Another World (part 1)

“Antarctica is a separate world.” Mark Jones, Wild Ice: Antarctic Journeys, 1990

Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, the Strait of Magellan, Cape Horn, the Andes, the Drake Passage... All these places scream adventure.

In a world where it only takes a few hours to reach any point of the planet by plane, one place still remains off the beaten track, out of the reach of many, the last untouched wilderness experience left on the planet... It is a place that humans are still able to explore following the steps of Frances Drake, James Cook, Roald Amundsen, Ernest Shackleton and many other adventurers. Antarctica, the southernmost, highest, driest, coldest, windiest and brightest of the seven continents, remains unique. 

There are actually less people who have set foot on some places on the Ice Continent than those who have been to space... 

From the beginning of the trip the expedition team had been reiterating that it was impossible to describe what we would see on this almost uninhabited ice-covered land mass approximately twice the size of Australia. We would simply have to wait to be there and see for ourselves. It was frustrating for sure but was the absolute truth. Unless one has been to Antarctita, he or she cannot really understand what the whole fuss is all about! No, we didn't really know what to expect but what we saw not only exceeded any expectations we may have had but was so overwhelming it took us several months to process... 

The getaway to Antarctica

The cruise ships to Antarctica depart either from Punta Arenas in Chile or, for most of them, from Ushuaia in Argentina. There are also few cruises departing from New Zealand, Australia or South Africa.

Depending on where you come from, it can take several hours and even days to get to either of these getaways to Antarctica - it will feel like you have already travelled for quite a while just to get to the starting point of your Antarctica expedition. 

In our case it took us “only” four flights over three continents to reach Ushuaia in mid-March, getting closer with each flight to mythical Antarctica, our 10-year-old dream, the end of the world and a separate new world we were eager to discover…

Flying above the Strait of Magellan and the snow-capped Patagonian Andes already felt like a dream come true…

Ushuaia is known as ‘el fin del mundo’ or ‘the end of the world’ for a reason. 

It is the southernmost city in the world and it definitely feels that way! Beyond it there is only silence…

A ship to the 7th continent

The departure day had finally arrived and our excitement was mounting with every minute! The sight of our ship made things feel more real and within our reach.

It was such a beautiful ship with its gorgeous cabins, library with an imposing staircase, restaurants, gym, bar, jacuzzi, lecture theatre, observation lounge and six decks. 

We were going to spend the next 23 days in our pod of 92 fellow expeditioners from 10 different nationalities and 105 people part of the expedition team and ship crew from all over the world. 

When choosing your ship to Antarctica, you do not want it to be too small as it will be too ‘shaky’, nor too big as it will not be able to land at many places in Antarctica (or for ships carrying over 500 expeditioners, not at all)! 

We were told we were not on a cruise but part of an expedition. We were learning tons of things from the lectures by the scientists who were part of the expedition team on a variety of subjects such as geology (did you know that dinosaurs used to roam across the surface of the continent in a distant past when it was still part of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana?), wildlife (birds, whales and fish), history (we learnt that Shackleton never made history with his discoveries but definitely with his courage and survival feats), photography (who knew all these amazing things you could do with a tiny smartphone, in particular how to take pictures with your nose in order not to remove your precious gloves!), free diving, ecology, life at an Antarctic station and even the scientific research of mummified seals! We were told that we could actually help the scientists with their research in Antarctica - a picture of a whale fin or fluke could be a treasure for them and allow them to identify and track a specific whale! Also, the ship was going places off the beaten track depending on weather conditions so it felt like we were exploring unknown lands!

Off we go! To our portside the snow-capped peaks of Argentina, Chile on our starboard and the beautiful sunset over the Beagle Channel!