Antarctica is one of the most remote locations on earth. So, it should come as no surprise that it's not just a "hop, skip, and a jump" away from home - more like 2-3 plane rides and two days by sea! Regardless of where you live on the globe, it is not a simple, short journey. For most travelers coming from anywhere that is not southern South America, several days are needed prior to the trip to make the journey to the point of embarkation - either Ushuaia, Argentina, or Punta Arenas, Chile.
Our flight was scheduled to depart the U.S. on February 23rd, giving us four days to fly to Argentina and spend time in Buenos Aires and Ushuaia before embarking on our cruise. As it goes with winter travel in North America, we were hit with weather delays. Stuck in Dallas, Texas, for 24 hours, we had to reschedule both of our flights and miss a full day in Buenos Aires. Luckily, we had given ourselves a buffer and still made it in time to explore Ushuaia for a day and make it to our cruise! We also had purchased travel insurance, which covered trip delay/interruption. And of course, empanadas help ease the pain of long travel days.
Moral of the story? Plan to arrive in Ushuaia at least two days prior to your cruise, and purchase travel protection!
What to do with a few days in Ushuaia? See my next post!
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.