on edge.

We discuss the opportunities to send Postcards from Port Lockroy, the British Post Office Base, where ships like ours pick up and deliver mail every time they arrive and depart.  Sometimes, we’re told, it takes up to 6 months to receive a Postcard and sometimes it takes as little as a month.  Imagine that, a Postcard that takes a month to 6 months or more!  Sounds like the 50’s!  What an archaic system!  But this is Antarctica!  Nothing modern down here!  Can’t wait to see this place!

But we know where the food is served and where the bar is!  Progress on the ship is being made!  We visit with other shipmates and start to get to know them.  More music plays in the lounge and more nerve calming medicine is acquired from the bar.  It is time to go to sleep.  We will wake and see what tomorrow has in store for us!

With Just The Clothes On Our Back! (And our Fin del Mundo purchases)

DAY FIVE (Feb 20)

We wake and have breakfast and go over our lists of things we still need.  We turn our luggage in to the hotel where the Expedition instructed us to.  Hopefully, these bags make it onto the ship!  It’s 9:30AM and we don’t board the ship until 5:00PM. Another glance out at our Ship awaiting us and we get our day started!

  So off we go into town with our one last bag to try and get the final items.  We check out of our hotel and stroll into town.  We successfully find enough items to make us sure we can board the ship.  A steady drizzle greets us but not so bad that we can’t make our way around town to finish our shopping spree.  We find the last few items we need for the trip and we consign ourselves to the idea that our shopping is done. Never found hand warmers though, it seems they are not welcome products here because they are not discarded properly and are claimed to be toxic to the environment. Oh well, got to move on. We did find the sock liners and other items. Not as fully stocked as we had hoped, but it seems we CAN do this!

It is noon and we stop into “Bodegon Fueguino” Restaurant that has been closed when we have passed it several times in the last couple days.  It was recommended to us by more than one local person.  We get seated and I ask the waitress what dish she would eat if she were ordering and she points out a lamb dish and I order it.  Elee gets Empanadas and Sopas.   Delicious food that again does not disappoint!    Bellies full once again, we head back to our hotel in the steady drizzly rain covered in sweatshirts and newly acquired rain gear.  It seems the longer we stay in Ushuaia, the worse the weather gets.  The rain in town is snow in the local mountains and the views, when we get one, are gorgeous!

On a side note, Ushuaia is the first place in South America that has decent plumbing and you can actually flush toilet paper instead of having to put it in a trash can!  Not the case in Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Central America, Cuba and more.  A pleasant change from what we expected!

We show up at the docks and board the ‘dock bus’ to take us to the gangplank and we walk on.  A bit nervous and queasy about not having the exact things we worked so hard to acquire, we settle into the ships lounge with the other 185 Passengers and 144 Crew Members for the introductory meeting and orientation.  At least they open the bar and we all have intro drinks in hand.  Ah, now things improve!  The Crew tells us what to expect for the next 14 days and everybody is put at ease.  Our Expedition Leader, Lori, introduces us to the crew and each Crew Member tells us a little bit about themselves.  Jokes are shared and the mood is light as each Crew Member has fun at their own expense!

We learn that this trip differs from a normal Cruise in several aspects.  This is an Expedition Ship, not a Cruise Ship.  A Cruise Ship has a set Itinerary and Ports of Call are scheduled and pretty much “Set in Stone”, so to speak.  Also, most Excursions on a Cruise Ship are additional and participation usually costs extra.  An Expedition Ship has an “Expedition Leader” (as opposed to a Cruise Director) that works with the Captain and the trip and Ports are designed Day by Day and are affected by Weather, Wind & Ocean Currents, among other factors.  Excursions are included and no extra expense is incurred to participate.  So our adventure begins and we will be informed as we go of what we will experience!

This Expedition Ship has what is referred to as an “Open Bridge”.  This means that passengers can go into the Bridge at almost any time they wish to.  We are requested to be quiet on the Bridge so as to disturb the Captain and Crew and their navigation of the ship.

We are sailing through the “Beagle Channel”, at the southern tip of Tierra Del Fuego, Patagonia, Argentina.  A Lifeboat Drill is in our immediate future and we are given instructions for this.  Anyone who has ever been on a ship, be it a Cruise Ship or an Excursion Ship, has to attend the Lifeboat Drill where we learn what to do in an emergency and we find our “Muster Stations”.  We are told where to Smoke if we choose to.  Unfortunately, Smoking is allowed on the ship, but only in one place.  I find it interesting that the Smoking location is next to the Fuel Cabinets, what’s up with that???

At dinner, we sit with a group of other passengers that we will get to know better as the trip progresses.  Camera discussions ensue along with anticipated wildlife sightings and life stories are shared.

Okay, so we’re on the ship and still have an internet connection. Slow, but it’s there. So maybe I’ll be able to make random posts. We’re crossing the ominous “Drake Passage”, one of our Bucket List items.  So far, it is much calmer than we anticipated and they are predicting relatively calm seas.  At the moment we’re about 75 nautical miles south of South America with about 500 more to get to Antarctica.  Seas are moderate and care is placed as we walk around the ship.  This is nothing we haven’t experienced before and is milder than we anticipated.  We should finish the Crossing tomorrow night.  We’re seeing random sea birds at the moment.  I’ll post a photo or two if I can.

See you in the morning!!!

DAY FOUR (Feb 19)

We awake and have a full day to walk around and check out this sleepy city but most of our concerns are focused on what do we do if our luggage does not show up.  Breakfast at the hotel is simple, pastries, a couple slices of ham and drinks of your choosing.  I’d do something creative for some eggs but it seems that is a difficult commodity to find at the End of the World. But the views from the breakfast room are really good and we can see the Port and even the sun is making an attempt to break through the clouds, alas unsuccessfully so.  So with bellies full once again and our stress levels high with the prospect of having no luggage, we head off into town and find a grocery store that sells different aspects of clothing.

The day shines bright, not!  Overcast and drizzly, but not terrible.  The airlines has assured us they will replace anything we need so we seek out some of the basics, underwear and socks.  The sizes are all based on European sizes and they run different than US sizes.  This is our first time having to replace these items in a foreign country and it is more than a little daunting to find the right items and I wonder if I will become a soprano before this trip is over.

We carry our latest acquisitions back to the hotel and contact the airlines again.  But their understanding of our plight seems to be lacking.  There aren’t many flights that come in to this part of the world from the US and we continually plead with them to get our luggage delivered.  We inform them of our guidelines that we have to turn our luggage in to the ship the following morning and our hopes are dwindled once again.  One person on the airlines end, upon hearing that we are getting on a ship, even suggested that they can deliver our luggage to our first Port.  We quizzically told them, “Yeah, you do that!”.  Since there are no “Ports” in Antarctica (except Port Lockroy, the little British Post Office), it showed us the mentality we were working with.  But we are told our luggage is scheduled to arrive today by 1:00PM!

We make our way down to the Port and buy tickets for the City Tour bus but we discover that acquiring Argentinean Pesos will be to our advantage.  It seems that the few chances we have had to spend money in Argentina, everyone takes US Dollars and is happy to do so.  I’ve discovered why, it’s because the exchange rate that small vendors charge is much higher than the actual value.  So after we get our Tour Tickets, we seek out a Cambio (Money Exchange) and we find one a couple blocks away and we arm ourselves with Pesos.  We walk back to the Tour Bus with the pipe dream of getting a front row seat but it is not to be had because we were not willing to sit in the bus for an hour and we needed time to get Pesos anyway. We watch a small plane make its way lazily into the local airport and take a scant few photos of town, even getting a glimpse of our Expedition Ship that has arrived in Port!

So here we are, in the middle of the bus, top row (A double-decker) waiting for the bus to fill up and the Tour to start.  It seems I have developed an issue with a toenail as I haven’t been able to properly cleanse, groom and take care of personal hygiene because all my toiletries are in my lost luggage, so being tucked back in a seat out of prying eyes has it’s advantages. I get to fuss with my sore toe somewhat privately.  Our luggage is supposed to arrive by 1:00PM this afternoon.  We’re hoping that is does because that will take a great weight off our shoulders and I will be able to take care of my toe and we can keep moving on.  So now for the City Tour to begin!

This town has a local University, restaurants that catch our eye, we see soccer practice in the rain and the local Rugby Club! A local park with its own lake, views of the rugged Patagonian Andes standing tall above the city assaults our senses and shows us the amazing place Ushuaia is!

The City Tour commences and we get an overview of this fun little city down at the End of the World.  It is picturesque and quaint with quiet streets and scenic overviews.  They take us up into the hills and down to the port and tell us all about this place that started as a Penal Colony.  After all, it is a perfect place to put the dregs of society with little hope of them escaping anywhere.  They instead turned the place into a thriving city with a bustling economy! Flag displays and a local shipyard where the bus stops for 15 minutes so we can get photos of this magical place. We pass by the local marina and look over the town and mountains that seem fresh out of a post card. There’s even a casino in town! A beached boat museum and street art catch the camera’s eye and the bus arrives back at the Port and we get off. I have to notice as I do everywhere we travel, telephone poles and wire configurations that would drive an electrical engineer crazy!

We commence walking around town, checking out the streets and views, coming across the Maritime Museum and prison. Looking back at the Port through the streets, we see our Expedition ship is sitting there patiently waiting for us. The local Naval Hospital and a set of Navy Ships that look different from any we’ve seen before are interesting sights.

Different buildings and street views capture our attention as well as a local bus decorated as a Prison Train and our eyes and cameras are entertained. The small storm has dropped snow in the mountains and give them a totally different look from what we saw from the plane as we arrived here!

The Tour completed, we walk into town and find lunch. Elee gets a ‘Hermone Queso Sandwich’ that doesn’t impress.  I order ‘King Crab Ravioli’ that does impress!  This town is known for its King Crab so I guess that was the better choice.  We actually put Elee’s sandwich bread to good use to ‘mop up’ the sauce from the ravioli!

Now back to our hotel in hopes our luggage is there!  If our bags don’t arrive, maybe we’ll come home equipped with name brand stuff!. Found a North Face Store that wants $200.00 for their cheapest shoes! Fleece Lined Pants, only $250.00. In our luggage, we have all of these things in multiples and we didn’t spend much more than 10-20% of those prices!  Well, you guessed it.  Our luggage is not at the hotel as promised.  Devastation sets in.  Not sure if we are experiencing anger, depression or a bit of both.  How can we get on an Expedition Ship to Antarctica tomorrow without all the clothing and other supplies we spent 6 plus months acquiring?

So we spend a couple hours in our hotel trying to relax.  We both take a short nap.  But, unable to sleep, I sit at my laptop and edit some of my pictures that I took this morning on the City Tour.  Anyone who knows me will understand that is one way I relax, editing my photos.  I get to block out the real world and play in my world of Color, Contrast and Composition, my 3-C’s.  I rarely can get enough of this when I travel.  I can do this somewhat mindlessly and think about what I need to do as the pictures fly by my eyes and travel through my brain.

Ok, the worst case scenario has occurred regarding our lost luggage.  Our luggage is nowhere to be found!  We decide to grab a cab to the local airport to see if the luggage maybe arrived and got stalled in the airport. So Elee, bless her heart, gets on the phone to the airlines, both in the USA and the Argentinean airlines that we traveled on.  USA airlines says the luggage is in Ushuaia and Argentinean airlines says it never left the USA.  Who to believe?  Probably Argentina because the luggage is not in sight.  Not only don’t they have it, but it turns out the US Airlines is or has lied to us and it seems that no one has a clue of their whereabouts. The airlines says it was delivered to the local airport down here in Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina, and Ushuaia Airport says it has not left Miami.  We can’t understand why it even went to Miami for it should have gone from Atlanta to Buenos Aires.  One person even found something that says it was loaded onto Air France to Buenos Aires.  Go figure.  Bottom line is IT’S NOT HERE!!! It is now 4:00PM and we have to turn our luggage in at 9:30AM tomorrow to be loaded on our ship.

So we spot a steward holding up a sign in the airport identifying our Expedition Ship.  We approach her and ask who we should speak to about not boarding the ship as we don’t feel we could do that without luggage.  She assures us we can make it work and she puts us on a bus that is heading for our hotel anyway for a late afternoon safety briefing.  They all assure us that we can get what we need in town. We attend the briefing and they assure us we have the info we need so we leave and off we go into town to start buying replacement stuff.  We have weighed our options and realized that our chances of ever making this trip again, considering the logistics and complexities of arranging it, even paid for by the airlines or someone else, are slim to none.  We have so much planned to do in the next 5 years that it likely won’t happen again. (This should give all you Blog Followers something to look forward to, LOL)

So off to shop.  In the rain.  Not drench you rain, but keep you damp rain. We find an Adventure/Trekking store named “The Scandinavian” and buy 2 new suitcases and start filling the cases with new clothing and gear made by “Columbia” The North Face” etc. High end stuff that we would never buy at home because of the cost, but it sure seems like some nice stuff. But we have to get everything from underwear on up.

I have to admit, when the sales people tried to inform us of the price of some things, it was kind of fun to tell them “We don’t care! We’re not the ones paying for it!”  We just went through the store and they had two employees catering on each of us. “Here, this fits, I’ll take it!” or “Give me one of each color, I’m going to be there 14 days!”.  The store closed at 8:00PM and we kept them busy until almost 9:00PM.  But we were their biggest customers in months and they treated us like royalty and even gave us 20% off, but that still gave them a great profit!

So 92,000 Argentine Pesos later (approximately $3000 US), we have two suitcases full of clothing and it still doesn’t satisfy our needs for the trip so there will be more shopping tomorrow!  But we are exhausted so we wheel our new suitcases down the streets of this quaint little town at 9 o’clock at night amidst onlookers that gawk and stare at us, likely thinking, “Who are these Newbie Tourists coming down the road?”  But they are friendly as all people we meet and no one questions us.   Probably have 20-40,000 Pesos left to spend.  For those of you that are currency challenged (like us), we have spent over $3000.00 US Dollars already and likely have $500-1000 left to spend.

So we ask the clerk in the clothing store for a restaurant recommendation and he tells us about a place down the street, “Ramos Generales” and gives us directions.  We find the restaurant where the greeters tell us to put our bags in the front, next to the front door and they usher us to a back room, out of sight of our bags (Oh, the horror!)  It turns out this was a General Store of sorts with a very homey feel and we are impressed. The place is filled with customers and live music is playing!  But we are exhausted and out of sight of our $92,000 Pesos worth of new gear and we both sigh and resign ourselves to whatever fate shall meet us.  So we look at each other and grin.  It will be what it will be.  Elee orders Rabbit and I order Lamb.  Absolutely delicious food and friendly staff abounds around us.  Live music plays in the next room and is clearly heard by all.  Even bits and pieces of Peruvian Pipe Music plays (which we fell in love with several years ago in Peru) and all is good for the moment.

And we know there will be compromises because we already spent 6 months at home acquiring the right items for us. And we find ourselves making lists while sitting in a restaurant after shopping to see what we don’t have yet. We will turn in 3 out of 4 bags for the boat in the morning and shop to fill the last. We have been given a deadline of 5 PM to show up at the boat with the final bag.

Ohlala! There’s a Sale! I wonder if it will help us? Oh well, it was a fun thought (And Storefront for that matter!)

Gotta love this town though! So much so that we’ll throw it a kiss! MUAA! And a store threw one back! LOL

Who can tell us where to buy handwarmers in Ushuaia! That and sock liners, etc, it’s proving a challenge but one we have to take on. The Airlines claims they will reimburse us for our losses. Let’s hope they’re ready for the bill! Oh wait, we have a retired lawyer in the family with extra time on her hands! But that story has yet to be written.

So off we go to back to our hotel. Our bags are still sitting undisturbed by the front door of the restaurant, much to our delight. We ask the restaurant staff to call a taxi for us and we sit on our bags in front of the restaurant and wait for the taxi to arrive. A few minutes later and 203 Argentinian Pesos poorer ($4.53 US), we are en route to the hotel, exhausted yet excited and thrilled that our trip is not a total failure. If we had paid the taxi in US Dollars, it probably would have been $10.00, so our move to acquire Pesos was a smart one! We bed down and set our alarms to get up early to finish our shopping.