Many people have asked me what country/location was my favorite. That is a tough question as every locale is different. There are a few that stand out as being sensational. One of those is Antarctica. On December 27, 2007 my daughter and I flew to Ushuaia, Argentina, by way of Santiago, Chile. Flight time was about 14 hours with a couple of hours in the Santiago airport. Even though we were international transit passengers, we were required to go through customs/immigration and pay a $100 fee to "enter" the country! Apparently this fee was payback for fees that the USA charges Chileans to enter our country. The good news is that the fee is good for 10 years, so guess we need to return before 2017 in order to get our money's worth.
When we finally arrived in Ushuaia, and checked into our hotel for the night, it was late afternoon. Since we had but 24 hours there, we set out to investigate this quaint town at the end of the world. Signs throughout the town read, "Fin del mundo." And, it was true, there is nothing once you leave land for miles and miles. Ushuaia reminded me of the Alpine villages one sees throughout Switzerland and Austria. The houses and buildings look like chalets and the town is built on hills. It was very colorful and charming.
While in Ushuaia we were treated to a tour of Tierra del Fuego, a group of islands at the very tip of the Argentine peninsula. It was a gorgeous lush, green area with beautiful flowers as far as the eye could see. By 4:00 that afternoon we boarded our ship, the Lyubov Orlova, along with about 100 other passengers. This was going to be a phenomenal trip and we were excited. We set sail and prepared for rocky seas, but the travel gods were smiling on us and the Drake Passage was as calm as ever going in both directions. The 1st morning we saw birds: petrels, albatross and skuas flying along to keep us company. There were several lectures about Antarctica, its exploration, and what we would see once we arrived.
Because of the calm seas, we were ahead of schedule and were treated to a spectacular sight on New Year's Eve. We had our first landing in Antarctica! And it was fantastic! We jumped around and took it all in as raced up and down the hillsides taking photos of the seals and penguins as well as each other. What a great ending to 2007 and a fabulous beginning to 2008. Each day for five days we made landings in Antarctica and each was different and better than the previous one. The highlight was when we actually set foot on the Antarctic continent. There were approximately 25% of the passengers who had achieved their 7th continent on this trip and we were thrilled to be a part of that group.
It was snowing as we made landfall, but we didn't care. We had achieved a long held dream of visiting all 7 continents! This was an exciting moment for everyone. There was a peacefulness about visiting Antarctica that one does not often find in traveling. Because there are no humans who live there permanently, only birds, seals and penguins, it is a pristine environment. There is no trash or litter of any kind as everyone is admonished to not leave anything, no matter how small. We saw three different kinds of penguins: Chinstrap, Adelie and Gentoo. They are all fun to watch and waddle as they walk. But, they are all business. As I was walking along on one of our landings, a Gentoo penguin walked right up to me, looked up as if to say, "You are in my way. Please move." I stood perfectly still and took his picture. He finally got tired of waiting for me to move and went around me.
We saw several different kinds of seals at our various landing sites: Elephant, Crabeater, Leopard and Weddell. Most were sleeping and not terribly interested in the human beings around. This Weddell seal was snoozing in the sun one morning as we visited Port Lockroy, a British Museum and Post Office that is open for six months a year.
The most amazing day was our last landing before starting our return trip across the Drake Passage and returning to Argentina. The sky was crystal clear and very blue with puffy white clouds and the sun shone brightly on the glaciers. The water sparkled and was serene and calm. The temperature was balmy and it was a perfect last landing. We climbed the hills that were laden with snow, watched some of the glaciers calve and enjoyed the penguins running up and down their "penguin highway."
That same day we were treated to a great display put on by some humpback whales we encountered. Our ship's captain let the ship drift in the water for over an hour as we enjoyed watching the whales play and entertain us. It was truly a fantastic last day in Antarctica!
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