As I boarded the Princess cruise ship in Argentina, my anticipation grew for the journey ahead. I had spent two whirlwind days in Buenos Aries, eating culinary delights and tapping my foot to a tango show, but my thoughts were on our ultimate destination, Antarctica.
Our first stop was Punta Arenas, Chile. This town is a city near the tip of Chile’s southernmost Patagonia region. After a brief city tour we set sail through the Strait of Magellan, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.
Next stop was Ushuaia, Argentina, which is nicknamed the “End of the World.” The windy city is the gateway to Antarctica cruises. We boarded a bus outside the city, to travel to Tierra del Fuego National Park with its vibrant landscape of Beech forests, lakes, glaciers, tundra and jagged mountains.
As we continued heading south, the captain warned us that we would be traveling through the Drake Passage, which is considered the most treacherous voyages for ships to navigate. Waves can top 40 feet at times so I was ready to “rock and roll” over the 600 miles of sea. Luckily, the seas were calm and did not display any anger throughout the day and night.
As I parted the drapes in the cabin on day 1 of our 4-day Antarctica journey I was speechless and in awe of what I observed. Everywhere I looked were snowcapped mountains, miles of icy snow and icebergs the size of buildings.
We had five naturalists on board who shared information about humpback whales, porpoises, penguins, and birds soaring through the sky. As I stepped out on the balcony I was overwhelmed by the silence of the land.
I have traveled to the fjords of Norway and Glacier Bay in Alaska and neither of these adventures prepared me for the majestic mountains before me. They were rugged and towering above the ice and sea below.
One of the naturalists informed us about Ernest Shackleton, who aboard an British expedition to the South Pole in 1914, spent 497 days trapped on the ice before being rescued. All 28 crew members survived. It was such a fascinating story that was hard to believe.
After experiencing the cold and wind through the straits, bays and harbors that our ship traveled to, I could not imagine spending one night on this frigid continent with only a tent for a shelter.
When I embarked on this journey I wanted to see the penguins. Not just one or two at the zoo, but thousands. This trip did not disappoint. You could hear and smell the intriguing birds before you saw them. They were on the steep mountains and even floating on some of the flat icebergs. I saw Chipstrap, Adelie, Gentoo and, the largest of them all the regal Emperor.
As we sailed north again across the calm Drake Passage, I was treated to an up close and personal view of penguins on the Falkland Islands. What interesting and loveable birds they are.
As I stood about 5 feet away from a rookery of Gentoo penguins I marveled at how unafraid they are of human interaction. They were beginning their molting period and it was fascinating to watch.
The final stop of this adventure of a lifetime, was back in Buenos Aries for a Gaucho show on a traditional Argentinian ranch. I enjoyed a folklore show with ropes and tricks and even got to ride a horse!
This trip of 18 days was truly an educational exploration of a silent, foreboding continent that many people will never witness. As I packed away my Huntington Beach Living copy that had traveled over 20,000 miles by air and sea I felt that my travels were almost complete, with one final continent left to visit.