Ice and Penguins

Time for the most expensive part of this trip. I usually prefer going by myself to save money and to not be restricted to a schedule, but some parts of the world are simply too complicated to visit by yourself. Antarctica is one of them. And if I’m going to such a remote place I might as well do it properly. A three week expedition/cruise from Montevideo, Uruguay, to Ushuaia, Argentina, with stops in Falkland Islands, South Georgia, and Antarctica.

Uruguay is pretty far north, making it a bit of an odd starting point for going to Antarctica, but this is the first cruise in the season so it makes sense for the company to stop by on the way from the arctic season. It also made perfect sense for me as it allows me to do the entire southern part of Argentina and Chile one-way, south to north. That’s probably a few thousand kilometres of bus rides saved compared to a return trip.

We started out with calm seas and most of the time pretty good weather. The first few days were a good mix of watching birds, the occasional whale, sitting in the sun, attending some lectures about the areas we’re visiting, and eating way too much food. The food turned out to be top notch with buffet breakfast and lunch, afternoon tea, and four course dinner every day, and almost no repetition on the food for three weeks. I don’t want to know how many kilos I gained…

After a few days on sea we arrived in the Falkland Islands where we started out with two landings on shore with perfect weather. Both of the landings included a short walk and a lot of wildlife, mainly albatrosses and penguins, and one of the stops even included tea and cookies (and not just one or two, we’re talking about something like 50 different kinds of cookies) provided by the owner of that island. Nice and easy first excursions.

Next day the weather turned against us, making for a pretty wet and windy walk. Even the penguins stayed in their burrows to avoid the weather. This was also the day we visited Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands, meaning that, except general sightseeing and exploration of the town were some possibilities for indoor activities to avoid the weather such as trying the local pubs. I did try out two of the beers from the local microbrewery, so I’ve now had beer from the most remote brewery in the world (according to themselves at least)!

Time for a few more sea days as we made or way towards South Georgia. The seas got a bit rougher bit it was still pretty calm for the area. There is pretty much no land at all in-between Falkland Islands and South Georgia but there is one exception, Shag Rock. Shag Rock is pretty much a set of rocks just sticking out of the water in the middle of nowhere and their completely covered by seabirds. We did a quick circumnavigation and even got a bit of blue sky!

Eventually we reached South Georgia, a place that receives even fewer tourists then Antarctica, an abundance of wildlife, and plenty gorgeous views. It wasn’t really a matter of searching for penguins but rather trying to find a way to walk without getting too close to them. And the same goes even more so for the seals. They can pack a pretty nasty bite.

South Georgia has a lot of history in whaling and we visited two old whaling stations, Stromness and Grytviken. Stromness is completely deserted and we weren’t allowed to get too close due to risk of falling debris and asbestos but we could see it from a distance, as well as walk up to the Shackleton Waterfall, famous due to the explorer with the same name.

Grytviken on the other hand is not only cleared up, but also inhabited (by scientists only though, no permanent residents). We got a guided tour of the station and could have a look at the museum, and they even have a church, a library (in the church), and a post office.

After four days in South Georgia it was time to get to Antarctica, with the first stop being South Orkney. This stop was apparently planned as a potential stop, but due to the early season not put on the official itinerary and it was mainly luck that we could actually go. We had a completely open bay to anchor in, but only a few days earlier it was completely filled with ice. This was also our only chance to visit an Antarctican research station, the Argentinian base Orcadas, and they were really happy to receive us as the first people they’ve seen in more than half a year.

This is also when we started getting more and more icebergs of all sizes floating around, and apart from touring the base we also did a small cruise around the area watching the blue ice and even more penguins.

After some more time at sea we finally reached mainland Antarctica where we did several stops, both on the peninsula and the surrounding islands. The weather varied a lot, and quickly, but the temperature was fairly steady at a couple of negative degrees celsius. The winds were icy cold though and took it down to close to minus 20 at times. Not the temperature I would prefer back home, but being in Antarctica it’s kind of okay considering what you get in return. Even more penguins (a total of six different species on the trip), seals, and, probably the best part, the most amazing icy landscapes. These kind of things just have to be seen.

The second last planned stop was a slightly different and pretty important one; Deception Island. This island is an active volcano, and more importantly the place for the traditional polar plunge. It was cold, just over zero degrees celsius in the water, but I’ve been swimming in Antarctica. It was quick but it was a swim!

After the swim we got an extra announcement. The last stop was cancelled due to a hurricane warning and we needed the extra time to rush across the infamous Drake Passage to make it into calmer waters before the worst parts. This is after all one of the roughest (the roughest?) seas in the world and even though we got through before the hurricane hit we had food and glasses of wine flying all over the dining room one of the dinners. No seasickness for me, but it was definitely enough of an experience of the Drake. Any more and everybody would’ve just been confined to their cabins anyway.

After a total of 20 days at sea we got into Ushuaia in southern Argentina. The Antarctica adventure is now over and it’s time to start exploring Patagonia instead. But Antarctica is definitely a place worth visiting at least once and I could see myself going back at some point. The landscapes, untamed unforgiving nature, and last but not least (though smallest) all the penguins!