We Are Home

We are home. Now home is where you go to plan your next travel adventure and the Lady Who researches and plans is already researching and planning. Where to? I have no idea. When? I just periodically check the refrigerator and when it is about 80% empty I ask what clothes I should pack? It’s just easier that way.

When last I corresponded, we were waiting to dock in Ushuaia. The waves in the bay finally calmed and we were once again tied to land.

All tied up to the dock

The evening passed uneventfully except for that dreaded chore of packing. Fortunately, we managed to stay within the weight limits for all bags. We then had to contemplate the ungodly hour we would need to arise in order to breakfast and prepare to disembark. The ends of these trips tend to be uncivilized when it comes to acquiring appropriate transportation. It always seems to come too early to suit me.

We flew out of the Ushuaia airport with no issues. I thought it was interesting that this airport at the tip end of South America has one runway. No taxiways or other superfluous asphalt. The plane just motored right down the middle of the runway until it reached the end and did a 180. We then reviewed the runway in the opposite direction at a more significant and necessary speed and were our way.

The flight to Buenos Aires took three hours and we gained about 65 degrees of heat. It was 93 when we landed and we all had on too many clothes.

For some reason known only to the airlines, flights to the US all seem to depart late in the evening. Ours was scheduled for 9:15 pm. Our tour company was gracious enough not to just drop us off with a fond farewell with hours and hours to kill. They arranged for a lovely lunch and gaucho show to use up some time and then dropped us off with only hours to kill.

Gaucho Dancers

And bless Delta’s heart. My Diamond status got us a seat in the Aero Argentina lounge which was certainly nice. The Lady Who must work some on these trips was able to reencounter the internet and plug back into civilization. We boarded our plane around 8pm and proceeded to try and wait out a thunderstorm system hovering over the airport. Finally, around 11pm, we took off with assurances from the Pilot that once we got about 50 miles north of the airport, all would be just great. Ah, but those 50 miles. I’m a two-million-miler and I’ve never experienced a thunderstorm from the inside like the one we visited. Lighting actually struck the plane which was downright frightening. The pilot immediately came on the speaker and said, “Everything is fine up here, just a little noisy.” Oh great. Everything is fine back here though I may need a change of underwear.

Fifty miles finally came after what seemed like an hour and indeed, things were smooth and calm. It took about 10 hours to regain Atlanta and once through customs we were greeted with temperatures colder that we had experienced in Antarctica. We really exercised the temperature scale this last day.

Now we are left with our thoughts of this trip and the truly amazing things we experienced. What was the best? The penguins? The seals? The whales? All of them. How about the fact that we have been privileged to visit all seven continents?

And, of course, we now have an additional one hundred friends that we may encounter in the future and have an opportunity to talk about some of those experiences.

Ain’t life grand!

On the Way

Our last day will involve several bonuses. We were originally scheduled to reach Ushuaia, Argentina around 8 pm last night but because of fair winds and great sailing we instead arrived around 4pm. The problem was that winds in the area where we were to dock were 30 to 40 knots. So, we cooled our heels out in the bay until about 6:30. By the time the ship was cleared it was almost 8 pm. Some people still decided to leave the ship and walk around town. The Lady Who ordinarily would jump at a chance to shop decided that it was too late so we opted for a final dinner on the ship.

We spent the night on the ship and head to the airport very early this morning for our flight back to Buenos Aires. Last night we got a notice from Delta that because of the bad weather approaching Atlanta, our flight may be affected. Keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to arrive as planned.

Because most of our flights out of Buenos Aires will not depart until late this evening, the Tauck Tour Directors have arranged for us to have a lunch and Gaucho Show before returning to the airport late this afternoon. That’s the kind of nice bonus we have come to expect from Tauck.

I would be remiss if I did not mention how much fun it has been traveling with our friends Betsy and Bert from California. They like to go just as much as we do and are equally fascinated with all that occurs on these adventures.

Thanks for coming along with us on this trip. I hope you were as surprised as I was at just how much Antarctica has to offer. I expected a lot of snow and ice. I did not expect massive mountains, glaciers everywhere and icebergs the size of small cities constantly floating by and unique animals everywhere we stopped. That is what is so special about travel. There are surprises and new adventures around every corner.

You can expect to hear from me in about a year. We are thinking about a trip to somewhere in the far east. Stay tuned.

The Long Road Home

Getting home first involves two days at sea to get us back to South America. I am pleased to report that we survived our return through the dreaded Drake Passage. The swells were still significant but the period of the waves was longer so the ship did not rock and roll quite as much as it did when were were going the other direction. I could try and pretend that we were just better at handing the waves but if that were the case I would not be wearing a sea sickness patch. I can’t help to think what it must have been like for earlier explorers in much smaller and less sophisticated ships as they made this crossing. I also keep in mind that the Drake is much calmer during Summer. Those pioneers were brave people.

Days at sea are a bit tricky. The Lady who would rather be on land seeing new sites has managed to keep herself busy. It has been a challenge for her because keeping busy usually involves keeping me busy. We have attended several lectures explaining in more detail what we have just seen. We have also spent time enjoying the new friends we have made. As we have travelled, making new friends has been one of the unintended consequences.

Lectures in the theater

And there are those remarkable and enjoyable coincidences. Early on we met Paula, from Birmingham, who was born in the same town as my parents, Griffin GA. We shared our memories of that town and our experiences there.

Visit with my Griffin, GA friend Paula

Yesterday about 10 of us participated in an Air Drop party. Air Drop is the Apple feature that allows you to wirelessly share photos with the simple click of a button on the phone. It was also a fun opportunity to relive some of the exciting landings and Zodiac cruises from the last several days.

It was an Air Drop party

Last evening, we participated in the Captain’s Gala Party. We had a chance to visit with all the staff who have educated us on this our 7^th continent. Some of them will be leaving the ship with us and heading to new travel adventures with different companies. The Captain brought all the crew to the stage and as each department was presented we were able to give them a well-deserved round of applause. It also impressed on us again of all the hard work that goes in to making our travels safe and rewarding.

With humble apologies to the seals

I saw two things today that I never thought I would see in Antarctica: green grass and seals actually moving.

We sailed into the center of Deception Island very early this morning. This is the site of an active volcano that last erupted in 1967 and 1969. We were anchored in the center of the island which, except for the outside, is a large lake. Once anchored we took to the Zodiacs in order to go ashore.

We were able to hike to the edge of the now dormant caldera which was both awesome, beautiful and a little unnerving. The landscape is like none other that we have seen since we arrived in Antarctica. No snow and mostly volcanic ash.

Hiking to the caldera

On the edge of the caldera

After lunch we left Deception Island and headed North toward the South Shetland Islands. Our destination for the afternoon was Elephant Point on Livingston Island. The island is home to a number of colonies of Gentoo Penguins as well as a huge number of Elephant Seals – and green grass.

We had seen lichen growing on several cliffs, but here was actual grass. Not a huge amount and Bermuda it was not, but given all the ice and snow we have seen in the last few days, it was quite exciting to see a little green.

About the seals.  Not withstanding what I said yesterday about seals and their inability to do anything but look like rocks, today I actually saw several seals move. And given their size ( they can be several thousand pounds ) any movement at all is significant.

We walked along the beach for several miles and saw fifty or more of the enormous creatures. Our naturalist guides explained that this was molting season. They park themselves on land for about three to four weeks until they have lost their old skin and replaced it with new. So I hope the Antarctica Chamber of Commerce will accept my apology for casting aspersions on these magnificent creatures because I certainly don’t want them coming after me post-molting.

Today was our last day in Antarctica and we are now headed back through the Dreaded Drake. The Captain promised a more reasonable ride back but it was not convincing enough to have us forego our sea sick patches.

Speaking of the Captain, he most graciously invited all who were interested to visit the bridge. We were there right after we sailed out of Deception. The crew was significantly engaged in routings around a number of icebergs strewn in our path. It was exciting to observe these professionals doing their jobs.

On the bridge of our ship.

It will take two days to reach South America so I’m sure I’ll have some interesting observations to add here.

One kudo I must not forget is to recognize one of the leaders of the Reception Desk.  Patrycja has been at her post every day offering a bright smile and solutions to any problem you might bring her. The Lady Who must have access to email daily is grateful for Patryca’s help in solving some ongoing access problems. She is quite representative of the wonderful crew and staff that have made this journey one to remember and talk about for years to come.