Our journey to Ushuaia, the city at the end of the world, on the southernmost tip of South America took us via Frankfurt and Buenos Aires. After 37 hours of travelling we walked out of the airport building to be greeted with a spectacular view of the city, multi coloured buildings set against the backdrop of snow capped mountains. Exhausted from our journey and just needing a shower and sleep, we decided to save exploring the city until the following morning, but as we woke up the weather wasn't in our favour. Rain and snow had set in for the day, in fact apart from a brief 34°c interlude in Buenos Aires as we waited for a connecting flight, it really didn't feel much different to the weather we had left behind in the UK.
We had a couple of jobs to do in Ushuaia, the first was to collect the warm waterproof coats that we had hired for use in Antarctica, hiring the coats meant that we didn't have to carry them all the way from the UK and we knew that we were getting the best possible outer layer protection for our time on the continent. The second was a bit more challenging, and involved buying some Argentine Pesos for use in Ushuaia. You can't buy Pesos before you go to Argentina, and then when you get there, there is an official and unofficial (blue market) exchange rate. I don't really understand how it works but the unofficial rate can be 60 -70% higher than the official rate. So you just have to look round for back street Cambio points or see if someone approaches you and get the best deal you can. It's not a very British way of doing things and puts me way out of my comfort zone, but Meg, having experienced this from her previous trip to Argentina, told me to just go with it and that no, she wasn't paying over the odds for everything by using the credit card. Sure enough she wasn't wrong, we changed our money at 330 Pesos to the dollar compared to the official rate of around 190. It makes a significant difference to your spending power. So with our must do jobs completed and our Antarctic explorer coats on we checked out the embarkation point for our ship the Magellan Explorer and then we couldn't resist taking a tour of the city in an old Routemaster London double decker bus.
Did you know: The most extraordinary seasonal change that happens in Antarctica is the freezing of the Southern Ocean which each winter covers more than 1/10 of the total area of the southern hemisphere. The sea begins to freeze in late summer at temperatures of around -1.8° and reaches its peak in September, covering almost 20 million km2 . It then retreats until March, when it reaches its minimum extent of 3 million km2
We had a narrow time window of between 15:00 to 16:00 to clear Port Security and board the ship, as it turned out this just involved walking through a wooden shed with a nod of the head to the official, followed by a trek along the dock to the ship, where we received a warm welcome from both the crew and expedition team. It was clear that we had many of the luxuries of a cruise, a lovely ship, fine dining, beautiful cabins and attentive staff, but this was a ship built for Antarctic waters, and we were about to set off on an expedition into remote seas and a hostile landscape. The knowledgeable expedition team of 14 were responsible for ensuring we received the full Antarctic experience, and throughout our trip they worked tirelessly to ensure this was the case. This was the penultimate trip of the season as the Antarctic winter with expanding sea ice was fast approaching and many ships were already on their way north for the Arctic season.
We sailed along the Beagle Channel with Chile to the north and Argentina to the south, whales were spotted and dolphins swam alongside the ship, a good omen we were told. As we sat down to eat dinner the backdrop of the Andes snow capped mountains through the large dining room windows was stunning. The amazing dinner and service set the standard for what was to come for the rest of the trip, and not for the last time over the next 10 days I just sat there thinking how lucky I was to be enjoying this experience.
Did you know: weather conditions are not uniform across the continent; they tend to be warmer on the coast and harsher in the interior. On July 21st, 1983 at the Russian base Vostok, a record low temperature of -89.6°C was recorded. In summer the temperature hovers near 0°C around the coast and -15°C to -35°C inland. In winter the temperature on the coast is around -15°C to -30°C and between -40°C to -70°C inland.
The Drake Passage is a notorious body of water beyond the tip of Cape Horn, where the Atlantic, Pacific and Southern Ocean converge. You could sail around the world at this latitude and not encounter any land, so there is nothing to block the wind and ocean currents, you are at the mercy of the elements. Thankfully though the ship has some advanced weather forecasting technology to help the Captain plot the timing of the crossing and therefore the least tortuous route for us landlubbers. We entered the open seas of the passage just after we had gone to bed around 10pm, and we were very fortunate that the swells were only around 2-3 metres. But even these moderate seas were enough to have me popping the sea sickness tablets and grabbing the mattress to try and stop rolling around with the ship. This plus the frequent boom that reverberated through the ship's hull as it crashed through the waves didn't really lend itself to a peaceful night's sleep. Although I was pleased with myself that I had survived the outward crossing, some of the American guests were somewhat disappointed that we didn't get bigger and better waves. I didn't quite get the logic of this but as it turned out they only needed to wait for the return journey.
There was lots to do and keep us busy on the crossing, the expedition team gave talks on what we should expect to see in Antarctica, the geology and glaciers, the ice formation, wildlife and some of the history around the discovery and use of Antarctica. Bio security is taken very seriously to ensure that non native species are not accidentally introduced into the continent and keeping Avian Flu away from Antarctica as it continues its progress southwards is a major concern. As such any bags that you might take with you on shore landings had to be cleaned and sanitised, Velcro strips on coats and bags where seeds could get trapped were combed and vacuumed. We had to go to the boot room to try on our boots and life jackets and see where the boot disinfectant stations were located as all boots had to be washed and sanitised after every shore landing. Just in case all this activity left us feeling hungry we had three cooked meals every day to help keep our strength up, I really didn't need this amount of food but it was all so good that it just felt rude to not join in.
As the temperatures started to fall, we knew that we had crossed the Antarctic convergence, (the point where the colder and less salty Antarctic waters meet the warmer seas off South America). Then after 48 hours at sea we spotted our first sub Antarctic land. Smith Island is the most south western point of the South Shetland Island chain. We were fortunate that it was a clear sunny day and this snow covered mountain stood proud rising from the southern ocean, with wisps of cloud sitting just below its peak. It was a magnificent sight and it meant that we were now within touching distance of the Antarctic continent.
Did you know: Icebergs are formed from ice shelves in the sea or after breaking off from a glacier. Only 20-25% of the iceberg is visible above the water, and this visible part acts as a sail as they are moved by the wind and currents. They have been known in exceptional circumstances to travel as far north as the tropics.
As I opened the curtains on Friday morning, we were greeted with our first sight of sea ice and icebergs, set against a stunning backdrop of steep snow covered mountains. We were in Fournier Bay, Anvers Island. After 4.5 days of travelling we had finally arrived in Antarctica. As I went on deck, there was a magical moment as the rising sun slowly gave the tops of the mountains a beautiful orange glow and then in the bay below a pod of humpback whales appeared feeding on the krill. This was so much more beautiful than I had ever imagined it could be.
Up Next:
In my next blog you can read about the locations we visited, the wildlife we saw and our Antarctic snowshoe hike. Was I brave enough to do the polar plunge and what happens when you sail into an active volcano? Plus if you are thinking of applying for a job with the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust counting the penguins, working in the post office or gift shop you might want to read about our visit to Port Lockroy first.
Blogs in the Antarctica Series:
Blog 1 -
Fin del Mundo Preparations for our visit to the 7th continent
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.
We travelled to Antarctica with Antarctica21 on a 10 day expedition. They have a range of packages for visiting the sub Antarctic area.
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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Brilliant. Thank you.
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