Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Gateway to Antarctica...

Fully recovered from the chest infection, I made it to Ushuaia, right on the southern-most tip of Argentina. This time by plane through Buenos Aires, despite the fact that I some how managed to miss my connection. Apparently to check in two hours before a flight leaving at 12.18, its a good idea to arrive at 10.18, and not at midday... Its still a mystery how I managed to get it so wrong, given I triple-checked my ticket that morning...

It all worked out though, and glancing up from my book as the plane began the descent into Ushuaia literally took my breath away. I was transfixed - the snow-capped mountains surrounding the Beagle Channel were breathtakingly beautiful, and my first sights of Tierra del Fuego were just magical. Glued to the window until we landed, I spent the first few hours in Ushuaia wandering around in a trance with a grin from ear to ear. I love it here! Walking around, I feel like a child in a sweet-shop, not sure where to look next. All of which may go part way to explain how, less than 45 hours after arriving, I was boarding a boat to Antarctica...

It all happened so suddenly, that before I really knew where I was, we were being welcomed onboard with a glass of raspberry champagne (!) to learn about the delights of the Drake Passage - the chunk of water south of Cape Horn which it would take us two days to cross, and is infamous for its vicious storms...

But we were lucky - both in the crossing of the Drake, and throughout the 10 day trip. Not only were conditions generally calm(ish) at sea, but the weather cooperated whilst we were there, enabling us to go ashore twice a day, and we got to see so many whales it became a bit ridiculous. We stopped to watch so many orcas, humpbacks, minkes and fin whales hunting and playing by the boat that the captain could never keep to his schedule!

I´m not sure what to write, or how to really describe the last ten days, it´s still all a bit surreal. And having had just 3 hours sleep (final night party...) after our return crossing of the Drake (not quite so calm on the way back...), I´m finding it hard to verbalise anything, let alone my thoughts. Antarctica is a continent that I never dreamt I had a realistic chance of visiting, and it`s going to take me a very long time for me to come to grips with everything I experienced there. It was obviously amazing, breathtakingly beautiful and completely unforgettable, but it was so, so much more.

Pictures being worth a thousand words, I think that all I´m capable of sharing at the moment is a few of my (800 odd) photos...

Penguins, just funny birds to begin with, seem to develop more personality the longer you watch them, they are just hilarious. Watching the young learn to swim and seeing them chase each other around the beaches will remain with me forever. As will their potent stench...

Along with the penguins, there were numerous Weddell, Fur and Elephant seals. They also smell terrible...

Visiting the continent was not enough, we also had to swim there... Yes, it was freezing. Being extremely mature and sensible, five of us decided to have a competition to see who could stay in the longest. General consesus was that someone would give up within the first minute... however, we hadn´t accounted for the stubborn streak suddenly apparent in all of us. No-one being willing to give in, we´d have probably got hypothermia if the expedition doctor hadn´t made us get out after 3 minutes! At least we´d proved the Lonely Planet wrong - apparently you can´t survive more than 3 minutes in Antarctic waters... you might not be able to feel much of your body after that time, but thankfully, we all came out alive! And it was brilliant fun! (Our boat is in the background.)















My favourite days were those we spent furthest south - I just loved all the glaciers and icebergs.

























We visited one British and two Argentinian bases whilst we were there. In addition to learning about the history and work of the bases, we also just had to join in a snow-ball fight with some of the Argentinian navy... they played dirty!
















The penguins weren´t at all shy, and being hungry would try anything in search of food!




























A humpback whale surfacing close to the boat. We were incredibly lucky in the number of whales we saw. At one point, we witnessed a pod of Orcas trying to kill a humpback - it was amazing. They failed, but several penguins weren´t so lucky!

Tomorrow I get back on my bike. It`s going to hurt - I´m not sure ten days on board a boat is going to have done anything for my fitness! Wind-permitting, the plan is to cycle north from Ushuaia across Tierra del Fuego to Punta Arenas and then Puerto Natales. Cycling directly into the prevailing wind direction in one of the windest places on the planet... I think I´m going to get all the time I need to reflect on my Antarctic memories!