Journey to Antarctica and back – 11 days aboard the MV Ushuaia.

Day 1

It’s the day, the day I have been waiting for many years. The chance to visit the remote continent of Antarctica is not something that everyone on this planet is fortunate enough to do. I am one of those lucky ones and today is my lucky day…

It is by no means the last continent on the list for me to tick off – I still have not ventured to Africa or Europe, but I have spent a lot of time in Patagonia, visiting many times, Ushuaia, the most southerly town in Argentina, the jump off point for most voyages to the Antarctic due to its location, it is the closest point of land to the great white continent. Coming so close for so many years, it has been a rare kind of torture to see so many people heading off on one of the great adventures of a lifetime, and not be joining them. But all of that is about to change.

With our vouchers in hand, our packs stuffed full of alpaca socks, puff vests, gortex and polar fleece… (and in my friend Mike’s case - a pair of Irish waterproof golf pants! – I seriously hope I am mistaken about their ability in extreme conditions) we head for the Ushuaia docks, strategically located right in the middle of town. I have to say, the weather doesn’t give me a lot of hope. It’s really windy, the rain has kind of icy bones in it and the clouds well and truly cover the sky. But it doesn’t matter nothing can dampen (pardon the pun) my spirits today, besides, what would an Antarctic voyage be if the weather was sunny and pleasant – I didn’t come here to get a tan!

We pass our luggage through the x-ray machine and continue walking along the dock until we reach the MV Ushuaia, passing another 2 Antarctica bound ships on the way. The Ushuaia is a sturdy looking piece of equipment, an ex-American Antarctic research vessel, custom built for this type of voyage. She is by no means the largest of the 3 ships in port, but this makes me happy as this means that our landings on the Antarctic will also be shared by fewer people than on the larger boats therefore making the experience less crowded, more personal. From the outside, the Ushuaia means business and does not look like the luxury cruise ship that had been docked in her place the previous day, so I was pleasantly surprised when I was shown to my suite (sweet!) cabin and it was a very spacious, comfortable room, with ensuite bathroom, large window (not porthole!) a desk and all the luxuries of a hotel room. Not to mention one of the most comfortable beds I have slept in, in South America. Bonus!

After unpacking some of my things, the Ship's intercom comes alive, announcing that there will be a welcome from the expedition leader, Sebastian, and that we should all come down to the bar and enjoy a cocktail to celebrate the beginning of the journey. Well, you don’t need to ask me twice, so I headed off and mingled and chinked glasses, as everyone introduced themselves to their fellow sailors.

We were a good looking bunch, even if I do say so myself, people from all over the world with at least one thing in common – the see the last great wilderness – Antarctica. People of all ages – mid to late 20’s through to an older Argentinean woman who reminded me of my Grandma – except I can’t picture my grandma on an Antarctic trip like this!

After the welcome drink, we waited to set sail, although the high winds had meant that the port authorities had decided to keep the port closed for a while, but eventually we were on our way!

Sailing down the beagle channel and passing the many islands that help to keep Ushuaia such a well protected port, it was a beautiful send off and the town was soon out of sight. We were on our way to the Drake passage, one of, if not THE most treacherous body of water in the world. Many a ship has come, well, let’s say, “unstuck” here and it has been a hurdle for many great explorers, some have managed to pass it’s icy waters and others have not.

Putting the thoughts of these great explorers to the back of our minds, we headed to the conference room for a safety briefing and general ship information session and then off to the dining room for our first meal.

I am a bit of a ‘foodie’ and so take my eating quite seriously. Once again I was pleasantly surprised with a 3 course meal consisting of a small tapas type salad for entrée, followed by Chicken stroganoff and veggies, with a giant hazelnut brownie and lemon sorbet for desert. Not bad for the end of the earth!? I’m pretty sure that this is not how Shakleton did it.

After dinner a movie was shown - one in English about Antarctica and the general facts and figures of the great continent and one in Spanish about the English explorer Shakleton and his attempt to be the first person to reach the South Pole (in a nut shell him and his team didn’t reach it on this voyage but instead spent 14 months floating around on an iceberg and spent 2 Antarctic winters trying to get some kind of rescue – they all miraculously survived!!) The movies were to be reversed the following night in the alternate language (everything on the ship is done in English and Spanish).

I then hit the hay. Oooooh… man the bed was comfortable! We had been warned by the crew that the first night is usually fine until around midnight / 1pm when we enter the drake passage. From there is starts to get a bit rough. To be honest, I barely even noticed and slept most of the way through, only waking in the night to look outside and see the full moon shining brightly through the window at me. Turns out I was pretty much the only one that it didn’t bother…

My friend mike had to get up a few times to drive the porcelain bus… apparently he gets quite sea sick…

Day 2

I woke in the morning to discover that Mike wasn’t the only one who had not had the chance to fully digest his dinner. A lot of people were feeling rather ordinary and there was a black market of high grade sea sickness drugs going around, the word on deck was also that if you were bad enough the doctor had an injection he could administer to, well… not into your arm let’s just say, but that once you had that, you were pretty much right as rain (apparently – although I think that Mike may disagree with this).

I went to breakfast feeling not so fantastic, but a lot better than pretty much everyone else by the looks of it. My years of growing up on boats of different kind, from working on a cruise ship, working as a deckhand on a sailing ship, my Dad’s small commercial boat had all been good training for what the next 2 days would bring. I felt very lucky looking at a few of the faces around me.

The breakfast room was very empty that day and the dining room would remain so for the reminder of the day. There was a lecture in the morning on the Geology of Antarctica, where we learned about the actual land areas and their formation. Turns out there are quite a lot of dormant volcanoes in the area!

After the lecture, I went back to my cabin, and the rocking of the boat hit me, and I was soon sound asleep. I think I missed a bird watching lecture on the back deck. I managed to get out of bed in time to attend the lecture on the Antarctic, which was a great information session on the formation of glaciers and the changes through which the continent goes during the seasons of the year.

Dinner was served and Steak was on the menu, along with 2 other courses… the idea that I probably wouldn’t be losing too much weight on this journey became quite apparent to me then.

The English movie after dinner was the Shakleton voyage documentary, and I thoroughly enjoyed the story of this extraordinary explorer who managed to survive against all odds. I headed off to bed and the boat rocked me off to sleep… I didn’t see Mike ALL day! He he he he he he… I mean, I hope he’s ok!

Day 3

“Good morning, good morning everyone” Sebastian, the expedition leader’s voice came through the loudspeaker. Today was yet another sea day and also the day when we would cross the line of 60 degrees latitude, meaning that we had officially reached the Antarctic.

Everyone was laying low once again, and we had a few lectures during the day to while away the hours, one on Penguins by the ship’s biologist and a briefing about the rules and regulations all visitors to the Antarctic must follow to comply with the environmental policies in place.

In the afternoon, I ventured out on deck and discovered that a few mountains and even a few ice bergs could be seen in the distance. Little by little, all the passengers filtered out onto the deck, and watch as we sailed into a fairytale. Everything gradually got bigger and more impressive, I felt as though I was embarking on a grand adventure, as though I was arriving into the land of the lord of the rings or something… The Shetland islands were not exactly as I expected, they were in fact more impressive, surrounded by huge icebergs, glistening in the sunlight, penguins playing in the water and a sense of awe surrounding the whole experience. We had arrived.

Sailing into the channel away from the rough seas was a welcome change and more and more people emerged from their rooms. An announcement came over the PA system, that we had made very good time on our Drake passage crossing and therefore we were going to be able to do our first landing that afternoon! We were going to place called Aitcho Island where a penguin colony of Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins were waiting for our arrival.

The first steps on Antarctic land were much warmer than expected. A gentle breeze blew and the sound of penguins playing in the ocean, jumping on and off a small iceberg close to shore made for some entraining viewing. It’s so amazing to be able to get so close to these quirky animals, they have such individual personality and I could watch them all day. I took so many photos! Everyone did the same. Oh, how I am going to bore everyone at home with my millions of penguin photos!

By the time we got back on board and headed for dinner, everyone was well and truly back to normal and in great spirits the Antarctic adventure had well and truly begun!

Day 4

A 6:40am wake up call was welcomed after my early night and a full night’s peaceful sleep due to the calm seas. I sat up in my bed to get a better look through my window to discover that we were still in Antarctica (it had felt like a bit of a dream really)! There was a giant iceberg floating past my window and I could see the rocky outcrop of a nearby island in the clouded distance. It looked a little windier than yesterday and my first thought was if we were going to be going ashore as planned.

“The dining room is open for breakfast” came the call of the expedition leader through the ships PA system as I got myself out of bed and headed down to the dining room looking forward to the good coffee and buffet breakfast once again. On the way to the dining room, I looked out one of the windows on the opposite side of the boat, and noticed that there was in fact a huge glacier jutting off the land which I had seen from my side of the ship. Covered in snow and with the crystallic blue insides glistening in the sunlight, the thing was immense… a breathtaking start to the morning.

After breakfast there was an announcement saying that the expedition crew would be taking one of the Zodiacs over to the landing point, right beside the glacier to see if the wind would allow for us to land there today or not. I headed up to the Bridge where the captain and a couple of officers and expedition crew were waiting for the report from the Zodiac. Everyone waited anxiously to get the go ahead for the landing. The leader radioed back to say it was all systems go - the rocky outcrop was protecting the beach landing from the wind. So the call was made across the ship, please get ready to go ashore, dress warm, and to please take note that when you land you just need to be careful of the fur seals!

Everyone raced back to their cabins and layered up. After the previous day I think pretty much everyone had decided upon and extra pair of socks and with the higher winds today, an extra fleece or jumper would also be needed. In the end I had on the following:

• 3 Pairs of socks – 1 of them thick alpaca
• Rubber boots (supplied by the boat)
• Thermal Leggings
• Fleece lined snowboard pants - waterproof
• Singlet (vest)
• Thermal long sleeve top
• Woolen skivvy (turtleneck)
• 2 Polar fleeces
• Wind proof jacket
• 3 pairs of gloves (one knitted / one fleece inners / waterproof snowboard gloves)
• Beanie (woolen hat)
• 2 x hoods (1 fleece / 1 windproof shell)
• 1 fleece neck protector

Ok, so I couldn’t move around that well but it seemed to be the right amount of layers, I was even a little bit too warm for most of the time ashore, not hot, mind you, but comfortably warm.

We waited in line to jump on the Zodiacs and off we headed for shore. It was nowhere near as cold or as windy as I thought it was going to be. Cruising past that Glacier in the tiny Zodiac was a humbling experience. We pulled up on the beach and jumped out, only to be confronted with the many fur seals that were hanging around on the beach. Just as curious about us as we were about them.

We spent the next 2.5 hours wandering around the island, checking out a couple of the bays and observing the hundreds of Penguins and fur seals that were living there. With the glacier in the background and our luck with weather the photo opportunities were awesome and the animals often so close that you would get a fright that you were about to step on them. It’s amazing, they are not scared of humans, just curious… We saw Chinstrap penguins, gentoo penguins, fur seals, elephant seals and giant petrels – all amazing, all in their hundreds and just going about their business as usual… it’s such a rewarding experience to see the animals in their natural habitat…

On the way back to the Zodiac landing point we spot a giant elephant seal, or at least what I think is a giant one… apparently this guy is on the small side. He looks so snuggly, but I’m pretty sure in reality he isn’t…

Back on the boat and the 3 course lunch is served – by this point everyone is starting to realize that they are not going to lose ANY weight on the trip. The food is really good and there is certainly plenty of it! The afternoon activity is a trip to Saint George Island – one of the more popular locations for some of the research stations. Around 11 different countries have their research base stations on the Island, and we land at the Chilean research station, which is also next to the Russian research base to the joy of the 3 Russian passengers on board. An extremely wild zodiac ride to shore and we are faced with a bleak rocky valley, covered in low cloud and lots of demountable buildings, not dissimilar to shipping containers that have been converted into laboratories, housing and even a school so we are told. We visit the only post office in Antarctica here and everyone takes to opportunity to send off a postcard to friends and family. The Chileans working on the base are all extremely happy to see us, a very welcome reception as they probably don’t get very many visitors out here! They even have a well stoked souvenir shop and a church which we all have time to visit.

Walking down the black, rocky beach, we cross the river to get to the Russian camp where we visit a beautiful Russian church made of wood perched up on a hill overlooking the valley. It looks somewhat out of place here in the protected bay, but I assume for those that visit it frequently, it is a welcome change from the steel bricks that make up the remainder of the buildings in the area.

Once again we head back to the ship which is floating majestically in the bay, bobbing next to a giant iceberg. We have a free hour or so before dinner and then everyone rolls out claiming that yet again they have eaten too much. Dinner is followed by a few drinks at the bar, a de-breif on the day’s activities and then a lecture from the ships Biologist about the Seals that we had seen that day.

Once again I sleep the whole way through the night the gentle rocking of the boat, I haven’t slept this well in ages!

Day 5

“Good Morning Good morning everyone” comes the expedition leader’s voice through the Ship’s PA system “ it’s 10 past 7 and breakfast will be served in 20 mins”. We have our final landing on the South Shetland Islands today and this one is to an island which, apart from the beach, is covered by an Antarctic treaty preservation law, which means that only research teams can enter the protected area. Therefore we have to stick to walking on the beach, and that on the island we can expect to see 3 different species of penguins, fur seals and possibly some elephant seals. Everyone has to be split into 2 groups as only 50 people are allowed to be on the island at any one time. The early birds are off to the island as I watch from one of the upper decks and notice the high winds whipping off the water surface and spraying those in the Zodiacs with fresh ocean mist. I went back to my cabin and put on an extra layer, only to take if off again before leaving for the Island an hour later as the weather had changed considerably – a good lesson on unpredictability of the weather here.

By the time the second group are called down to the Zodiacs, the wind has died down immensely and it is actually, dare I say it, quite pleasant outside. The Ocean has calmed and everyone is even getting their cameras out on the way to the island to take some photos - I’m not sure if I am getting more acclimatized, but I was not cold at all the entire landing. Jumping off the Zodiac I almost landed on a penguin – oops! Poor little fella! I look around and notice that there are literally hundreds of penguins all the way along the beach, they are playing in the waves washing up against the shore, they are lying on the rocks, no doubt enjoying the break in the weather just as much as we were. There were even groups of them flying through the water, launching themselves out from time to time. I’m quite sure, that if I was a penguin, this would be paradise. We had an hour to stroll along the beach, and it seems that it doesn’t matter how many penguin photos you have, you always need one more, as the extra one that you just HAVE to take is undoubtedly going to be the BEST one. It’s a weird kind of addiction I seemed to have developed.

After filling yet another memory card with Penguin holiday happy snaps, we head back to the ship and the anchor is pulled. We are bound for Deception Island. We are told this is approximately 7 hours sailing, and as we leave the protected bay the boat starts to rock again, a feeling we haven’t had for a couple of days. Most people head for their cabins to get horizontal and everyone starts throwing back their sea sickness medicine of choice. It’s also the first time we have seen sun for a few days and its rays reflect off the glaciers lining the channels along our route. Once again I am stunned by the beauty of this part of the world.

The 7 hour journey to Deception Island is not as bad as everyone expects, but I suspect that everyone is finally starting to get their sea legs. We have an afternoon lecture on the IATO (International Antarctic Treaty Organization), and the unique agreement which governs the Antarctic region – The senior editor of the organization just happens to be aboard our ship working as one of the guides so it’s an extremely informative session.

Deception Island is actually a dormant volcano, and the crater is now filled by ocean. There is an old whaling station inside and there have been rumors going around that there is also thermal water bubbling up to the surface in one place and this is usually where some lucky (or crazy) people get the chance to jump in Antarctic waters.

As we approach deception island the message from the bridge is that the wind is very high and that they are going to assess the conditions when they arrive as it’s possible that we will not be able to enter the inside of the crater through the reasonably small opening in the crater wall. They invite everyone up to the bridge to watch though as it is quite a spectacle.

The bridge is packed full of people. There are a few crazy ones outside on deck – it’s comical to watch them try and take photos as the wind is so strong that they can’t really hold their hands or cameras still. We get closer and I decide to join them, putting on as many of my clothes as possible and making sure that my wrist was through my camera leash, I step outside into the gale force winds just as we were passing through a narrow passage, sheer rock only meters away from the ships rails – it was spectacular. I tried to make my way to the front of the ship to get a view of both sides of the channel, but the wind made it impossible. I actually had to lean really far forward just to stop being blown over backwards!! As we entered the volcano crater the wind calmed down as we were now protected by the crater walls and we could see the mountain ridge dropping away into the ocean. I hung around waiting for the sun to set, hoping to get the “money shot” as everyone made their way to the dining room for dinner. I got it. Happy days.

Dinner was excellent yet again and after dinner we had an impromptu Salsa disco party in the bar to celebrate the birthday of one of the passengers. As we left the safety of the crater, the high winds rocked the boat once again and there was a nervous energy in the air as the message from the bridge was to take some sea sick medication as it was likely to get quite rough. They had never done this before.

Everyone fared quite well considering how rough the seas were. Once again, I slept like a log…

Day 6

“Good morning good morning” Came the voice from the bridge again. “It is 6:40am and we are navigating the Errera channel. Breakfast will be served at 7:30am but in the meantime we invite you to join us out on deck to get your first glimpse of the Antarctic continent. It is a spectacular day, the sun is shining, there is not much wind, and there are 3 Humpback whales breaching on the port side of the boat”. Well if that’s not enough to get you out of bed then I don’t know what is. I sat bolt upright – gotta get up….gotta get up. I put on as many layers as I could, grabbed my camera and headed outside into the fresh Antarctic air. The view outside was breathtaking. I don’t really know how else to describe it. The water was dead still, the clouds just hanging slightly above the mountain tops, there were chunks of ice floating silently along past the side of the ship as we made our way quietly through the water. There were some people up on the bow of the ship scanning the water for the whales.

This is what I had imagined Antarctica to be like. A peaceful , frozen world full of glaciers and snow and ice, a veritable paradise for those animals brave enough to survive it’s cold conditions.

We spent an hour or so navigating past massive icebergs, glaciers and rocky mountains, we saw whales breaching and penguins swimming playfully. Some of the most stunning scenery I have ever seen in my life. Incredible.

After tearing ourselves away for another amazing breakfast, we then anchored and were transferred in Zodiacs from the ship to Neko bay, our first landing on the Antarctic continent! We pulled up to the beach and were instantly met by a huge colony of penguins. We had to pinch ourselves as we looked up and saw the huge hanging glacier at the end of the beach and the hundreds of icebergs and chunks of ice that had washed up on the shore. WOW… WOW… WOW!

We took a group photo on the beach in front of the glacier and then we had another 2 hours to wander around through the penguin colony and towards the glacier. Even up the side of the mountain to a lookout point above the glacier itself. Everyone was busy trying to get THE shot, and mingling with the penguins and Ice chunks. It really was something out of this world. The serenity is something that I have never experienced before. The only sounds being the odd squawk of a penguin and the thunderous crack of the glacier splitting and massive chunks of ice falling into the water below. Turns out that the mainland penguins are a lot more curios of people as well and as we were lucky to be here towards the end of breeding season, the chicks had grown sufficiently and were starting to get curious. The penguin nibbling at my pants was certainly curious anyway!

Finally the guides ushered us out of there just a small avalanche fell on the opposite side of the bay and the debris and snow cascaded like a waterfalls down into the still water below. I don’t think anyone wanted to leave this place, we certainly had been lucky with the weather.

Another 3 course lunch (seriously, who has desert at lunch everyday!! ?) as we sailed through the channel towards the old Argentine research station, Almirante Brown. As the story goes, the doctor who had been at the station for some time had planned to return to his family and home at the end of a long winter, he was then told that he wasn’t allowed to go home, but that he had to stay at the station for another 12 months – another Antarctic winter! He wasn’t very impressed with the idea, so set one of the main buildings on fire, therefore forcing the station to be shut down so he got to go home in the end. Since being closed a colony of penguins have taken over the place and here we hiked around the station and the mountain nearby, checking out the penguins while they checked out us.

The activity after the landing had everyone fairly excited, as we were taking a Zodiac cruise around the icebergs and glaciers in the nearby Paradise Bay. The first thing we saw were 3 seals resting on an iceberg. Only moving occasionally to turn over or look at the boat full of people floating nearby. Cameras were going mad, these are beautiful creatures and they are incredible to watch. Continuing on further into the bay, we passed a couple of Comorant nesting areas up high in the cliffs and then the enormous glaciers came into sight as we stopped to check out more seals and penguins, dodged giant icebergs and gave our cameras a good workout. The glaciers look reasonably small from a distance, but when you are cruising along the face of one in a tiny Zodiac, I can tell you, these things are HUGE!! It’s a very humbling experience being alongside one of these things, made of snow some 4 or 5 hundred years old (at the least), something which no photo (unfortunately) will ever portray. This is Antarctica.

On the way back, our group got lucky as our guide told us there was a humpback whale just ahead. I got a surprise when it finally popped up again, just meters from the boat! Close encounters like this are quite common says the guide. Then it started to snow, and snow and snow and snow. The ride back to the boat was wild…..it was exciting..…it was refreshing……it was exactly what I had expected in Antarctica. A wild ride over the thrashing waves, snow belting in our faces and the guide bravely standing up at the back of the boat steering us towards the Ushuaia. These guys are seriously hardcore. Respect.

Back on board and everyone was in extremely high spirits, beers all round as the seas were incredibly calm now we were in more protected channels, and we had finally reached the Antarctic continent.

After dinner a briefing followed and we headed into the bar area for group meeting. We had been extremely lucky with the weather apparently, and everyone was over the moon with the entire day. Tomorrow’s plan was to do 2 landings in the morning and then a landing and a Zodiac cruise in the afternoon. The big news was that the morning landing’s would involve the most famous bar in Antarctica, not to mention the most southerly in the world… Antarctic Anti Freeze shots were USD$3 a pop.

Day 7

“Good morning, good morning everyone” came the voice once again, we are about to commence navigating the Lemaire channel, and you are invited out on deck to experience the stunning scenery.

Once I ventured out on deck the voice came again announcing that there were whales at the bow of the ship. I was faced with the dilemma of not knowing whether to try and focus on getting the whale shot I had been hoping for or making the most of the few rays of sunlight that were managing to peek through the clouds and create one of the most picturesque landscapes I had ever seen.

After breakfast we headed back to our rooms for the daily dressing ritual. Thermals on first, followed by a woolen skivvy, 2 fleeces, 4 pairs of socks, waterproof pants, waterproof jacket, rubber boots, beanie, neck protector, and then of course the 2 pairs of gloves. I had finally decided that the thin gloves were the most useful, as it was impossible to take photos with my big ski gloves on, this of course meant that I had freezing cold hands for the duration of pretty much every landing, but hey, the photos were worth it.

The first landing for us was to the old Ukranian research station which is in a nice little protected cove, sheltered from the wind by a huge glacier. The building has now been turned into a museum, and everything has been left in it to show how the people lived there. It was like a throwback in time with old typewriters and radios, crampons and other trekking gear and randomly some Guiness memorabilia on the walls. A short hike to the top of the snow covered hill alongside the hut, revealed one of the most stunning 360 degree views I could have hoped for. Staggering mountains and glaciers on one side, a river winding it’s way to the new Ukranian research station not far away and a channel full of chilly ocean water and icebergs on the other side.

Back in the Zodiacs and there was excitement in the air. Winding our way back down the river to the new Ukranian research station, the place where they discovered the hole in the Ozone layer. It was not for this reason that everyone was excited though. It was because we were about to visit the most southerly bar in the world. Upon landing we were greeted by a very straight faced Ukranian man, telling us to take off our life jackets, and come wiz me, I vill giv you a tour of zee station and zen I vill show you zee most famous bar in zee Antarctica. Smiles all round.

Entering the station the tour was excellent, as we saw the different rooms used by the researchers, the doctor’s office, the atmosphere research room, the ski equipment room, the laboratory, the ladies room (even though there were no ladies living at zee station), and of course the gym, which was the highlight as the walls were covered with bikini clad centerfolds…

We were led upstairs and a small post office was set up so that you could send off postcards home, and then of course what we had all been waiting for, the bar.

The fact that it was 10:30 in the morning didn’t seem to faze anyone – shots of Antarctic Anti-freeze (AKA homemade Vodka) were ordered all round and I quickly forgot about my cold feet and hands. We stayed for over an hour and watched as some people “warmed up” more and more, the Ukranian guy with our group feeling particularly at home. One of the Ukranian guys living at the base then pulled out the guitar and an old fashioned Ukranian sing along was started – pity only one of us knew the words……It certainly made for an entertaining morning though!! Not to mention somewhat of a nice change from the other landings, being inside and warm and seeing how people crazy enough to live in Antarctica, actually live. I couldn’t help but feel that the building was swaying like the ship though, I’m not sure if this was the homemade vodka or the “sea legs” effect that one experiences after some time at sea…

Lunch time back on board the ship was pretty funny. There were quite a few extremely happy people and the fact that the BBQ had been fired up that morning, in preparation for lunch meant that we were greeted by a proper Argentinean Meat Fest. I’m not sure what the vegetarians ate, but I’m pretty sure that they would have had their own table down the back of the dining room somewhere. Needless to say Siestas all round after lunch, however we were quickly aroused by the announcement that there were whales at the bow of the ship and that the afternoon activities would also be beginning in a short while.

For the afternoon activities we were split into 2 groups so that one went to land and the others went on a Zodiac cruise around Bahia de los Tempanos (Iceberg Bay). With 20 knot winds I was happy to be in the Zodiac group first, hoping that I would start off on the coldest part, instead of getting on the Zodiacs already cold. To be honest I don’t think that it mattered. I’m not going to lie, it was cold, it was really cold. But I think if I hadn’t had a day such as this in Antarctica, I would have been somewhat disappointed, feeling like I hadn’t had the “proper” Antarctic experience. But then again, maybe I’m just a masochist.

Cruising around these immense pieces of ice, was a surreal experience to say the least. The startling shades of blue contrasting with the white of the ice and the dark grey sky made for some incredible photos. We saw seals playing around the base of the icebergs, and got covered in nice, fresh southern ocean spray. This is Antarctica.

At the end of the Zodiac cruise, we landed on a nearby beach where the other half of the group were waiting to swap with us. The landing was once again spectacular, although we were freezing from the wild Zodiac ride, the penguins soon made us forget about the freezing weather and the hike to an old research hut on the other side of the small island once again left us lost for words at the spectacular view. For a few of us, our aim whilst on land today was to get the chance to swim in the Southern Ocean. Everyone else thought we were mad of course, but as I said before I think that I’m actually a bit of a masochist… I kept looking for excuses why I shouldn’t go, but unfortunately I couldn’t come up with anything plausible… lucky for me the Ship’s doctor said no, as the winds were too high and the conditions were just too bad. Whew!! Narrow escape…

That night back on board, everyone was in high spirits once again, and one of the guides even brought out a guitar after dinner for an impromptu sing along / jam session. We were up until about 2am I think… It was fun…?

Day 8

This was our last day before heading back towards the dreaded Drake passage, although everyone was feeling somewhat more seaworthy by now and therefore more confident in their ability to make it back to Ushuaia without being too seasick.

“Good morning good morning everyone. It is 6:30am and we are about to begin navigating the Neumayer channel. We welcome you out on deck to enjoy this spectacular scenery with us”. For the next hour or so we cruised through, yet again, some breathtaking scenery. Glaciers cascading down steep mountains to meet the icy dark blue ocean, low lying clouds giving us glimpses of mountain peaks, tiny pieces of ice floating past on the glassy water….Some whales breached up ahead and we also saw a few seals playfully jumping around near an iceberg as pods of penguins swam past launching themselves out of the water in unison.

We arrived at our destination of Cuverville Island and prepared for our final landing of the journey. This island was supposed to be home to a huge penguin colony and with any luck we might also see some seals. Landing on the beach, they were certainly right about the penguins, they were EVERYWHERE. It was tough to walk through them as one of the rules is that you must maintain 5 m distance from the penguins and that you cannot approach them, if you stand very still it is possible that they will approach you however. We walked ever so slowly through the masses and rested in front of the 2 fur seals that were also relaxing on the beach. We had to make sure we kept our distance from these guys also, as they can be aggressive… I’m not really sure what I would do if I was attacked by a fur seal.

Further along the beach we started to realize that it was not just the guides and Antarctic research scientists that knew about the number of penguins in this colony, it seemed that the seals were also well and truly aware as there were quite a few penguin carcasses scattered along the shoreline and we even saw a leopard seal catch one in the shallow water and have his way with him and then leave the bleeding penguin on the rocks, we watched in silence as the penguin crawled it’s way up the beach to die. The biologist on board then gave us a bit of a soap opera display on the breeding habits of penguins, using group members as Mr Penguin, Mrs penguin and baby penguins… it was a good laugh…

After we had spent enough time at the penguin colony, also managing to see more seals and a huge elephant seal wallowing in the shallow water near the beach, we got Zodiac rides back to the boat via the icebergs that were in the nearby bay. The light was much better for photos today and so everyone managed to get in a few good shots at least.

Of course there was still the unfinished matter of swimming in the Southern Ocean. So 8 of us plus a few sadistic onlookers / girlfriends / photographers set off back to a nearby beach where the seal population was non existant , joined by the guides and a very large bag of towels. Photos were taken before the few stupid ones prepared to get all of their clothes off on the coldest continent on earth. We stripped off, placing each layer of clothing strategically so that it would be easy to grab and put back on just as quickly as it came off and walked out into the stupidly cold ocean, not as fast as we would have liked mind you, as the water was shallow and the rocks not so smooth so it was a cautious walk which by the time I got to knee deep water, my feet were in such pain that I just shallowly dived in and just as quickly got out and walked back towards the awaiting towels, and, more importantly, 4 pairs of socks.

It was an exhilarating experience, if only my feet had not been in so much pain I would have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I’m glad I did it and I’m even more glad that I do not have to do that again! Those of us who made it in the water had a group photo in our towels….probably not a very pretty sight considering the amount of food we had been eating on board for the last week or so.

So, that would be our last landing in Antarctica, the next time we got off the boat it would be in Ushuaia. At the briefing the previous night the expedition leader had asked if there were any questions or suggestions from the passengers. A Russian girl said that she would really like to see more whales as she had not managed to get the perfect shot just yet. Good naturedly, but sarcastically, the expedition leader asked if there were any other requests… someone asked for some sunshine. Ok, said Sebastian, Whales and sun. Not a problem. Everyone laughed, but the afternoon brought us both. Perhaps they knew where to find both these things all along…?

The nervous energy returned during lunch when the waiter told us that we would be entering the Drake passage about 3 or 4 pm. Right on cue the ocean started to get rough, everyone was to-ing and fro-ing around the boat, although most seemed to be dealing with it a lot better than the first few days. The sick bags appeared taped to the hand rails around the boat again and then we found out at the briefing just before dinner that we had not In fact reached the Drake passage yet, that we would be doing so around 10pm… most people showed up for dinner, and went straight to bed. We had 2 days of this to get back to Ushuaia…

Day 9

“Good morning good morning everyone” Sebastian’s voice came over the loudspeaker once again, “it’s quarter to eight, the dining room will be open for breakfast in 15 mins. We are now in the Drake passage, we are doing 12 knots which is quite a good speed for this crossing, the ocean has calmed down quite a lot since last night and the outside temperature is 2 degrees”

It would have been a great day for a sleep in if I hadn’t of gone to bed at 8:30pm the night before. Making my way down to the dining room for a leisurely breakfast, I passed some queasy faces along the way. Most people were ok but there were certainly a lot of people that didn’t make it down for breakfast.

We had 3 lectures on the schedule for the day, one on the geography of Antarctica, one on Living in Antarctica and one entitled “How did we get to where we are?”

Most of the day was spent swapping photos and people writing blog and diary entries. Oh and eating of course…

I went up to the bridge for a while to take a few photos and ended up being entertained by the crew for quite a while, then at dinner another girl on the cruise and I invented a game, which, when we took it to the bar later, was a hit.

The rules of Drake Passage surfing go like this:

1. You have to stand parallel to the ship’s direction with both feet planted on the ground.
2. You have to keep your feet in the same position and the first one to have to move their feet due to the rocking of the ship is out.

In the bar we had about 15 – 20 people joining in our game, which provided a good hour or so of entertainment for everyone. It was certainly the most exercise I had done in the last 9 days!

I had a couple of drinks with some new friends before bed, just to rub it in to Mike that I was feeling ok, as he was unable to get out of bed.

Day 10

“Good morning Good morning everyone” As you can feel we are still in the Drake passage and the waves have gotten a bit bigger. – We could feel it all right, I actually had not really slept the night before because I was too busy trying to stay in my bed, the waves were really strong and every 5 mins or so a big one would come along and try to eject me out of my bed, the sound of shampoo bottles rolling around in the bottom of the shower had also been present the entire night.

Breakfast was exciting. After the first few cups of juice and coffee were spilt within mins drinks were cut off. The sound of clanking plates and dishes were serenading us the entire time.

After breakfast I went up to the bridge where the only female officer was there alone keeping watch. She told me that the wind was about 35 knots, but we should hopefully be in calmer waters in about 4 hours… fingers crossed.

Those of us up and about settled in to watch a movie – Avatar. Every now and then someone would slide across the floor on their cushion making everyone laugh.

The waves were so rough that the kitchen staff decided to serve sandwiches in the bar instead f the usual 3 or 4 course meal in the dining room. Good idea after the chaotic brekfast. The ship’s biologist gave a lecture on whales in the conference room in the afternoon and by the time it had finished the water had seemed to calm down somewhat. Little by little everyone regained the ability to walk again.

We were called to the conference room once again and the expedition staff presented us with the final log of the trip and showed us the DVD of photos and information that they put together for everyone. The crowd went wild – this was unexpected surprise and gave everyone all the information that they wanted from the trip, and also the loads of photos that the guides had been taking during the trip were a great memory to have of all our new friends.

Then we gathered in the bar for the presentation of our certificates, stating that we had reached the Antarctic continent, presented by the Captian. Everyone clapped and cheered and then the restaurant staff showed up with glasses of champagne for everyone and we made a toast to the voyage. We were back inside the Beagle channel by this stage and everyone was much happier for it.

We all went outside – for me it was the first time in over a day, and it felt like summer outside as we had acclimatized the Antarctic temperatures. The sun was shining down through a large hole in the clouds and we slowly glided though the nice calm waters towards Ushuaia.

The captain’s dinner was served and this was the best meal yet. Delicious steaks and potatoes and a chocolate cake mouse dessert thing that was to die for. After dinner we all hung out in the bar having a few last drinks together while we swapped emails. We dropped anchor and we stayed near the pilot station until 1am when we would be joined by the pilot and taken to Ushuaia.

Day 11

Sebastian’s voice woke us once again – 6:30am this morning, it was an early start as we had arrived in Ushuaia and had to disembark by 8:30am. I went down for one last amazing breakfast and then grabbed my backpack to disembark the ship. We were going to meet up with everyone that night in Ushuaia for dinner and drinks so I said a few goodbyes to those who were flying out straight away and to the crew who were such a highlight of the trip.

Mike and I took a few last photos and video diary entries on the deck as we left and said goodbye to the great boat and our new friends. Gave the captain a hug as we left, the journey was over – back to the real world. I didn’t want to leave, I started to think about ways to stowaway on the ship so I could go back again. Goodbye Ushuaia and thank you for everything!

For more information about Kumuka's Antractica cruise aboard the MV Ushuaia click here >