This morning I woke to ice on three sides of the ship. Being trapped with ice all around made for a wonderfully peaceful night of sleep and I felt energized all day. Weather around the ship was beautiful – sun poking through the sky and relatively warm. Unfortunately, 20 miles away, surrounding Snow Hill, was a wall of clouds that made helicopter visits to the emperor penguin rookery impossible. No [...]
What a day! Today we entered Antarctic Sound, also known as Iceberg Alley. And what a place it is! Gigantic table icebergs float everywhere, and on smaller ‘bergs Adelie penguins perch in the dozens. I’ve seen one seal as well and this morning a whale rose near the ship. The ice is getting thicker as we enter the Weddell Sea and the ship now shakes occasionally with the impact. Less [...]
The ship has been rocking back and forth since around 2 am this morning. Swells look to be about 12 feet high, and the crew calls this the Drake Lake. This is versus the Drake Shake which is what I’m hoping for on the return trip. A few of my fellow travelers hope for the same, but we’re definitely in the minority. Most passengers are walking around with the little [...]
Four hours to go to board the ship! Passengers are gathering in the hotel bar and conversation is lively as we wait the final hours for our Antarctica cruise to begin. By this evening, we’ll be cruising down the beagle channel and out to the Drake Passage crossing. Weather report is calling for a mild crossing – which bums me a bit, as I am hoping for at least a [...]
As of 7PM Ushuaia time, the Kapitan Khlibnikov remains trapped in the ice near Snow Hill – making it 6 days, I believe, of being stuck. In the mean time, I continue to explore Ushuaia. Today and yesterday, I hiked up snowy slopes behind my hotel. The views were fantastic, seeing far out into the Beagle Channel and the surrounding mountains. Tomorrow, it’s off to Gable island with our local [...]
Twenty-two hours of flying finally brought me to the city of Buenos Aires. I chose to stop over here for a couple days, just to break up the trip… and enjoy a tango show and some of BA’s fantastic history and architecture. Before the show, I took a tango lesson, and after stepping on my instructor’s toes twice, she told me I was a natural. A day of intense heat [...]
After ten years of working in the adventure travel industry and bringing thousands of friends, family and clients to the far edges of Latin America – to such sites as Bolivia’s Salt Desert, Huarani tribal territory, Belize’s subterranean caves, and more – the edges of Latin America weren’t so sharp and unknown to me anymore. I decided it was time to journey to the edges of my known world once again, and Antarctica would provide that first edge.
The following post is written by Belize traveler, Gail Gross. Thanks for the contribution, Gail! Travel to breathtakingly beautiful Belize must include excursions to the awe-inspiring stone temples and palaces of the ancient Maya civilization. The architecture of this highly advanced civilization remains stunning, adding another spectacular facet to the beauty and culture of Belize. The Maya flourished in Belize from 250 to 900 AD, the Golden [...]
