Fin del Mundo

We are about to start our journey to the end of the world. I know you'll be sat reading this, nudging the person next to you saying "aye up, he's lost the plot this time", but no, I'm not about to join the Flat Earth Society, nor will I be knocking on your door asking you to repent as the end of the world is nigh! We are flying from London to Ushuaia which is on the southernmost tip of South America, the self styled most southerly city in the world and 'Fin del Mundo'. From here we will board our ship, the Magellan Explorer which will take us to the South Shetland Islands and Antarctica

I'll be travelling with Meg, my youngest daughter, who has set herself the target of visiting all 7 continents before she is 25. Antarctica is continent number 6 with just Africa to go. As I get older I am becoming less tolerant of the cold winter months and find myself craving sunshine and warmth, I'm not a sun worshipper but I just find that drinking beer in the sun makes me feel happy. So I often ask myself how I got drawn into a trip to the frozen Antarctic autumn, just as Spring is slowly emerging from the grip of winter in the UK. I suspect that the euphoria of my pending retirement combined with alcohol was involved when I signed on the dotted line. But when I reflect on why Meg would want me there, I've come to the conclusion that she just needs some quality material for her TikTok travel videos. What better than a grumpy dad with low tolerance thresholds, the patience of a gnat and no linguistic skills who is travelling through Germany to a Spanish speaking country. Think Victor Meldrew combined with Basil Fawlty and you get the general idea. I can see her thinking this is going to be TikTok gold dust. 

Did you know: that Antarctica is the 5th largest continent behind Asia, Africa, North America, South America and bigger than Europe and Australia. In fact its land mass is almost twice the size of Australia.

We've received a lot of information to help us prepare for our 10 days on board the Magellan Explorer. There is a full programme of activity planned with two shore excursions of between 1-3 hours every day. Zodiac boats are used for the shore landings or just to cruise around sites of interest and to see wildlife. There are evening lectures and briefings providing information on planned landing sites and itineraries for the following day, this is of course all dependent on the weather, sea and ice conditions. We are woken every morning by the expedition leader over the ship tannoy system (very Hi-De-Hi campers!), so that everyone is ready post breakfast for pre landing briefing and recaps. If all this sounds too much the facilities on board include a library, gym (I'll be giving that a miss) a sauna (sounds good) and most importantly they have a well stocked bar, although they do advise that you 'remain in full control of your physical faculties at all times' - a great turn of phrase.  

We also received a pack called an Introduction to Antarctica, this covers everything that you might want to know about the history, geography, wildlife and protection of the environment, so I thought I'd better have a look through. The opening paragraph reads: 

"Antarctica is the most inaccessible of the seven continents, it is also the coldest, driest, windiest and the most inhospitable place on Earth for humankind. The geographical isolation of the frozen continent is exacerbated by the characteristics of the surrounding sea, the Southern Ocean, one of the coldest, deepest and stormiest oceans in the world"

Well I can tell you, that cheered me up no end, not only have we got to take three flights, Heathrow via Frankfurt to Buenos Aires before arriving in Ushuaia 28 hours later, we then have the joy of being tossed around for 48 hours, like a rubber duck when you fill the bath, passing through Drakes Passage before reaching Antarctica. It didn't help when I saw that Meg had bought two packets of travel sickness pills, I didn't bother asking why! 

So my attention turned to the recommended packing list. I have put on a bit of weight on recently, but unlike the Antarctic marine animals I wouldn't go as far as to say that I have a protective layer of blubber to keep me warm. So I have invested heavily in my inner, middle and outer layers, my thermal socks, hats and gloves, plus the appropriate UV protection from sunglasses and sun cream. I wouldn't describe it as a shopping frenzy, more 'thorough' to make sure I am well prepared for anything the unpredictable Antarctic weather can throw at me. I'll miss the team at Go Outdoors, they've become good friends and it feels like our Amazon delivery driver is now part of the family. 

Did you know: that the ice sheet covering Antarctica has an average thickness of 2000m, but depths of 4700m have been recorded. It is the largest body of freshwater on Earth and accounts for 90% of all the ice on the planet.

It's hard to believe now with all our technology but there was a time when a southern land mass was presumed to exist, but no one knew where it was. In 1520 the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan thought he'd found the southern continent when he discovered the strait named after him, which connected the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Sir Frances Drake dispelled that myth in 1578 when after passing through the Magellan Strait he got blown off course, and into open waters to the south of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago. This treacherous stretch of water where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans converge became known as the Drake Passage. Then between 1772 and 1775 without knowing what he'd done, the great explorer Captain James Cook circumnavigated Antarctica, he travelled further south than anyone before him even crossing into the Antarctic circle, but still Antarctica remained undiscovered (he must have been using Google maps). It is believed the first people to set foot on the continent were the seal hunters in around 1820, although Antarctica really only stopped becoming a myth with the scientific missions that took place, particularly that of James Clark Ross between 1839 - 1843.

I admire these explorers, sailors who had to endure extreme hardships in cold and cramped conditions with only wind to power their small wooden boats. Battling sea ice, icebergs and storms with just the stars for navigation, they spent years away from their home and families in the hope that they would discover this elusive continent. It certainly puts our adventure into perspective, I just hope the captain remembers to turn on the GPS system. But what excites me about visiting Antarctica is that it's a bit like travelling back in time, very little will have changed from what these early explorers saw and experienced to what awaits us on our trip.

Antarctica is the largest and last great wilderness on the planet, I'm looking forward to setting foot on this frozen land. We will hopefully see some clear blue skies with the sun casting dark shadows, contrasting against the pristine white snow and adding to the drama of this rugged landscape.  The unpolluted night skies will be dark, giving us a good view of the stars of the southern hemisphere and if we are lucky the Aurora Australis (the equivalent of the Aurora Borealis). There is an abundance of wildlife that call Antarctica their home. We hope to see penguins, seals and we are told that March is whale season, so if we are very, very lucky we will see whales feeding in their natural habitat in preparation for the upcoming winter months. We don't have to worry though, the information pack says 'If we are fortunate enough to sight wildlife, we will announce it from the Bridge, regardless of the hour. In this event, if you wish to go back to sleep, please do so'. I've just made a mental note to pack the wire cutters!

Did you know: that Antarctica is one of the driest areas of the planet, with precipitation rates even lower than in the Sahara desert. Annual snow accumulation averages between 120-140 mm (4,7-5,5 in)

I consider it a real privilege that I am able to visit Antarctica, but more importantly that Meg has asked me to join her on this latest chapter of her travel adventure. We hope to be able to keep you updated along our journey, although we anticipate that there will be only limited connectivity to the internet once we have left South America. You can keep up to date by following me on social media by clicking the icons below. I hope to be posting some additional photos on Polar Steps.

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Follow Our Antarctic Journey

You can click this link to Polar Steps to read more about our journey and all the places we visited on our Antarctic Adventure. 

Further Info:

We are travelling to Antarctica with Antarctica21 who have a range of packages for visiting the sub Antarctic area. The photos in this blog are taken from their Antarctica information pack. 

The Magellan Explorer was built in Chile to the latest polar code specifications and entered service in 2019. She can carry a maximum of 100 passengers plus 60 expedition staff and crew. 

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