Saturday, January 16 - Maipo Valley, Chile

The Maipo Valley at Concha y Toro

Our final day on our trip had arrived. Our flight back to the US was to leave at 11:00pm, so we had a complete day ahead of us. We checked out of the hotel and had the hotel stow our luggage. We then met up with our tour guide. Along with the guide we were also provided with a separate driver. This seemed like quite a bargain for a full day personal tour, $125. So Off we went to the Maipo Valley.

our first stop was the winery of Cousino Macul. I believe this winery is within the city limits of Santiago, so it was just a short distance from our hotel. The climate in this part of Chile is very much like California. The Maipo Valley is an inland valley protected from the ocean. It is warm and dry in the summer and therefore is very similar to Napa Valley. It should be no surprise that Cabernet Sauvignon does very well here. We toured some of the facilities and then went down into an underground barrel room where we did our tasting. Yes, Cabernet Sauvignon is definitely my favorite flavor.

Another stressful day of wine tasting

Our next stop was to be lunch. We were going to a place to sample traditional food and see a traditional dance. But on our way to lunch we stopped at a roadside memorial overlooking the Maipo River. This was a memorial to the remembrance of several body guards protecting General Pinotchet who died during an assassination attempt. The assailants all escaped in boats waiting for them on the river. However, they did not get their main target, General Pinotchet the military dictator of Chile. The most striking thing about the memorial is just how unremarkable it was. Basically a set of rectangular concrete blocks representing each of the body guards that died. The concrete was whitewashed and the names of the body guards painted on each concrete block. The memorial did not look well cared for as there were over grown weeds surrounding it. Maybe that tells you something about the current mood towards Pinotchet. I don't know.

Monument to Pinochet's body guards. Wining and Dining

After lunch we headed for the 2nd winery, the well known Concha y Toro. Concha y Toro is a large production winery. We toured the grounds and some of the facilities including the old cellar where folklore has it that the devil was somehow involved in the wine. I am not so sure about the whole thing, but you look through an iron gated door and beyond the wine barrels is the lit image of a devil shined onto the far wall. No, I was not afraid, I'm pretty sure it was staged. The grounds of the winery are like a well kept park. Lawns, ponds, and arbors made the stroll very enjoyable.

Grape Arbor at Concha y Toro

Our guide and driver took us back to our hotel. We had dinner in the bar and waited until it was time for our cab to arrive. We arrived at the airport only to find out that our flight to Dallas had be delayed by a couple of hours. We would miss our connection, but it was no big deal as we were able to get another timely flight from Dallas to SFO. We departed at about 1:00am, and finally arrived at SFO at 2:00pm. We had to take BART home as Tristan was unable to pick us up at the airport. After a long flight, BART isn't all that great. It takes awhile to get to Dublin and the seats don't recline. But we after we walked through the front door of our home we new we had just been on an epic journey. We had been to Antarctica.

Friday, Jan. 15, 2010 - Santiago

Santiago

This morning it was off to the airport to catch our 11:10am flight to Santiago. We got to the airport and checked in. We had to wait for Immigration officials to arrive before we could get into our departure gate. We only had 1 night left on our trip and I have to admit that at this point I was a little tired of speaking Spanish. That was unfortunate because the Immigration Official was tired of speaking English. She got irritated with me when I did not understand her and I was hoping she would just speak some English. She sent me off to fill out some paperwork and then complained bitterly to the other Immigration Official about people not speaking Spanish. Oh well, I filled out the paperwork, handed it to her with my passport and boarding pass. I spoke a little Spanish and then I was pleasantly told I could proceed to the gate.

On the flight I sat next to a guy from LA who had just attempted to summit Mt. Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America at 22,841 feet. He was unable to make it to the summit. He was a very experienced mountaineer and sometimes you just don't get the right weather to make it to the top. As we were flying over the Andes, we saw Mt. Aconcagua immediately to the right side of the plane.

Upon arrival in Santiago we caught a cab to our hotel. Santiago it seems has very good infrastructure. Nice roads and most things seem fairly well maintained. As we were to learn, Chile has the highest per capita income in Latin America, and they know it. They seem to look down on the other Latin American countries, especially Mexico and Argentina. However, Chile only has a population of about 15 million, much less than the major South American countries.

Avenue Just Outside the Hotel This guy selling ice cream really wanted his picture taken. Pedestrian Mall

We stayed at the Hotel Plaza San Francisco, a very well appointed older hotel, that had an international clientele. This was a big hotel, but the excellent service was very personable. We first had lunch at the hotel as our room was not immediately available. When our room was available we refreshed ourselves and then ventured out onto the streets of Santiago.

World Traveler Outside the Hotel Hotel Room

We were staying in the Centro district of the city. It was Friday, later afternoon, so there were huge crowds out on the street. We went to go visit the Plaza de Armas. If you are ever in a Latin American city and want to find the central area of activity, go to the Plaza de Armas. It is the main plaza in the city, usually the main government buildings are on the plaza. To get to the Plaza de Armas, we walked through a pedestrian mall, where many retail shops and eateries are found. It is always interesting to watch the local people in this type of setting. We made it to the Plaza de Armas. It was quite warm and all the benches and seating with shade were taken. We wandered around to take some pictures. It was definitely a lively place with musicians, preachers, and soapbox speakers. There we a number of people playing checkers. We made our way back to the hotel but not before stopping for some ice cream on the pedestrian mall.

Plaza De Armas Checker Games on the Plaza Buildings Lining Plaza De Armas

We needed to figure out what we were going to do the next day as our flight was not until the late evening. The choice was really between going to Valapraiso on the coast (Santiago actually sits in an inland valley) or going out to the wine country. We chose more wine tasting. The trip to the coast was going to be a little long. Wine tasting isn't necessarily all about wine, it is about getting out of the city and spending some time in the rural areas. The wine and the people you meet, make it that much more interesting. So we booked a full day tour of the nearby Maipo Valley through the hotel.

For our evening meal we took the hotel's recommendation and had seafood. We ate at a fairly well-known restaurant called, Azul Profundo. The restaurant was in an area of the city known as Bellavista. Bellavista is known for its nightlife. Our taxi driver let us know the safest streets we should keep to. The restaurant had a nice seaside character to it and we enjoyed the food.

After we finished our dinner, we got ripped off by a taxi driver. Here is how it happened. I asked the waitress to get us a cab. She called for the cab and told us we could wait at our table until it arrived. I decided to go out front and look for the cab. There was a cab waving to us so I thought it was our cab. In hindsight this was my major mistake, as this was probably not our cab, just some cabbie looking for a fare. Anyway we got in the cab and told him to take us to the hotel. He was not very friendly and kept joking around with his friends over the 2-way radio. Anyway when we got to the hotel, he did not park in the front entrance where the doorman would have greeted us, he parked on the side of the road. The fare came to just under 10,000 Pesos. I gave him a 10,000 peso bill, he took it and then showed me that I had only given him a 1,000 peso bill. I gave him another 10,000 peso bill which is equivalent to about $20 US. As soon as we got out of the car, I knew he had pulled a fast one. He had run our fare up to just under 10,000 pesos, the fare should have been about 4,000-5,000. He then knew I would give him a 10,000 peso bill. I gave him the bill and he quickly exchanged it for a 1,000 peso bill and told me I gave him the wrong bill.

Frankly, I had let my guard down. I had become too comfortable, Santiago is supposed to be a safe city with a healthy respect for the law. I had been told that police corruption was not a worry. However, the same could be said for many cities in the US, and you know that there are still people who will take advantage of you. I should have waited for the taxi that had been called by the restaurant. Then someone else knows which taxi you are riding. That keeps the driver honest. The driver also knew we were staying at a nice hotel (he knew we had money), we did not know the language, and we were not familiar with the currency. The vast majority of taxi drivers we have met, are extremely helpful, honest, and friendly. They are generally a great resource. As a traveler it is your responsibility to take proper precautions, I did not do that. I learned my lesson.

Thursday, Jan. 14, 2010 - Mendoza Wine Country

Mendoza Wine Country, Bodega Cantena Zapata

You know, Wine tasting is a great social activity. It's not so much that you are tasting wine, but that you get to spend much of the day exploring the countryside. Mendoza is synonymous with good Malbec wines. And today we were off to the Mendoza countryside at the foot of the Andes Mountains.

I had read an article on the San Francisco Chronicle's website about touring the wine country around Mendoza. In the article the author had hired a guide to show him around. The author also put his email address in the article. So I contacted him, Fernando was his name. For about $75 dollars, we could have a personal guide/driver for the day. It seemed like a great deal so I made arrangements with him.

Fernando had met us in the hotel lobby the day before. We talked about the itinerary he had planned and agreed to the start time. So we left at around 9:00am, it took a good hour to get to the first winery. Interestingly enough there was a rally race in progress and it was coming right through Mendoza and on up through the Andes. The rally is the well-known Dakar Rally. The race for many years, beginning in 1979, began in Paris, went down through the Sahara Dessert in Africa and ended in Dakar, Senegal (Africa). Because of terrorist threats the race was moved to South America in 2009. It goes from Buenos Aires, over the Andes, to Chile. This is primarially an off-road endurance race. We saw many of the cars/trucks/motorcycles (there are many classifications in the race) participating in the rally. It gave us something interesting to talk about.

A rally car

We arrived at the first winery at around 10:30am and the English speaking tour had just started. The first winery was Bodega Cantena Zapata. It is a large winery with an international presence. Several of their wines are readily available in US grocery stores. If you go wine tasting in Argentina, I hope you like their Malbec wines, because that is the main attraction. I think the Argentinean Malbecs are a great food wine. They go well with the charcoal cooked steaks that they serve in Argentina. I would say they are similar to California Zinfandels. They also go well with barbecue hamburgers and Mexican burritos. We did some tasting and bought a few bottles to take home.

Cantena Zapata Barrel Room Tasting at Cantena Zapata

The next winery was Achaval Ferrer, a very small but renown winery. Becky and I were the only ones on the premise at the time so we had a private tour. I bought 3 bottles of wine. I thought they were very good. In fact one of the labels that I bought turned up in Costco recently, so I bought some more. It was so good, a blend, Malbec That label was a mix of Malbec, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc.

Vineyards and landscape at Achaval Ferrer

Final stop out in the wine country was lunch at a place called LaGuarda. We ate in an outdoor courtyard. It was a very warm day, I believe it was around 95 degrees. But it was dry and we were very glad to be out in this rural area.

Becky and our waitress at LaGuarda for Lunch The opposite side of the courtyard at LaGuarda

We made our way back to Mendoza and made a final stop at a wine bar to sample some more wines from various wineries of the area. We bought a few more bottles and headed back to the hotel, which was only a block away. We made arrangements to have our bottles shipped to the US. A Mendoza company specializes in shipping wine outside Argentina. They make sure the proper fees and taxes are paid to get the wine through customs. We met with the company representative in the hotel lobby with wine and cash in hand. Away our wine went, hopefully we would see it again. After that we looked for a place to eat dinner. We settled on one of the hotel restaurants. It was a nice quiet dinner and then we headed off to bed. Tomorrow would be Santiago.

Wenesday, Jan. 13, 2010 - Mendoza

Our flight departed from the domestic airport in Buenos Aires at 8:00am. It's a 2 hour flight to Mendoza, our last stop in Argentina. That would allow us to spend practically a full day in Mendoza upon arrival. The following day we would go out on a full day wine tour. We arranged a taxi from the taxi desk at arrivals and went to our hotel.

When we arrived at the hotel it was much too early to check in. We left our luggage at the Bell Desk and then proceeded to lunch. I had become somewhat used to initially speaking Spanish to anyone we came across. So I asked the hostess, "Tiene una mesa para dos personas, por favor?". The hostess seem to get a little excited and told me I spoke very good Spanish. But she said it in English. How good could it have been if you feel compelled to answer in English? To be fair to myself, the hotel catered to an International customer that typically spoke English. It was a Hyatt Hotel, and although the room was very comfortable, interaction with the staff was usually reserved. It's not our preferred way to travel. We like it when the staff gives you a personal and biased opinion of things, it makes your short time in their native city more enjoyable.

Hotel Room

After lunch we went out to explore the town. The city has a large grassy square in which to wander. It was right across from our hotel. There were a number of street vendors on the other side of the square so we wandered over there. After that we took off for the Mercado several blocks down. It was a bustling area in and around the Mercado. In the Mercado they sold fresh meat and vegetables. There were several large eateries as well.

The usual hanging carcasses Cow Parts

We continued to walk around the downtown area. What was striking was the number of storefronts selling cheap goods. There were lots of low end stores selling electronics, kitchen appliances/gadgets, and clothing. It gave me the impression that the town was not as well-off as the areas in Buenos Aires we had visited. It was around 2:00pm and most of the businesses were shutting down for siesta.

We stopped in at an open air bar for a snack and coffee since the town was shutting down. While we were seated, we caught a glimpse of our Canadian friends which we met in Antarctica and flagged them down. They had just come back from Para-gliding. That is where you go up to the mountains and launch yourself off of a mountain slope with an open parachute. They showed us the video later at dinner, it looked like quite an adventure. While on the ship in Antarctica we had made arrangements to have dinner in Mendoza. They had made dinner reservations for that evening so we could all get together.

Open Air Cafe

We went back to the hotel. Given that 6:00pm dinners are not possible in Argentina we still needed to wait awhile until dinner. Frankly we were a little bored. I think we just sat outside in a patio area overlooking the town square. It was a very warm early evening, probably over 90 degrees.

We had dinner at an Italian restaurant, where we were seated outdoors. There were 8 or 9 of us. We had a nice evening meal and then we took an evening walk around the square and said our farewells to the Canadians, aye. We really enjoyed those guys. It reminds me of a song by LCD Sound System, called North American Scum. It is a song about North Americans not being as cool as other peoples of the world, but there is this one line, "but don't blame the Canadians!". You can get it on the iTunes monopoly, it's basically Techno.

Bruchetta Canadian ring-leader Nhung

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 - Buenos Aires

For today we did not really have a plan for our final full day in Buenos Aires. We decided we would head out to a bookstore, then walk over to the Recoleta neighborhood. In Recoleta we would have lunch, visit the grave-site of Evita and maybe take in one or two of the museums. Afterward, we would walk back to Palermo, which was where our hotel was located, and maybe do some shopping.

We had a somewhat leisurely morning and we headed to the subway station. This would take us near the bookstore we wanted to visit. We were told by a couple on the Antarctica ship that it was worthwhile and the hotel also recommended it. The bookstore is actually a wonderful old theater. The main book sections are on the main floor and there are other sections on the balcony floors. I bought a couple of Spanish/English language books and we proceeded to our next stop, Recoleta.

Inside the Bookstore

Recoleta is the nicest neighborhood in Buenos Aires. It is inviting and better maintained than the rest of the city. We wanted to get to the cemetery where Evita is buried. The cemetery is a tourist attraction in and of itself because of the history and the elaborate mausoleums. First we stopped for lunch. As an American it becomes clear that fast food could not have started in Argentina or many European countries. By this time you would have thought we would have learned not to stop at a restaurant with table service if we were short on time. But no, we did it anyway and killed a little over an hour.

Street in Recoleta

We made our way to the cemetery, it took us a little bit of time to find as the entrance was not obvious. The mausoleums were indeed elaborate. We did find Evita's grave site but we did not have a guide. On the way to the cemetery we had run into some of the passengers on the Antarctica ship. They had planned their cemetery visit and had just taken a tour with an English speaking guide. This is reason I like to plan our sight-seeing, it makes more efficient use of your time and you get more out of the sight.

Evita's Mausoleum Plaque on Evita's Mausoleum

Because we were running short on time at this point, we decided to head over to the Evita museum and skip some of the other interesting museums nearby. We really did not know what made Evita such an interesting character and given her importance to Argentina (and Madonna) we thought we should find out. After walking a fair distance we found Evita's museum. Eva Duarte had been popular on radio and then she also made several movies. She married Juan Peron who became president. She became very active supporting worker's rights. Through her foundation several schools and hospitals were established for the working class. The Peron's were populists and Eva's stylist manner and dress made her a cult of personality. The people of Argentina called her by a name of affection, Evita. Evita's career was cut short by cancer. Evita's body was not laid to rest in its current location until 1974, she died in 1952. The military had hidden the corpse and forbid public discussion concerning the Peron's. Juan Peron had been in exiled and Evita's corpse was returned to Argentina shortly after Juan Peron returned from exile and became president again.

inside the cemetery Outside wall of the cemetery, high rises in the background

Next we hoofed it to Palermo. Our hotel was in Palermo and we really had not explored much of it. Palermo is supposed to be known for its cutting edge fashion and nightlife. It is interesting and hard to describe. Try to imagine you are in a city's warehouse district and in the midst of the gritty surroundings is a shoe store. The shoe store is nicely lit with creative branding and large picture windows of fashionable displays. It is a small shop and there are several customers inside. You go to open the door to enter but it is locked. The staff has to buzz you in. Weird. In Palermo we also saw vibrant bars on the street corners with lots of outdoor seating completely filled. It seems like there is a lot of work to be done in the area, but where the work has been done it is first rate.

We made our way back to the hotel and then out for dinner. We ate at a Parrilla recommended by the hotel. It was probably about 10:00pm on a Tuesday night and the place was packed. I had a steak tenderloin, cooked over a charcoal barbecue of course. It was delicious. They also had a Malbec label called Rutini. I had had this elsewhere and found it was such a great compliment to the meat that I had another.

Monday, Jan. 11, 2010 - Uruguay

Today was Uruguay day. We had to get to the port early to catch our 8:30am ferry. Since this was a border crossing we had to get to the ferry terminal by about 7:30am. We were going to Colonia del Sacramento, an old Spanish colonial town. Colonia del Sacramento is a straight shot across the river (Ria de la Plata) from Buenos Aires to Uruguay. The river is very wide at this point just before it empties into the Atlantic Ocean. We were going over on one of the fast ferries. It would take us 1 hour to get across the river. The ferry was very nice with large comfortable lounge chairs and a complimentary cup of coffee. Uruaguay is 1 hour ahead of Argentina, because Argentina does not observe Daylight Savings time and Uruguay does. I'm with Argentina, why do we change our clocks? It is so unnecessary.

So we arrived in Colonia del Sacramento at 10:30am local time. It was very quiet the morning and the weather was just perfect, probably about 80 degrees. The main attraction of Colonia del Sacramento is the old town. In the old town there are the old colonial buildings, the waterfront, and a few attractive plazas. We walked from the dock to the old town and went to find something to eat. We had a nice breakfast at a table outside under a large tree. After breakfast we looked for one of the museums to visit. We had a hard time finding it and ended up on at the water. We watched some guys fishing off of the point. We continued on until we arrived at the marina and took in the view from there.

One of the most frustrating things about this daytrip was currency. The breakfast place took Argentina Pesos, but for the most part you needed Uruguay currency. We only found one ATM and my card would not work. After calling Eric to get a Credit Union phone number (the number on the card was an 800 number and that only works within the US) we were able to verify that everything was fine but the ATM service we had attempted to use most likely did not support the right network. We headed back to the museum where there was an admission fee stated in $US. When we went in they said they would not take any $US. We left and found some tourist police, with a little bit of Spanglish we were directed to another ATM machine. At the machine we finally declared victory and we were blessed with the local currency. However, the denominations were too large, so nobody would want them. That's OK you can go into the bank and for a fee you are given change. That's right, you use the bank's ATM to get bills that are of no use and then get change from the bank for a fee. It didn't matter, we had money and we were going to use it.

Now that we were able to do a few things, we headed over to the museums. There were several very small museums in the old town. A couple were about the history of the town, where both the Spanish and Portuguese rivaled for control. There was a home furnished as it might have been seen in the 1700's. Then there was the lighthouse where you could take in the view.

We walked to the newer part of town, had an early dinner and made our way back to the ferry terminal to check in with immigration.

We boarded the ferry, but this time we were on the slow boat. It was going to take us almost 3 hours to get to Buenos Aires. This was a larger ship with a large duty free store, and was it packed with bargain hunters. Then they had some entertainment, a sharply dressed singer that everyone seemed to enjoy. Then as I walked through one of the passenger seating areas I spotted a guy with an A's hat and a UC Davis shirt. I chatted with him as he was indeed from the Bay Area. He was living with a local family in Argentina while teaching English. He needed to make the trip to Uruguay on a regular basis so that he could renew his Argentina visa.

Finally we arrived at the dock in Buenos Aires and took a cab back to the hotel.

Sunday, Jan. 10, 2010 - Back to Buenos Aires

We docked early in the morning and disembarked at around 8:00am. Ushuaia is a small town, but after having spent the last 9 days on the ship it seemed like a metropolis. We got to the airport. The airport in Ushuaia is small but very nice. It appears to be fairly new and has a mountain lodge theme. It is made of large timbers with the beams exposed beneath the roof line. We took off on our flight to Buenos Aires at around 12:30pm. They were running late as the plane was having equipment problems.

We landed at the Buenos Aires domestic airport at about 6:00pm. The air felt so warm and comfortable. I had planned this trip so that we would spend the next week in warm weather. We had considered visiting some of the southern resort towns next to the Andes. There you can see the cool mountains and some glaciers. I think we had done enough of that already. It was time for some warm weather.

We took a cab to our hotel in the Palermo Hollywood section of Buenos Aires. This is supposed to be the hip and stylish area of town. I would call it eclectic. Most of the buildings are 3-5 stories tall and could use a good coat of paint. The sidewalks and roads were in need of repair. Then there would be these fashionable restaurants and retail stores set between these drab looking buildings. I would say that is the essence of Argentina, trying to live the good life in the midst of a gritty backdrop. Mind you, we never felt unsafe and the sidewalk bars and restaurants were quite lively.

We arrived at our small boutique hotel. It was comfortable and the staff was incredibly helpful. They helped us plan a day-trip to Uruguay for the next day. They also tried to help us get a piece of luggage shipped directly to our home. We no longer needed parkas and fleece and wanted to unload the big suitcase. It turns out that you cannot ship a suitcase like that to the US. If they allowed that then, people would load up suitcases with new clothes bought abroad avoiding the duty payment. We went to an early dinner, 9:00pm, so we could get to bed relatively early. We ate at a nice Italian place seated outside on the sidewalk. The place was empty when we were eating, but when we left at about 10:30pm it was filling up rapidly.

We went back to the hotel. Darkness had fallen. It was the first time we had been out at dark for well over a week.

Our Hotel Room at Hotel Home, Buenos Aires

Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010 - Drake Passage

When we awoke the sea was much calmer. It was a quiet day and most of the passengers were feeling better again. Most of the passenger's were ready to get off the ship. I had never been on a boat for this length of time and I was ready to get back to the dry land accomodations. 4 days at sea to get 5 days around Antarctica. It certainly isn't an easy place to get to. Especially considering that at the end of the voyage you are still at the very Southern tip of South America.

The day was filled with a few presentations by the guides. We had to settle our accounts and then we had the farewell dinner. It was really the last chance we had to talk with our new found friends. The next morning we would all be disembarking and proceeding with the next leg of our journeys.

Friday, Jan. 8, 2010 - Drake Passage

We awoke for breakfast in rough seas, which is apparently typical for the Drake Passage. The weather was estimated be 35 knot winds with 12-15 foot waves. It was also snowing. Certainly not hurricane force, but the roughest waters I had ever experienced. I estimate about 30% of the passengers made it to breakfast. The rest were not feeling well and remained in their beds.

I think it is safe to say that everyone on the boat had some effects of seasickness. The effects are sleepiness, nausea, and vomiting. Everyone experienced sleepiness and many experienced nausea and vomiting. The ship seemed empty, on the upper deck lounge there were only 4 or 5 people around. A presentation might bring out a total of 10. I was one of a handful of passengers that was out and about the ship for the full day. Becky did throw up once, but she had not taken any medicine. I gave her some medicine and she slept. She soon felt better, but except for lunch and dinner, she slept most of the day.

I listened to a couple of presentations, listened to my music, and talked to the few that were up and about. I am not sure why I did not get very ill. I took my sea sickness medicine, but not very much because the first time I took it at the beginning of the trip it wiped me out. The prescription called for a dose every 8 hours. I used less than 2 doses for the whole episode. I was seated where I could usually view the horizon if needed. That seemed to help a lot. After awhile I definitely had my sea legs. In the evening I watched the on board movie without a horizon in sight and had a glass a wine.

Interestingly, the ship staff is well prepared for seasickness. The doctor enters every cabin with his own key to find out how people are doing. He distributes medicine and saltine crackers for those in need. Barf bags are in a pocket facing the hallway of every cabin door. That came in handy when another passenger started to vomit, I was able to get him a bag in quick order. The staff is very efficient about cleaning up the mess as well. I was startled about the number of passengers that had severe seasickness and could not even get out of bed. Several members of the staff were ill as well.

And so it was. At lunch there was probably 50% attendence and by dinner 75%.

The rough seas continued well into the evening, at one point it seemed like we were experiencing the worst. The ship was really rocking. You could feel the ship hit a wave and slow down and then lurch forward. The ship would make a creaking sound as it strained forward. It took me awhile to get to sleep.

Thursday, Jan. 7, 2010 - Useful Island and Melchior Islands

We were awaken at 5:30am for a 6:00 visit to Useful island. An unprotected island in the middle of the Gerlache Straight. We hiked up the snow and rocks to reach a short summit. It was a 360 degree view of many of the places we had visited. It was getting windy and cold. Useful Island was our last landing for the trip.

View from Useful Island Me at Useful Island

After Useful Island the ship headed for our last destination on the Antarctica Pennisula, the Melchior Islands. The main attraction here are the whales.

Amazing Penguin Photo Taken by Fellow Passenger Ralph Faudrees. Although I tried, I could never get this shot.

After lunch we had a zodiac cruise in search of whales. There were several humpbacks in this large area protected by the surrounding islands. They were surfacing everywhere. It looked like a great trout lake at feeding time, just on a much grander scale. At one point we were looking for a whale to observe. We would see a whale or two and then head for that area to see how close we could get to it. So while waiting to find a whale surface, two whales popped up right next to our boat, not more than 3 feet away! We could see all of the whale through the water. We were all very nervous, as it did not appear that these large animals would have any problem capsizing our boat. Afterward the guide said he needed to get back to the ship to change his underwear.

Whales!

After the zodiac cruise we set sail for the Drake Passage to eventually get back to Ushuaia. As we proceeded we watched Antarctica fade away. We were told that it could be rough the next day. So I took about 1/3 of a seasickness pill, since when I took a full dose at the beginning of the cruise it wiped me out.

After dinner the sea started to get pretty rough. We went to bed. It was difficult to sleep. I was constantly being jostled awake. It seemed that periodically the boat would get banged and it would shake. The lurch was enough to give me a shove, pushing me to the other side of the bed as well awakening me.

Saying Goodbye to Antarctica

Wednesday, Jan. 6 - Vernadsky Station/Petermann Island

Camping ended early. We were awaken at 5:45am to begin packing up. We didn't get that much sleep. I thought the morning would be cold, the snow was crunchy outside but it was prett easy getting out of the bag. Sometimes when you are camping you dread those early mornings. The sun had been up for almost 4 hours, so maybe that had something to do with it. We got back to the ship and I showered before the wake-up call at 7:00am.

There are few things I should mention about the camping event. First of all it cost us $390. Now look, it is definitely a novelty to camp in Antarctica. There were many restrictions. We could not bring anything to eat or drink, except for water. There are no campfires allowed. I had read that where one company sends the bartender out to serve hot drinks. Not on this one. The duration of the event is pretty short. And then after the event you have to help dry out the tents and put everything away. If I knew all of this beforehand would I have done it? Yes, for the novelty, but it does seem like a bit of a rip-off.

The first outing of the morning was to Vernadsky Station, a Ukrainian station that they bought from the British for 1 pound. The British wanted to unload the thing instead of having to maintain or dismantle it. This is where the ozone hole was first discovered by the British. The Ukrainians are now continuing that search. We toured the facility. We saw the working quarters and some of the instruments used to measure the atmosphere. They also have a nice bar with a pool table. You can buy a shot of vodka there. Instead we bought a plaque and mailed a postcard from the station to ourselves. We had to buy a Ukrainian stamp for postage. On Monday, Feb. 22 we received the postcard. Not too bad, almost 7 weeks.

After visiting Vernadsky, there was a zodiac cruise. A few of us decided to skip the cruise and head straight back to the ship.

Weather Vane at Vernadsky Camping Takes Its Toll

It was a rather sunny day. So for lunch we had an outdoor BBQ on the deck. BBQ beef and sausages were on the menu. There was beer and an assortment of other goodies. It was a nice gathering.

BBQ on the Deck, Al Fresco

The next stop was Peterman Island. This was the warmest day on the trip. It was nice and sunny, The attire was minimal, long underwear, a shirt, and a fleece layer (until the sun went away). We walked up to a vantage point before heading down a small pennisula. At the vantage point we could see several humpbacks in the channel. As we headed down the pennisula you viewed a range of dramatic mountains on one side and then turning 180 degrees you had a view out to open water filled with icebergs.

View from Petermann Island Hiking on Petermann Island Gentoo Penguins. They don't fly, it's just how they walk.

Prior to dinner, the "Polar Plunge" event was held. Yep, people jumped into the water. I didn't do it. I could not bear the thought of being that cold. The water is around 36-38 degrees. You get a shot of vodka when you get out.

Someone is about to get cold.

During dinner the ship was repositioned around the Iceberg graveyard ( or Iceberg Alley as some call it). In the evening we took a zodiac cruise around Iceberg Alley looking for whales and other wildlife. We saw some leopard seals and we made several whale spottings. We got very close to one of the Humpbacks and I was able to get a close up photo of the tail.

Whales. Up Close. One of Antarctica's predators, the Leopard Seal An Iceberg Up Close This is what you do on a zodiac, take pictures.