The thing about traveling to Antarctica is, it’s a long way away. It took two days of flights from Montana just to get to the port city of Ushuaia, at the southernmost tip of Argentina. From there, it was another two days of sailing across the Drake Passage, a notorious body of water between South America and the Antarctic peninsula. At the convergence of the Pacific, Atlantic and Southern Oceans, strong currents cause famously rough seas - sailors even had a typical tattoo design to commemorate a crossing, of a fully-rigged ship. Since this was my very first solo trip, I was a little nervous about all of this travel, but thankfully everything went perfectly - in fact, better even than I had expected.
Details in Recoleta Cemetery (Anna Zlotnicki)
My colleagues recommended that I take some time to enjoy Buenos Aires on my long layover. My plan initially had been to just stay in the hotel to shower and sleep since I had been flying for over 20 hours and had another early flight the next morning, but the glimpses I got of the city from the airport taxi had me changing my mind: I’m not sure exactly what I had expected of Buenos Aires, but it had an energy and charm that was surprisingly infectious. I decided I could catch up on sleep later, and took the afternoon to explore.
In the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes in Buenos Aires (Anna Zlotnicki)
My hotel was in the Recoleta neighborhood, directly across from the famous cemetery of the same name. It’s a beautiful, walkable area with the cemetery, sprawling parks, shops and cafes, and museums all close by. I wandered through the cemetery to admire the works of art that are the mausoleums, with their stained glass, sculptures and carefully tended plants: everything in the cemetery was so well cared for, it was obvious that it was a special place to many. I also made a stop in the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, since I can never resist a good art museum. It was the perfect size to spend an afternoon, with a great mix of traditional European and contemporary Argentinian and Latin American art. Finally, I sought a bookstore I had seen photos of floating around online: El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a beautiful 1919 theater that had been renovated in 2000 to become the largest bookstore in South America. I wandered around and soaked in the beautiful architecture and live piano music played on the stage-turned-cafe before returning to the hotel for dinner and a relaxing night in.
Beautiful bookstore in Buenos Aires (Anna Zlotnicki)
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.
