Final Leg: "On the Way Home"

And that - was Antarctica!

At the start of this trip, I wrote that I had been thinking about this trip in legs i.e.

• Vancouver to Toronto to Santiago to Buenos Aires - first leg.
• Buenos Aires to Ushuaia - second leg.
• The boat - third leg.

Then everything in reverse, but lumped together because that's "on the way home" which is inherently less exciting.

This post is about that last leg - the inherently less exciting, everything in reverse, "on the way home" leg.

Last Days on the Ship
The days we spent northbound on the Drake Passage headed back to South America and in transit through Ushuaia and Buenos Aires, Argentina were all a little melancholy for me. Like, we just had an amazing experience on the 7th continent! And now it's over and we're heading home. Sad face.

However, there were some highlights from those last days at sea. We were able to enjoy a few more meals on the ship with some of the expedition crew members, hearing about what was next for them - whether they were staying on for the next voyage or wrapping up for the season. We sighted Cape Horn, the "southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile (Wikipedia)" and learned that an albatross-shaped monument was erected there to commemorate the lives of thousands of seafarers who died while attempting to sail around the cape.

Later that same day just off the coast, we saw even more whales (I will never tire of seeing BLOWS off in the distance - totally remarkable), and even a few dolphins that decided they wanted to race the ship, swimming and jumping alongside us. Está bien.

Sighting Cape Horn from the Ocean Endeavour © Matthew Boulton

The monument to the sailors who perished trying to
"round the Horn" © Matthew Boulton

Disembarkation and Tierra del Fuego
We pulled into the port of Ushuaia in the early hours on February 7 - disembarkation day. As one of our guides put in, coming over the loudspeaker: "The time has come. It is now time to get off the ship!" We finished packing up, said our final goodbyes and loaded onto buses with Rumbo Sur, the local travel agency and partner for Quark Expeditions. I hate to be dramatic, but it was all I could do to stop myself from crying as we pulled away from the dock!

One last stroll around the aft deck

Disembarkation morning in the port of Ushuaia

Luckily, I had a chance to reset - and resign myself to the fact that the voyage was over, sob! - before we headed to the airport, with a little tour through Tierra del Fuego National Park.

Entrance to Tierra del Fuego

It's nice, but it's no Antarctica

At Ushuaia's old airport

Old planes are cool

Hangin' around the old airport

Driving around Ushuaia

Just Another 25-hour+ Travel Day
The rest of the story about us getting home is a long and harrowing one - and one I, frankly, am not interested to write up in detail on the blog (sorry/not sorry). Let's just say, it involved a flight delay in Ushuaia, a taxi strike in Buenos Aires, another flight delay in Buenos Aires, resulting in a delay transitioning through Santiago and being rebooked onto a different flight in Toronto, a disturbed individual on that flight causing another delay... but then after more than 25 hours finally, and thankfully, HOME.

From the tarmac at the new airport in Ushuaia

Adiós, fin del mundo!

January 30: We Are at Sea!

From January 30, 2020 (written on this date)

We are at sea!

Brief Stop in the City at the End of the World: Ushuaia
We arrived in Ushuaia yesterday around noon, via our tour’s charter flight from Buenos Aires, and had a few hours to explore and grab a proper lunch before boarding the boat.

Port of Ushuaia

Ushuaia observations: what a cute little place, full of friendly people. I made friends with some local restaurant staff who very easily accommodated our vegan requests, and were more than happy to help me with my Latin American Spanish. Muy bien.  

Ushuaia: fin del mundo

We also learned that the government has taken active measures to encourage Argentinians to move to Ushuaia. As a result, the population went from 30,000 to almost 80,000 in a fairly short period of time, with tourism i.e. cruise ships like ours and research excursions, being an essential contributor to the local economy.

Ocean Endeavour: Our Temporary Home
Everything  runs like a well-oiled machine (boat?) on this ship. From embarkation, to daily briefings, to sit-down meals and refreshments, to biosecurity procedures of gear checks to prevent bringing non-indigenous fauna and flora into the region, to wellness and educational programs… the list goes on. Let’s just say, I am impressed - and most of you know I am really not easy to impress. As I write this, we have been on the boat for just more than 24 hours and I have been fascinated by so much already; the crew even ran a safety drill with all of the guests in case of an emergency! No Titanic-level human arrogance on this ship, that’s for sure - thank goodness for that.

Soy Vegetariana Restricto a.k.a. “I Am Vegan” 
Getting onto a boat without knowing exactly what vegan options would be available made me a little nervous. Turns out, there was no need to worry. The chef and kitchen staff here are all more than accommodating, and I am confident that we will not starve! As a matter of fact, we may even gain some weight if they keep feeding us desserts like the ones they made especially for us today, which was a tart with a strawberry sauce drizzle, and a side of lemon sorbet - yum. Feeling very special and well fed so far.

Birds, Birds, Birds
I’ve been taking advantage of our two days at sea to practice taking pictures of the birds we can see from the ship deck. It’s been good, particularly as I hadn’t picked up my camera in a few months (oops) and needed to remind myself of what all the settings mean and how to change them. It sounds like I’ll have all evening and early tomorrow as well to keep capturing photos of the birds that have been following our boat.

Great Southern Petrel on the left and the Northern Petrel on the right

Bird watching summary: so far, we’ve seen and captured two on camera - the Great Southern Petrel and the Northern Petrel, and I’m getting all revved up to see albatross and penguins! And as we’re about to cross the Antarctic Convergence, we may even get to see a few before reaching the Antarctic Peninsula.

About that last sentence: guess where I learned this information? At an educational lecture this morning from the resident ornithologist!

Here We Come, Cetaceans
No whale (or iceberg, for that matter) spotting yet. However, we have been assured by the resident marine biologist that they are all ahead of us where the waters are cooler and the phytoplankton and krill, from the bottom of the food chain, are in abundance. We just need to catch up.

The crew has issued a challenge to the guests to be the first one to spot an iceberg - a very reasonable expectation once we cross the Antarctic Convergence. Even though the prize is apparently “immeasurable” I’m just in it for the glory. Challenge accepted.

More birding from the boat - another Great Southern Petrel

Second Leg: The End of the World

Hola from Ushuaia, the end of the world!

A few hours here before we board the boat en route to Antarctica. Just enough time for postcards, lunch, and a short post on the blog.

Windswept pair. Colder here than Buenos Aires.

Ushuaia, fin del mundo.

Adiós (Almost), Buenos Aires

We're nearing the end of our second and last full day in Buenos Aires. While here, we learned about the history of the ciudad, drank Malbec, and caught a tango show - a local tradition. There was a lot of walking involved so my problematic knee and ankle are both giving me a bit of grief right now, but it's nothing a bit of stretching, room service and a quiet night in can't solve, I'm sure.

El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore was once a performance theatre.
In 2019, it was named the world's most beautiful bookstore by
National Geographic magazine.

Quark Expeditions' local travel representative was on site at the hotel today to answer any last minute questions and hand out boarding passes for our charter flight to Ushuaia tomorrow - otherwise known as the "city at the end of the world" (recall: Buenos Aires to Ushuaia - second leg!). Looking forward to having the tour company take over from this point on.

Sidebar: the other night, I dreamed that I was running through Ushuaia looking for my parka to wear in Antarctica. Can't wait to see if the Ushuaia of my (literal, not even metaphorical) dreams looks anything like reality!

Our access to the connected world will be limited starting tomorrow. Hope to update you from the boat. If not, see you when we get back to civilization!

First Leg: Done

Hello from beautiful Buenos Aires!

It was a little surreal walking around last night - kind of like, "Holy shit. Are we really in South America?" Really though, I blame our dreamlike state on massive jet lag.

The journey so far:

• Vancouver to Toronto = 4.5 hours
• Toronto to Santiago = 9.5 hours
• Santiago to Buenos Aires = 2 hours

Therefore, to get here it only took 16 hours in the air plus all of the time spent in airports! Ain't no thang (yeah right).

Thankfully, we wandered around a little last night and found somewhere to have a big meal, which, combined with our overall lack of sleep, contributed to us sleeping 10 hours straight last night. Bueno.

Side note: Upon landing in Argentina, the flight crew was required to spray some kind of disinfectant on the plane, which kind of stunk. Too bad we didn't have any face masks on us.

In Other News
Woke up to the news that Kobe Bryant and his daughter were killed in a helicopter crash last night. Sad for the basketball community to lose a GOAT. #RIPMamba

Also, there is now one confirmed case of Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in Ontario. Scary stuff.

Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires