Antarctic Trip Nov-Dec 2016 Part 1 Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls and Ushuaia

Casa Rosada

We stored our RV at Susan and Windsor’s house, and Tom drove us to BWI. It was a two hour flight to Atlanta and 9 more hours on an overnight flight to Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires is the capital city of Argentina with over 14 million people in and around the city. We stayed near the Plaza de Mayo, the political and religious hub of the city. Eva Peron addressed her followers from the Casa Rosada. Pope Francis (as Archbishop) preached from the Metropolitan Cathedral.

Tegu Lizard

Iguazu Falls (internet photo)

Iguazu Falls

The next day we took a two hour flight to Iguazu Falls. Here the Iguazu River drops 269 feet from cliffs 8,858 feet long resulting in 275 waterfalls, making it the largest waterfall system in the world. We spent three days in the National Park and UNESCO site. There are several trails in the park, even a train, to help you access the various falls in the park.

Iguazu Bird

more Iguazu Falls

Coatimundi.

 There is some unusual wildlife in the park; the most important one to watch is the coati, a raccoon that excels at stealing food. They hang out around the picnic tables and wait for someone to sit down with their Subway lunch bag. In a blitz attack, they can tear open the bag and remove the sub before you have time to react. 

and more Iguazu Falls

Boat ride to the base of the falls

The other thrill is to ride a speed boat into the blast from the falls. Niagara has the Maid of the Mist, so this ride must be the Devil of the Deluge. We did get soaked, but when it’s 90 degrees out, who cares!

Tierra del Fuego

We left Iguazu Falls and returned to our hotel in Buenos Aires. Access was temporarily blocked by a Gay Rights and Women against Domestic Violence demonstrations at Plaza de Mayo. Back to the airport the next day for a two hour delay and a three hour flight to Ushuaia, Argentina – The Southernmost City in the World. Due to a cancelled tour, we had plenty of free time to explore the city. Of course, since it was Sunday, almost everything in town was closed. The next day we did have a tour, but while awaiting new arrivals at the airport, hurricane force winds made walking next to impossible. We did get to Tierra del Fuego National Park and the end of the Pan American Highway (which starts in Alaska). After the tour we headed to our ship to start our Antarctic adventure.

Antarctic Trip Nov-Dec 2016 Part 2 Cruise to the Falklands, South George and South Orkney Islands

Ushuaia Harbor

We boarded Hurtigruten’s MS Fram along with 218 other passengers, but our departure was delayed because the harbor was closed due to the high winds. After a few hours, we were underway and headed for the Falkland Islands. I was expecting a rough night at sea, but by the time we reached open water, the winds had moderated considerably.

SA - Falkland Islands - South Georgia - S. Orkney Is - Antarctica - SA

Gorse on Falkland Islands

Black Browed Albatross

Rockhopper Penguin

Albatross colony

Falkland Hospitality

The Falkland Islands are isolated and windswept, more suitable to birds than people, which suited our purpose just fine. We hiked to the breeding area of the Albatross, Rockhopper and Macaroni Penguins. After each hike we were treated to tea and cookies by the friendly locals. Our final stop was Stanley where we had our last opportunity to go shopping.

Magellanic Oystercatcher 

Magellanic Penguin

Upland Goose

South Georgia Island

Male Fur Seal

Fortuna Bay, SG

South Georgia was our next destination. This island was best known for its whaling stations and the terminus of Shackleton’s epic journey to rescue his crew. Now it is one of the world’s largest and best protected wildlife sanctuaries. In fact, no wildlife tour to Antarctica would be complete without visiting South Georgia. We made landings at numerous locations; most notable were St Andrews Bay and Grytviken.  Grytviken was the first whaling station in Antarctic waters. At St Andrews, we saw about 500,000 king penguins and chicks, a truly amazing sight. Nearby was a large population of Southern Elephant Seals.

Baby Fur Seal

Gentoo Penguin

Southern Elephant Seal

King Penguin creches

Whaling Ship

After three days exploring various breeding colonies and historical sites, we headed southwest to the South Orkney Islands, to the oldest research station in Antarctica. We mailed a couple postcards from there, only $7 each for postage and handling! On the voyage down, the ship was surrounded by about 100 fin, sei and humpback whales.

Orcadas Research Station

Arch Iceberg

King Penguin

Antarctic Trip Nov-Dec 2016 Part 3 Cruise to Antarctic Peninsula and Islands

Elephant Island

Elephant Island was our next destination. Shackleton’s crew spent 4 1/2 winter months here, while Shackleton and a small crew sailed 800 mi in 17 days in an open lifeboat across the world’s stormiest seas to South Georgia. Due to winter ice, it took four rescue attempts before the island could be reached and the men rescued. Even today the island is difficult to access due to ice and rough seas. The MS Fram has only managed a few landings there in the last seven years. We were lucky to be able to land at such an inaccessible and historical site.

How to make Chinstrap Penguins

Elephant Seal (kiss me!)

Tabular Iceberg

Adelie Penguin with chick

Pat Kayaking (blue hat)

Gentoo Penguin with chick

Caldera at Deception Island

Another unusual landing was Whaler’s Bay on Deception Island. This is a volcanic caldera with a collapsed wall section that allows ship access to the interior, making it the best harbor in the Antarctic. There was a whaling station here and later a British Base, but the last eruption in 1967-1969 destroyed most of the structures. The volcano is still considered active.

Iceberg Turnover

Loading PolarCirkle Boats

Crabeater Seal

The last stop was to be the British Base at Port Lockroy - unfortunately the bay was packed with ice and the PolarCirkle boats would not be able to safely cross. The Captain headed the Fram south through the ice filled Lemaire Channel until our passage was completely blocked. He turned the ship around and found a spot where the passengers could tour the ice flows and wildlife from the PolarCirkle boats. From here, we headed north and crossed the Drake Passage. We had some gale force winds but the ship handled the swells and soon the Cape of Good Hope was sighted.

Antarctic Peninsula - Our passage

Antarctic Trip Nov-Dec 2016 Part 4 Ushuaia and Buenos Aries

Andes Mountains

We arrived back in Ushuaia after 19 days at sea. We took a bus tour to Lake Escondido and visited the local museum before flying back to Buenos Aires. We took a riverboat cruise on the Tigre Delta. Back in Buenos Aires we visited the Eva Peron Museum and the beautiful Opera House. After 11 hours in the air we landed safely at BWI, ending a most memorable 28 day adventure.

Escondido Lake

Floating grocery store

Postscript

In order to appreciate this trip, you need to know a little about the history of Antarctic exploration and whaling. As a minimum, you should read “South” by Earnest Shackleton. It should be noted that we had unusually good weather on our Antarctic trip. Any trip to Antarctica is expensive, but we found Hurtigruten to be a good value. This is not a sight-seeing cruise, but an expedition requiring the physical ability to load and unload from an unsteady boat, climb snow covered hills, and walk in heavy boots. If you are unsteady on your feet, this is not your cruise. Special thanks to our Travel Agent, Jean Trotter, who dealt with Hurtigruten over our 3 year planning period.   

Opera House

Family Matters

Sharon moved to Las Vegas to continue her missionary work and teach English as a second language.  She did return to Baltimore for Christmas. Pat’s father got new dentures which seem to improve his ability to get the proper nourishment and stop losing weight. Bob continues his treatments and seems to be holding steady.