Antarctica/ South America Trip (Argentina-Ushuaia)
My first snowman!
''Antarctica? Why?'' ''Antarctica? Wow!'' Those were the two most common responses from family, friends and colleagues when they learned I was off to the frozen continent for the 2012 holidays. I stepped on the Antarctic continent twice: my journey through ice, wind and stormy weather a glorious one. John Steinbeck said it best: ''. . .we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.''
Whale Breaching (Walter Woods)Ushuaia, Argentina
Weather: Partly cloudy. 43degrees F
''Antarctica? Why?'' ''Antarctica? Wow!'' Those were the two most common responses from family, friends and colleagues when they learned I was off to the frozen continent for the holidays. Professionally, I study isolation among humans specifically Americans 50+ so for me going to an isolated continent was a logical extension of my professional work. In fact, I felt lucky making a choice to see up close and personal a swiftly changing part of our planet, but some people didn't consider me lucky.
Antarctica is a continent of extremes. It is the coldest: a temperature of -128 degrees F was recorded in 1983 at Russia's Vostock base. It is also the windiest, the driest, and the highest. If you've read anything about travel to Antarctica, you're familiar with tales of crossing the iconic Drake Passage, which separates South America from Antarctica. Suffice to say its 621 miles of storm-prone sea. ''I'm an experienced traveler,'' I told myself. ''Surely I can handle Drake's Passage''.
Apart from the scientific bases run by a handful of countries, the only other signs of human presence in Antarctica are the frozen huts of unknown whalers and famous explorers like Shackleton, Amundsen, Scott, Nordenskjld and Larsen who answered the challenge of its emptiness in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Yesterday I flew from the U.S. to South America landing in balmy Buenos Aires enroute to Ushuaia, bags filled with merino wool and Gore-Tex layers, ski gloves and other paraphernalia designed to keep me warm and dry in sub-zero temperatures and gale-force winds. I loved my twenty four hours in Buenos Aires with its streets of colonial buildings lined by flowering jacaranda trees, its parks and squares shaded by vast canopies of ancient gum trees and its many museums, not to mention its fabulous cafe culture. But Antarctica was calling so today I flew to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in the southern hemisphere, and the embarkation point for my cruise. It sits at the tip of Tierra del Fuego, on the Beagle Channel (named after Darwin's boat), surrounded by the towering glaciers of southern Argentina and Chile.
The locals repeat that Ushuaia was a ''rapidly growing frontier town'' bustling with adventurous travelers. Ushuaia (i.e., ''bay that penetrates to the west'' in the indigenous Yaghan tongue) clearly benefits from its magnificent, yet remote setting. The rugged spine of the South American Andes ends here, where two oceans meet. Upon arriving to Ushuaia I checked into Hotel Los Cauquenes Resort and Spa and arranged for a day trip on the Patagonia Adventure Explorer. I left the local port with a small group of passengers in the direction of Alice Island to see the colony of sea lions; we continued to the Birds' Island where the King and Imperial Cormorants live. Then, we navigated towards the Sea Lions Island to see them and Fur Seals. Finally, we found Les Eclaireurs Lighthouse for a short trek.
Our agent Jessica was very helpful with the whole process and always responded in a timely way to all of our questions.
K Van
1 day ago
Chern was very patient snd helpful.
CaBaba
2 days ago
Cruse ship was great. Fantastic food and service. Cruise itinary got changed so not what we expected, but not an major issue. Japan portion was great. Drivers/guides arranged by 80 Days were great. Hotels were mostly ok. Did not know that most hotels outside of major cities do not allow shoes to be worn in the hotel. again a minor inconvenience. Overall a great trip. Adventure Life communications were timely and much appreciated as far as changes/requests.
Peter Goff
3 days ago
We were a group of three that initiated our research by independently searching for the best agency to help us in the somewhat complex experience of traveling to the Galapagos. We chose adventure life because they were the most responsive in the website provided the most comprehensive overview of the trip. Their reviews were also very good.
Adventure, life splits up its booking process in two parts. First Jeff, the booking agent helped us decide which experience best suited are interests. We chose a small 14 to 16 group sized yacht. Once the booking was made with Jeff, we were handed off to Coleene, who oversaw the complex process of assembling all of the necessary documents and making sure we had everything we needed to make the trip go smoothly. The adventure, life website, then becomes your personal place of reference for all things related to your trip from door to door. It’s a lot of information to assemble, especially for three travelers, but the website makes it easy and Colleen‘s gentle reminders kept us on track. In all, from the beginning, we had four months from the time we started our research till the time we departed. We felt that was, a good amount of preparation time and don’t think it would be wise to do it in less than four months. Mostly because I think you have more options with that amount of time. There were others on our trip that took six months and more from the time they started planning.
The trip itself was outstanding. We ended up on an excellent yacht (Galapagos Angel II) with a great group of guests that we were able to connect with and put together a really nice google photos album to share.
Jed
1 week ago
Mary was very helpful. Quick to reply with helpful information and closure on arrangements.