Latitude: 56 42.0' S, Longitude: 65 25.0' W, Wind Speed: 10 knots SSW, Weather Conditions: Cloudy, Distance covered in previous 24 hours: 163.5 nautical miles (nm), Air Temperature: 2 C, Sea Temperature: 1 C
We awoke to find the Drake in a frame of mind that wasn't exactly tempestuous, but could be reasonably described as boisterous: swells from seemingly all directions colliding with one another, while above the waves, strong winds brought frequent snow squalls. Was this the side of the Drake's personality we were to see for the next two days? Luckily, as the day passed the seas and wind both receded and the sun shone to produce, by evening, quite a different spectacle to that in which we had started the day. And there was the irony -- here we are heading south toward a polar region, but it is getting warmer!
The staff treated us to a full day of lectures about the history and geology of the region. Trevor enlightened us about the early explorers and sealers who came to Antarctica as the first discoverers of this rich and land. The remoteness, sense of adventure, a search for profit and exploitation of the region's rich wildlife enticed those that were willing to face the challenges that Antarctica presented. There were so many tragedies and failures that resulted due to the inhospitable weather in a time before Gore-Tex, fleece jackets and sonar.
Our afternoon lecture was focused on the "land of ice" as Barry prepared us for the glaciers and geology of Antarctica. Barry preceded his discussion with, "Everything you need to know about rocks in 12 easy minutes," and I was taken back to a brief deja-vu of my college geology classes.
And then there were the meals on board. I felt like we were eating like royalty, and it was amazing to see how the chefs and staff could pull off the gourmet meals in such a small galley. Even the Drake Passage could not ruin our appetites!
A wonderful 9 day tour of beautiful Costa Rica taking in breath taking scenery including the active Arenal Volcano to the stunning beaches of Manuel Antonio.
Adventure Life made a fantastic itinerary for us(we were a group of 4) Would highly reccomend them for getting it right!
Lovely hotels with breakfast included, bespoke trips in mostly private transfers, zip-lining and white water rafting adventures! This really was an amazing trip & one we will cherish forever!
Dawn Howes
1 day ago
Mary Curry is very responsive to my emails and sends me the information I request very quickly.
Donna Benson
1 day ago
We book a tour to Peru with them in May. Viewing from their website we didn’t realize that they are private tour company but after quoting the price, it seems reasonable for a private tour, let’s see how’s their service after our tour. The process of booking went smoothly except the payment part which need a bit of work. Need to improve better payment method and options.
LP
2 days ago
We have used Adventure Life Travel before and we where impressed with the outcome of their handling of our travel arrangements. So we are using them again on this vacation. Tilly has been very helpful and we put our complete confidence in her! We feel very comfortable using Adventure Life.
Jerry Hatley
2 days ago
Erin was responsive, knowledgeable, helpful, and ran through a few different choices with us. She got us a fabulous price on a trip, and made everything easy to do. And QUICK!!