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