WEATHER: Cool, overcast and 5C
HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY: Boarding the MS Expedition
BUMMER OF THE DAY: Not getting my Globetrotters book stamped
BUYS OF THE DAY: Antarctica postcards
WORD OF THE DAY: Dos – two (look out my Spanish is returning)
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
Today is embarkation day for our cruise to ANTARCTICA. But it isn’t till 4pm this afternoon, so we have another full day in Ushuaia. G Adventures organized for us if we wanted a few options for day tours, so Jules and I decided to go on the National Park option for the morning. We may as well do something to kill the time before we could board the ship. I am coming back to Ushuaia in February on my South American tour, so I wasn’t too concerned what I will or won’t see as I will get another chance when I come back.
Our day tour pick-up was at 8.15am. We had to have all our bags at reception, tagged and ready for collection sometime during the day by the ships staff. The next time we would see them would be on the ship, all going to plan. As there are 117 people on the cruise we have been split up into 3 hotels. We think the way they have done it was each cabin category stayed in a particular hotel. We were the first collection and after we had stopped at the other 2 hotels we were on our way to Tierra del Fuego National Park that was only 20km from the city center. There was an option to ride aboard the southernmost train in the world also known as End of the World Train.
Leaving behind the End of the World Station we took a scenic journey through what was once a landscape untouched by man. The original length of the Prisoner’s Train track was 25km and we travelled on the last 7km of that journey. Our first stop only 15 minutes after leaving was Macarena Station. This is where the prisoners train stopped to take on water from the natural waterfall. There are 2 paths that can be taken at this stop, one is up to the top if the waterfall and the other is down to the Pipo River. We got given 15 minutes here to get some pretty spectacular photos of some of the snowcapped mountains before the whistle of the train sounded and we continued on for another 30 minutes to get us to our final station, National Park Station, located in the National Park. This is where we would be collected by the rest of the group that didn’t want to do the train and then we continued on the rest of our tour in the Park.
Tierra del Fuego National Park is a National Park that was created in 1960. It is located in the Southwest Tierra del Fuego province up against the border with neighboring Chile. It protects 63,000 hectares of the southern tip of the Andes, going from north of lake Kami south to the coast of the Beagle Channel. We spent around 3 hours in the National Park. It was spectacular to see the snowcapped mountains all around us and blue sky reared its beautiful head throughout the morning, but so did the rain and also the wind. We walked a few tracks and viewed some lakes and the last stop was where highway number 3 ends, which is the world’s longest road that runs from Ushuaia all the way up to Alaska. I got a Bernstar jump here of course.
The tour had us getting back into town at 1.20pm. Jules and I wanted to get a few things done before heading down to the collection point at the port. Our first stop was to collect our free gift from H Stern. For anyone that hasn’t been to South America, H Stern is one of the most famous jewelry stores. They offer free gifts if you produce a voucher that was given to us when we checked in. I guess they always hope that you will spend some money in there as they have done the hard work by luring you in with the free gift offer. Normally the free gifts aren’t that great, but this one was a silver penguin charm of quite good quality. I thought it would make a great gift for my god-daughters and was going to purchase another one as I need 2, but as they are free gifts, they cannot be purchased. Bugger. Oh well I will have to keep that one for myself and get something else for them! From there we walked to the tourist information center. Here they will stamp your passport for you with an Ushuaia / Antarctica stamp. I am not sure of the legality of stamping your passport with a non-official stamp, but I think we could argue the point of us being on an Antarctic cruise if we had to. This where I would normally get my Globetrotters booked stamped, but that was packed and currently making its way onto the ship which is a shame as it would have looked cool in there, damn it. Next stop was the post office. I had some things I needed to send out, but they don’t provide envelopes or boxes so I will just have to post them from Quito. Jules got some pretty cool penguin stamps for her postcards and then we went and had a bite to eat. The weather had really turned by this point and it was raining quite heavily, so it was a great time to duck in and get something. We went to a traditional Argentinian BBQ and I had a quarter of a chicken and fries. I have to say there is nothing better than BBQ meat and it was delicious.
By the time we had finished the weather had shifted and we had 40 minutes to kill before having to make our way to port, so we just walked the main drag stopping in a few souvenir shops before finding a chocolate shop initially to buy some snacks for the cruise and then finding out this was where our free hot chocolate voucher was valid for, so we sat and drank the best hot chocolate I have had since the one Anne and I had drunk in Stockholm and then it was time finally to hightail it to the port for our coach transfer to the ship. Finally.
This was where Jules and I found out if we were sharing together. We were welcomed onboard the MS Expedition and shown into the Discovery Lounge where they had some snacks and OJ waiting for us. When we were ready we then headed to reception, showed our passports and got given our cabin cards. I was in cabin 314 and Jules was in cabin 312. Oh No!!!! We spoke to the Hotel Manager Allesandra and she said we could do a swap and just come back to the desk later so that the names could be swapped over in the system. So we were shown to our cabin on deck 3 by our cabin steward Kenneth, who would be the man looking after us and the cabin for the next 11 nights. As it happened neither mine or Jules cabin buddies had checked in yet and as we were next door, we just swapped the bags and then MJ, my roomie arrived and we explained we wanted to share with which she was fine with. Thanks MJ.
The cabins are supposed to be 15sq.m but I have to say they feel bigger than that. They are a little wider than a standard cruise cabin and then they are about 3m longer as well. I am pleasantly surprised by the size, the storage and we also have our own bathroom. This is where they have saved some space, the bathroom is tiny and the shower is even smaller. But they do have a medicine cabinet behind the mirror which is handy and it is set up for 2 people, but the shower is T-I-N-Y!!!! We can’t have it all and it’s not like we will be in there that often right! This we will learn to live with. There are no keys for the rooms. G Adventures have an open door policy and this also extends to the Captains Bridge. You can head up there any time and say hi and check it all out up there. It was strange to start with just getting to your cabin door and opening it without having to fumble with keys or swipe cards. I like the policy though.
We were due to leave at 6pm but we were still waiting for 2 naturalists to arrive. I think a volcano had erupted in Chile that had delayed them by a day to start with and then they got bumped off their flight this afternoon. So we heard news that they were hear BUT their bags hadn’t arrived, so they were just filling in lost bag forms and then they were on their way. We couldn’t have left without them period, as the ship needs to have a certain amount of staff / naturalists on board, so we just had to patiently wait. There was talk at one stage that we were going to depart and leave the Zodiac Master here and then he would run them to the ship when they arrived! But it didn’t come to that and they arrived just after 7pm.
While on deck I actually meet the Zodiac Master-Jeff. So we were having a good old chin wag and I pretty much drilled him in regards to the Zodiacs and explained that I am not a small craft person and asked him like a million questions with the last one asking if anyone had fallen in. He responded no, but I do find that hard to believe, but I am happy with that answer even if I don’t believe him so I don’t press it.
Before dinner we it was mandatory to attend the safety briefing and lifeboat drill. We were required to head to our cabins and retrieve our life jackets which are located under our bed. They are different to the ones that will be used in the zodiac landings. International law requires that every passenger participates in a life boat drill within 24 hours of embarkation. There was a briefing before heading out onto deck and for the first time they got us to actually sit in the lifeboat to explain it is there for to save our lives and not for comfort. It was a tight fit, but at the end of the day if these boats save our lives who cares how uncomfortable it is. This was the first time that I have ever sat in one of the lifeboats during a drill. I have been in them before as the same boats are used for tenders to get us to shore, but during a drill was a first.
After dinner we met the 26 staff on board the ship, what their job was, what their field was and how much experience they had. It was amazing to hear how many times some of the staff had been to Antarctica and for others this was their first trip. So it was nice to know there was new blood mixed in the real experienced blood. Susan is the Expedition Master and she has been on Arctic and Antarctica Expeditions since 1989 and she seems to certainly know her stuff. Her philosophy is that the landings are about quality and not quantity; she would prefer to stop for a pod of whales for 3 hours than try and race to a landing to see Gentoo Penguins that we have seen 3 days in a row. She is very experienced and I feel safe and know that she is looking after our best interests while trying to showcase the continent she so dearly loves at the same time. There will be a daily programme posted on notice boards around the ship, but Susan has stressed that they will be used as a guide only as things can change at the drop of the hat, landings, weather etc., so we have been told to keep checking them and also changes would be made over the PA. It was here I found out that there was an optional excursion to have the opportunity to camp on the ice on the trip. This was the first I had heard about it and I mentioned it to Jeremy and he said he tried to book on months ago and it was full. Dang it. I approached Matt the guy in charge of the camping and he said it has closed and after I asked if I could go on a waiting list if some-one cancels, but he said once the list is submitted it’s done no changes can be made. What a bugger. How cool would have that been, I could then say I camped on all continents as well…… Double dang it….
So we had 6 hours in the Beagle Channel till we hit open water and see what the Drake Passage has to throw at us. This is probably the biggest thing on people’s minds at the moment. How rough will it get, do I have enough medication, do I have the right medication. It really is the biggest thing people are talking about at the moment. I guess we all shouldn’t watch the U-Tube footage of some of the crossings that have been posted. Some of them look short of terrifying! We were advised getting ready for bed tonight to keep all our gadgets, camera’s and breakables low to the floor or secured properly, so that should give you an indication on how rough they are expecting the crossing to be. They also let us know that they have seasickness tablets at Reception for free, so you could stop by there anytime to collect them if you need them.
This is the first cruise departure of the season for G Adventures. So the ship is ..ship shape (pardon the pun), the staff are excited to start a new season and the atmosphere is just electric. I think it also has to with we are all travelling pretty much on a trip of a lifetime. Getting to visit a continent that some people will only dream about travelling to, seeing icebergs and penguins and seals, which people only see in movies and read about in books. This is truly a special trip and I am so excited to be here. This is a trip of a life time for me. This is Antarctica. TIA……….
I am surprised at the demographics of the passengers with 70% of them 35 and under, which is a pleasant surprise for me and there are also lot of single travelers of all ages (G Adventures in known for accommodating the single travelers) and it is nice to know that I am in the majority on this cruise being a single rather than a random freaky single traveler in amongst a group of travelling couples.
Dinner was typical of any cruise liner. It was a delicious 4 course menu, ate to much as always and to think I have 12 nights of this here and then I head to the Galapagos to do a 9 night cruise on a 5 star yacht. I think I am going to be as big as a house by the time I start my South America jaunt. I just cannot say no to food. The funny thing with the dining room is the chairs are bolted to the floor, so you can’t pull them out all the way. This is also just a precaution of rough seas, but this is when it hit home on just how rough the weather can get in this part of the world when the dining room chairs are permanently bolted to the floor.
It has been a MASSIVE day so Jules and I retired to bed after dinner. We have met some amazing people already, Jeremy, Billy, MJ, Jen, Todd and Alison to name a few, so it is nice to have some friendly faces already and we are still on the first day!
As we lay in bed, you could hear the engines of the ship as they pushed us to Antarctica. It feels like a working ship, none of these fancy cruising ships and we aren’t here for that style of cruising anyway. With the shudders and noise of the ship we drifted off into a deep sleep with not knowing what to expect when we wake up in the morning in the Drake Passage to see what weather it has in store for us.
We have also been given a web site where you can find our Daily Expedition Report and other documents from our voyage. They will also map our itinerary and stops along the way, so you may find this of interest. The address is http://www.gadventures.com/marine/triplog-login/
Username: antarctica111107
Password: expedition
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