Archive for December, 2007
December 21, 2007 at 9:21 pm · Filed under Uncategorized, Knowledge and Experiences, Tourism, Learning through Foreign Cultures
History
Tango originated in the brothels of the poor working class neighborhoods amongst the immigrants of Buenos Aires. According to Lonely Planet, “It was a strong blend of machismo, passion and longing, with an almost fighting edge to it, symbolic of the struggle for possession of a woman.” Perhaps that’s also what gives it the sensual, serious nature. Of course, this type of dance was not accepted by the elite class of Buenos Aires until after it became very popular in Europe during pre-WWI. Over decades tango evolved and then fell out of popularity, not be reborn again until after 2000. Now its very popular with everyone from locals to tourists wanting to learn and watch tango.
Dancing Tango
In my opinion, tango is the second hardest dance, after Brazilian Samba. Prior to my trip to Buenos Aires, I’d studied tango for 1-2 weeks as part of a ballroom dance class and found it difficult then. Remembering this, my original travel plan was to spend 2-3weeks in Buenos Aires and have tango lessons for about 4hours everyday to give me enough time to learn the dance to a certain proficiency. Well, as it happened 5 days in BsAs was not enough.
While there I only managed 2classes, 4total hours of tango lessons. It was definitely enough to remind me tango is sooo difficult. The steps themselves, while at a basic level, they appear simple, they are actually quite difficult and I have trouble remembering/determining when I’m supposed to cross my feet versus when I’m supposed to take another step. Then there’s the posture–since its a sensual, dramatic dance, proper tango has the dancing couple very close together, but you also need space to move the legs, therefore you have to lean in while holding your hips out. It’s quite awkward to dance in this position. And of course, the woman is suppose to look very feminine and sexy, so I was told, keep my knees close together, slide my feet along, and don’t stomp. Please explain to me how I’m supposed to do all this and not fall on my face nor slice my own feet. (I was told to wear close-toed shoes to avoid getting my feet to hurt and my brain thought, hah, the next time on a RTW trip and am tango dancing in Buenos Aires, I’ll remember to bring closed-toe shoes.) Finally, there is the facial expression, which of course has to match the mood of the dance, serious and sensual. How many of you can actually imagine me successfully managing this face with some random Argentine man? Needless to say, I was frequently laughing. Later when I was watching tango, I also realized that the women rarely to never let the heel of their shoe touch the floor despite the fact that the heel is already 3″ high! Woooh, it could be years… I did the dance classes at Centro Cultural Torquato Tasso on Sunday night (7-10pm) and Saturday night at Confiteria Ideal (Suipacha 384), which has numerous classes everyday (some in English) and milongas often with live bands every night of the week.
Watching Tango
To watch tango is absolutely stunning; especially after learning it, I had far more respect for the dancing. I saw tango everywhere from the streets of San Telmo and Avenida Florida to casual dancers in a milonga to a formal performance. Each was unique and fit its location yet all were most enjoyable to watch. Those on the streets were very much for show, quick and upbeat, without much of the passion, yet still very well done. Those in the milonga (tango dance halls, where couples must go counter-clockwise and take smaller quicker step) were very ritualized with each person seemingly doing it for the love of the dance and with interest in improving just for the pride that comes from mastering this Buenos Aires art form. This is perhaps the most authentic form of tango I saw. It’s also where I’d go to practice and improve if I ever got the chance. I went to the Milonga at the Centro Cultural Torquato Tasso (Defensa 1575, San Telmo) at 10pm on Sunday.
The final place I saw tango was at the Borges Cultural Center at Galerias Pacifico (Florida & Cordoba). This tango was clearly performance tango. They included a number of steps and moves from other styles of dance such as waltz, fox trot, swing, and paso doble. This enabled such moves as lifts and swings, and various poses. It was a splendor to behold and I can only imagine the years and hours these people must have spent in dance lessons. It was a dancing delight and while not everyone enjoyed the show (I know Byrom didn’t), I thoroughly did and anyone with an interest in tango (not just a feeling of obligation since being in BsAs) should see a tango show.
December 21, 2007 at 7:31 pm · Filed under Uncategorized, Tourism, Traveling
Arrival in Buenos Aires at midnight was just as I wished, warm and balmy after chilly Patagonia.
First Day
The first day I walked north up Avenida Florida, a pedestrianized shopping street running through the heart of the city. At the north end, is Galerias Pacifico, a shopping mall with frescoed ceilings and an elegant interior making it far more a piece of architecture than a standard shopping mall. After that I went back south and stopped for lunch at Richmond Cafe, an old haunt of the Argentine write Jorge Luis Borges. I stopped in at another cafe (Confiteria Ideal on Suipacha) that offered tango dance classes as well as had milongas every night of the week (more on that later). Then I continued south via the Casa Rosada/Pink House (equivalent to the US White House), past a number of plazas, including the Obilesk (commemorating the 400th Anniversary of Spanish settlement), and on to San Telmo area (famous for tango) and wandered around the antiques market there.
I returned to the hostel in time for Latin dance lessons offered for free at the hostel! (Hostel Portal del Sur, I highly recommend it!) Although I’d learnt most of the basics of salsa, cha-cha, and merengue before, the instructor also taught mambo which quite a challenge (think dancing to ‘Mambo Number 5.’) I had signed up for dinner at the hostel, a traditional Argentine BBQ, which was supposed to be at 8:30. However in true Latin fashion, dinner wasn’t ready until 11:30pm! Although the night hadn’t even begun by Argentine standards, my 2am arrival that morning killed my enthusiasm for going out that night.
Second Day
Weekends in Buenos Aires are prime days for ‘ferias,’ outdoors festivals with crafts vendors, all sorts of performances, and general atmospheric times. Saturday morning I went to the Recoleta Feria at Intendente Plaza. After a warm morning there, I decided to try one of the best ice cream vendors in the city, Freddo (as recommended by LP). I had Dulce de Leche flavor (more on that later), which was absolutely decadent. I continued walking, to burn off all those ice cream calories, down to Avenida Santa Fe, another popular shopping street. Some shopping time later, I stopped in for lunch at Cumana. After more shopping and wandering, I started heading back toward the hostel, with a few more detours into plazas and a view of the Palacio Barolo. The palace is built with the same number scheme as Dante’s Divine Comedy.
The evening plan was tango lessons followed by a night out on the Buenos Aires bar/club scene. More on tango later. At tango, I invited another American girl traveling alone to come to the hostel and join us in going out for the evening. We stopped for a dinner snack at 11:30pm at Cafe Tortoni, the oldest cafe in Buenos Aires. We went back to the hostel and finally by 2am we’d made a decision where we wanted to go out that night, perfect timing for actually going out. Are you getting the impression things happen late in Buenos Aires? Yes, they do, very late.
About 2am we left for a global chain of techno/electronica clubs knows as Pacha (also in Spain, Germany, etc). (When I was in Barcelona, DJ Tiesto (think Olympics DJ right before 2004 Athens Games) was spinning at Pacha there and entrance charge was about 40-60euros.) Needless to say, this is a high-end, expensive club. Maybe I should have thought of that…entrance was 45pesos with a discount through the hostel (I can’t imagine what cover is without a discount), and 1drink was 25pesos, don’t even get me started on cab fare. When we got there about 2:30am, hardly anyone was dancing and the music was not to my liking. By the time I gave up on club, about 2hours later, (4:30am!) the main DJ of the night had started spinning and the dancing had picked up but by then I was over it. Time to get some sleep.
Third Day
More ferias! First La Boca, the reputed dangerous but colorful neighborhood at the mouth of the river. This is the old immigrant neighborhood that has never really been pulled out of poverty. The area along El Caminito is famous for its brightly multi-colored buildings. La Boca is also the home of tango, though these days Tango is more commonly associated with San Telmo. I really enjoyed La Boca including the colorful buildings, the shops, the tango imitators, and live band, and just the general atmosphere; its too bad I was warned not to wander around.
On to San Telmo, with its own weekend feria, replete with street side shows of both tango dancing and tango musicians as well as other street performers similar to those you’d find along Las Ramblas in Barcelona. Besides the performers, there were endless crafts booths, antiques, restaurants, and cafes.
Other weekend ferias are at ‘the big flower’ (Floralis Generica) on Ave. Libertador, in a suburb called Matadores (’Feria de Matadores’), and elsewhere around the city. Needless to say Buenos Aires, unlike Santiago, Chile is very lively on the weekends with many places to go and to shop, and things to do.
The evening was capped off with…more tango and dinner while watching tango.
Fourth Day
Having not seen any museums in such a cultural city, it was time to go to MALBA, the Museum of Latin American Art. This museum came highly recommend by a friend and was reputed to be the best in Argentina by the guidebook. Well, it is a great museum with art spanning the 20th Century; however, it was not exactly to my liking, as most modern art is not. So I took a good look and hurried to find lunch as it was past 3pm and most restaurants finish serving lunch at 4pm (the museum didn’t even open until noon, ahh Latin time again).
Knowing I wasn’t going to get lunch by 4pm, I had another ice cream, this time at Volta, widely considered the best ice cream shop in BA. While eating my ice cream, I walked over the the Las Carnitas area for lunch, which is supposed to be a fun district at night, though mid-afternoon it was very laidback, still it was the only nearby area with restaurants serving lunch after 4pm. I had lunch at Las Cholas, a northern Argentine restaurant, and I enjoyed a lovely juicy steak.
Following lunch I wandered over to the area known as Palermo Viejo with many small boutique shops and Plaza Serrano (a supposedly good weekend night area). What struck me about this area was, despite the many boutiques already there and the high-end nature of the neighborhood, many of the retail spaces were available for rent. Perhaps I was there at the wrong time of the day or week but I can see how it’d be difficult to drive foot traffic with so few pedestrians (compared to say, Ave. Florida), justifiably leaving shops vacant. Coincidentally while wandering around, I ran into a guy from the hostel and we decided we’d have a drink together, to kill time until I went to…more tango (a performance this time).
Fifth Day
On Tuesdays and Thursday at 11am, free guided tours in English are given of Recoleta Cemetery, perhaps the most famous cemetery in Argentina, and burial place of Eva Peron. The cemetery is similar to that of New Orleans with above-ground mausoleums; however here the mausoleums also usually have basements and 9 coffins can fit in the first level of an average size basement. Many of Argentina’s historical and political figures are buried here along with socialites who can afford the US$25,000+ price tag to buy a tomb. Many mausoleums have statues or mosaics or other artworks to commemorate the dead, making it very much an open air art museum as well as a cemetery and definitely worth the visit.
After the cemetery and before my next and last museum I sought out a little healthy cafe called Florencio where I had a salad to balance out the steak lunch from the day before and the planned steak dinner. The Museum of Decorative Arts doesn’t open until 2pm (wish I worked there), but on Tuesdays its free. Since I didn’t have to pay entrance and I’d found the cemetery tour far more rewarding that wandering around unguided, I decided to pay the 3pesos for the guided tour at this museum. The museum used to be the private mansion of a Chilean-Argentine couple complete with some very fine European antiques dating from the 14th-20th Centuries, rivaling those found in the Hearst Castle in California. The couple made their wealth through agriculture(!) before and during WWI. Eventually they sold the house with antiques intact to be a museum and the grandeur of it as a private home is incomprehensible.
After the museum it was time to stock up on Argentine wine and pack before my early morning flight the next day. I chose a Malbec, typical Argentine red, and a dry white wine known as Torrontes, only found in Argentina. For my last night in Argentina, I met up with my Ecuadorian friend from China (and her brothers) and a friend whom I met on the Antarctica trip but lives only 10mins from my mom in Phoenix. How’s that to remind you its a small world and you have friends everywhere you go? We had a very happy dinner at Desnivel, a famous old bodegon in San Telmo, where we joked and laughed and compared cultures and travel stories. Thanks Leslie, Byrom, Pato, and Chicho for a great evening; that was the best time I had in Buenos Aires.
December 21, 2007 at 6:38 pm · Filed under Uncategorized, Tourism, Traveling
Ushuaia
After arriving off the ship to snowfall in Ushuaia, we picked up our rental car as planned and despite the snow, headed off to Tierra del Fuego National Park. Tierra del Fuego is a stunning Nat’l Park of snow topped mountains dropping down into the ocean; there’s also regional moss covered (nire) pine trees and lots of wildlife. We drove around the park, jumping out quickly (because it was so cold) to take pictures and look at the view. We saw the train that goes into the park as well as black-headed geese, beaver dams and a peat bog. A few hours at the park was sufficient time given that the snowfall inhibited much hiking so after that we headed off to lunch.
After lunch, we went up to Glacier Martial that’s on a mountainside behind Ushuaia, really an urban glacier if there such a thing, that is actively retreating. When we bought our tickets for the cable car up the glacier it was sunny and beautiful weather, however, after two minutes on the cable car, it started snowing (again) and blowing in at us sideways. The weather had been like this the whole day: 20minutes of snow, 10minutes of sun, then snow again, then sun again. I couldn’t figure it out. I also couldn’t figure out how it was still snowing along the coast in late spring (summer doesn’t officially start until Dec 21). Well, so they say, in Patagonia there are four seasons in one day. I guess so! I just wish I hadn’t sent all my warm Antarctic clothes off to be washed that morning.
Later that evening, Mom and I had our final dinner together for this part of the trip and went to bed early (by Argentine standards) in preparation for her 7:30am bus back to Punta Arenas the next morning. Following Mom’s departure I wondered around the town some more and went to the Museum El Fin Del Mundo, which was a good overview of the local history though not nearly as interesting or detailed as the Presidio Museum. Later that afternoon I flew to El Calafate, in about the middle of Argentine Patagonia.
Both nights in Ushuaia, we stayed in La Casa de Alba, which was a very nice bed and breakfast, very clean, helpful owners, good breakfast, fluffy towels, and the best smelling laundry I’ve had since leaving the States! Also, rest assured, I bought my penguin necklace. 
El Calafate
By the time I’d arrived in Calafate I’d still not found a hostel to stay in. All those that I’d called or tried to book online were full, which was a bit nerve-racking. Eeeek! There’s a shuttle service from the airport to town run by Ves Patagonia! for 13pesos (about US$4) which conveniently dropped me off at the bus station, which doubles as the tourism office. So I asked the tourism office to suggest some hostels and while the service was absolute rubbish, eventually it worked out (having a cell phone by which to call the places was a huge asset) and I was on my way to a hostel with beds for 25pesos/night, the cheapest I paid in Argentina.
After I settled into my hostel (Alburgue Mochilero-good location, clean, but nothing else to recommend it), I went to book my excursions to Glaciers National Park. Eventually I ended up booking through a company called Always Glaciers because they offered me a discount if I booked two excursions with them.
The following day while on my first glacier excursion, I’d learn a little more about El Calafate. Calafate is the most expensive city in Patagonia; I’d definitely agree. It wasn’t possible to get a restaurant meal for less than 27pesos, more than I was paying for my hostel! Also, internet was 6pesos ($2) per hour at its cheapest. El Calafate is in the middle of extensive grasslands. These grasslands were given away by the government to anyone who would settle on them for a number of years as a means of populating this area. The settlers used them as ranches, known as estancias in Spanish, to raise sheep. However the very, very dry and very windy conditions in Patagonia are not conducive to creating ground fertile enough to even graze sheep on. So the estancias were not very successful and now most have been converted to tourism businesses, taking advantage of the gorgeous landscape.
Glaciers, Glaciers, Galore
As if I didn’t see enough ice in Antarctica, I signed up for two day trips out to see glaciers in Glaciar National Park. The first day took me to Perito Moreno Glacier, the most famous glacier in the area. This glacier, unlike the one in Ushuaia is neither advancing nor retreating. The unique thing about this glacier is that is fills an entire lake and bisects it into two sections. It also has an incredibly long and high face on the lake and regularly calves into the lake with a large crack. Therefore any visitor to the glacier should stay for a few hours to listen for the momentous sound of the glacier calving. I was fortunate enough to see it happen twice: thunder followed by a big splash! Wow!
The second day I did a boat tour on Lake Argentina of a number of other glaciers which worked out very well because it happened to be raining that day–a much better day to be inside a boat than standing outside looking at glaciers in the rain. The boat took us to Glacier Spegazzini and Glacier Seco (Dry) first. After that we went to Glacier Upsala, the longest glacier in South America despite the fact its retreating very quickly. For lunch we got off the boat and took a short walk across a small island where we found another lake and three more glaciers, namely Agassiz, Bolado, and Onelli. During the 8-hour trip around Lake Argentina we passed a other minor glaciers as well. Even with all the glaciers I’ve seen, I’d say Perito Moreno is justifiably famous as it is the most impressive.
After 9 glaciers in 4days, I’d had my fill of ice and was ready for some warmth and it was time to head north, to Buenos Aires. Photos of Ushuaia & Calafate
December 17, 2007 at 8:09 am · Filed under Uncategorized, Tourism, Traveling
The return crossing was much worse than the going. Things were flying and rolling across the room again but to a much greater degree. It was impossible to take a shower because you couldn’t stand up without being thrown over. People were even tossed out of their beds during the night. I, on the other hand, did not leave my bed for 2 days, holding my stomach, and taking my seasickness pills. I constantly dreamt of being on dry land. Later it was reported that the ship had, at times, been at an angle of 29degrees. Laying completely flat on my bed on the 3rd floor (out of 4), I could see only ocean and 3seconds later only the deep gray of storm clouds.
“Some of us are over the seasick stage and no long want to die.” — Hartford after 10days on the ‘Nimrod’ with Shackleton in 1907. This was one of the quotes in the daily program during the return crossing of the Drake Passage and I found it particularly apt.
Fortunately, by dinnertime on the 10th day we’d reached a area in the north Drake Passaged sheltered by a group of islands, so I was able to make it to the final Captain’s cocktail party and dinner. This was a real treat, especially after 2days of not eating. The pastry chef went all out–I mean, he must have made 15different kinds of cakes, pastries, tortes, even ice cream and a fruit plate. It was gorgeous just to look at, you can’t imagine what it was to eat it. 
Arrival day back in Ushuaia was accompanied by further disorganization, snow, and wet luggage. Still, it couldn’t dampen our high spirits at what a wonderful trip we’d just completed to Antarctica!
Antarctica was an incredible experience, inexpressible in either words or pictures. Normal travelers experience people and culture when visiting new places, but our best friends in Antarctica were wildlife and ice. Antarctica is still untouched, pure, pristine, a captivating, gorgeous place.
(The same) Photos from Incredible Antarctica
December 17, 2007 at 8:05 am · Filed under Uncategorized, Tourism, Traveling
The final day with the possibility of Antarctic landings, we were at Deception Island, a volcanic hotspot. Its similar to Santorini in Greece in that the volcano erupted to create the island and then later the central part sunk leaving just the circular ring. However, the island is nearly an entire circle and the only opening is very narrow; this opening is known as Neptune’s Bellows. We all got up very early, about 6am, to watch the ship pass through this scenic area. We were expected to have a landing about 7am at which we’d be able to swim in steaming volcanic waters. However, as we went through Neptune’s Bellows we could see that nearly the entire surface of the water within the crater was
covered with ice; in fact, all around us it didn’t look like water but rather that the boat was floating on snow. So much for volcanic heat. Suffice it to say, this canceled this landing.
Words cannot convey what it is to be surrounded by various forms of frozen water: glaciers, icebergs, snow covered mountains, beaches covered in snow and punctuated by bluish ancient ice, packed snow under your feet, snow flurries flying in your face and on your camera lens, ice and snow all around.
Floating on ice, the captain, again working hard, tried breaking ice with the ship, unsuccessfully. Eventually, they decided to go around the ice, skirt the edge of the crater to get us a landing at Telefon Bay. We hiked up a small volcanic ridge. We also saw lots of birds feeding on krille that had been boiled by the volcanic heat. And thus our final landing at Antarctica came to an end.
…But the excitement was just beginning. We were told to hurry back to the ship because the ice was closing in on the ship and we might be stuck in the caldera for 20days like Shackleton. We gave a little laugh to this. The last time we laughed like this was before the ‘hike of death’ up the 1200foot ‘hill.’
Well the ice did close the ship in fast and block the entrance/exit to the caldera. All during lunch the ship kept trying to break the ice and get across the huge mass of ice that floated over the entire crater. Unsuccessfully. Late into lunch an announcement was made that the ship was unable to break the ice. Yeah, thanks, we got that. At lunch, other guests joked, ‘time to start rationing the food.’ ‘Guess we’ll need to change our plane tickets.’ Ahh the excitement of Antarctica!
Shortly after lunch an another announcement was made that we’d wait for the tides to change and drag the ice away from the entrance to the crater and then we’d navigate around and out. Well this worked just as planned and with a 5hour or so delay we were on our way back across the Drake Passage and back to the End of The World.
Link to Antarctic photos (again)
December 17, 2007 at 7:51 am · Filed under Uncategorized
A passenger needed to be air evacuated so we made the very lengthy and time consuming trip all the way back north to the South Shetland’s King George Island, the only place in Antarctic with an airport. We were told many countries had bases along there including, Great Britain, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, China, and Korea. Nonetheless, the only ones that were allowed off was the couple, so the rest of us just marveled at the bases from a distance.
After they were taken to the airport and subsequently flown to Punta Arenas, Chile, we started back south so that we could make another landing that evening. After dinner we had our first landing in two days at Yankee and was everyone happy to be getting off the ship. Cabin fever had started to kick in; granted, this was a shorter time than the crossing of the Drake Passage but because it was unexpected and the ship was no longer a novelty, people were getting antsy for a land excursion.
At Yankee Harbor we saw a number of Weddell Seals as well as more Gentoo penguins and my first (and only) Adelie penguin–also very cute! This beach was interesting because the tide was actually strong enough to make the waves break and there was very little snow on the actual pebble beach. Therefore if you just looked at the beach area it was no different to a pebble beach anywhere else in the world, except that penguins roamed around!
Photos from Antarctica
December 17, 2007 at 7:45 am · Filed under Uncategorized, Tourism, Traveling
In the morning we passed through the Lemaire Channel, popularly known as Kodak Gap since its one of the most scenic and photogenic places on the whole voyage. This passage is 1-mi wide at its narrowest and from a distance doesn’t even look open. In fact, most of the year, its so covered with ice that its impassable. It was gorgeous. 
Later it was announced that the ice conditions were very favorable, ie there wasn’t too much ice, and so we’d make a push to cross the Antarctic Circle. Anticipation was high as we made the foray toward the Antarctic Circle, as this is a big symbolic marker in Antarctica. However the ice quickly thickened and we couldn’t go further so we turned back northward.
A post-dinner movie kept us up till 11pm (announcements for breakfast start at 7:30am) and were we in for a treat! A peak outside indicated there was a nice sunset. Venturing outside, a bit too underdressed, I found I’d seriously underestimated, it was a spectacular sunset! Layers of colors ranging from purple to orange glowed over sheer snow covered rock faces. It seemed a bit of an anomaly to me to find such a vibrant sunset at 11pm, but that’s the wonder of Antarctica.
December 14, 2007 at 6:52 am · Filed under Uncategorized, Tourism, Traveling
As of 9am, Monday, December 3rd, I have been to 6 continents and this is definitely one of the most exotic and remote. I was standing on Antarctica, not just the islands near Antarctic, but the actual continent.
Neko Harbor, the location of my first landing on Antarctica, was a gorgeous place with a large glacier along one side and a rocky beach along the other. Here we were able to watch countless Gentoo penguins bathing in the ocean and smoothing their feathers on the beach. While we are required to not get any closer than 15 feet from the wildlife, if the animal such a penguin comes closer to us we don’t need to run away; therefore, those with patience could wait while the penguins wandered within a foot of them.
In the afternoon we had our second landing on the Antarctic Continent at Waterboat Point, which is now a Chilean Naval Station that is covered by nesting penguins. It seemed every pair of Gentoo penguins, even the one laucaustic (similar to albino) penguin, had a nest made of pebbles with at least 1 egg in it. The eggs will start hatching in another 4-5weeks, so alas no chicks. Still, it was quite entertaining to watch one penguin try to steal the stones from another’s nest and get squawked at and pecked at by the other penguin.
We also found a large Weddell Seal snoozing on a iceberg that was cooperative enough to look up when we went by to take its photo 
. We’ve now seen a few of these seals and they never seem to do anything other than sleep. I’m beginning to think they are the Antarctic equivalent of China’s panda bear in their laziness.
Besides seals and penguins we continue to see birds of prey such as skuas, petrels, as well as gulls, snowy sheathbills, Antarctic terns, and Antarctic cormorants. Before dinner, we also had sightings of Orca whales. Our wildlife watch has been great. Our weather has been good; good enough for all the scheduled landings and passages but we’ve had almost no sun and instead snow flurries when we’ve been on shore.
Due to the lengthy day, ie nearly 20hours of daylight in this part of the world, we were able to have a post-dinner landing on Cuverville Island. This island has a small mountain that when climbed affords great views of the surrounds. We arrived on the island about quarter to nine and were given the option of ‘march of death’ or ‘walk of life;’ we laughed at the joke, but little did we know… So like the majority of the passengers, we followed after the excursion leader in the hike up the ‘hill.’ Over the course of about an hour we switch-backed up at 1200foot mountain in knee-deep snow. With each step my rubber boots, already heavy by being fully insulated, kept getting getting heavier and heavier and hard and hard to lift. Certainly there were some people that turned back but for those who did make it, at top there was a sense of camaraderie and accomplishment for the group. Pictures were taken, snow angels were made, snowballs were flung all in the exhilaration of accomplishment in making it to the top.
But the best part was coming down! It was like Shoots and Ladders. We walked a little and then someone would carve out a smooth slope by sliding down. Then we’d all slide down on the seat of our pants. Then we’d walk to the next steep slope and do it again. We slid forward, backward, sideways, with snow flying in the face, it was great fun! Back on the beach, got in the Zodiacs and motored back to the ship about 11pm endorphins rushing but still exhausted and ready for bed.
December 12, 2007 at 3:44 pm · Filed under Uncategorized, Tourism, Traveling
By 9am we were dressed and in a very unorganized fashion (this seems to be a trend for this ship) getting loaded into Zodiacs for our ride over to Aitcho Island, part of the South Shetland chain. It was –3degreesC outside with a light blizzard.
Penguins, Penguins, Penguins!!
Upon arriving on shore we were greeted by colonies of Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins as well as Brown skuas and Giant petrels, bids of prey. A walk up a snowy embankment led us to some penguin eggs which had been stolen by the petrels and eaten. We also saw two very large seals, an elephant and Wedell seal. But perhaps the highlight of the morning was seeing a King Penguin! Normally King penguins, characterized by their yellow accents, are found farther north and so we wouldn’t encounter them on this trip. It was a rare treat! He was amazing and much larger than the Gentoos or Chinstraps. Even the expedition guides were excited and taking photos of the King. Still, I thought the Chinstrap penguins were very very cute, even more so than the Gentoo or King.
Penguins live for about 25-30 years and only reach their breeding age after 5-7 years. Penguins are not monogamous birds, though depending on the species they may keep the same mate for 2-3 mating seasons. They communicate with their mate using a girggling, cookooing noise. One penguin always has to sit on the egg to protect it and keep it warm while the other goes to the ocean for food. Food for penguins are pink ocean creoles, which color also lends itself to penguin’s droppings.
We only had a short 1.5hours on the island. Despite all the talk of advance scheduling of landing times, apparently the Aitcho Island was double booked this morning so we had to cut our normal three hour landing down to 2.
Despite the shortened time, my toes were already numb by the time I got back on the boat. Upon returning to the boat I immediately stuck my feet in the hot shower, which caused my toes to swell up greatly (though the swelling went down by mid-afternoon). Aside from that, I was comfortably warm, even too warm while ashore. I had on 2 layers of long underwear, plus pants, and snowproof ski pants on bottom, while on top I had 4 layers plus a down jacket and an Antarctic expedition jacket. Tomorrow: more socks, less shirts.
Returning to the ship by lunch, ostrich was served, something I would never eat otherwise. Nonetheless, it tasted like red meat and was very edible. After lunch another informational lecture was presented on the World of Ice, but which felt more like a vocabulary lesson. Mom said, this would be good for Scrabble. The afternoon was spent rolling around on the seas which incapacitated me for the rest of the day and I dreamed of setting foot on my 6th continent tomorrow.
December 11, 2007 at 4:34 pm · Filed under Uncategorized, Tourism, Traveling
From the night before embarkation we could see our ship, the Antarctic Dream (it was smaller than I expected), waiting for us in the harbor and its presence was reassuring after the sinking of the Explorer.
The initial interaction with the ship and its organization was a bit mixed. They picked up our luggage and brought it to the ship just as arranged. However, we were told two different places to wait to be picked up. We waited at one of them, however we weren’t on that pick-up list–a little bit nerve-racking–nonetheless, they said come along on the bus and we’ll take you to the pier. At the pier everyone just ran off the bus and through the terminal with no indication of where to go to check in or what the procedure was. We found our own way to the ship and then stood in line waiting to check-in. When we got to the front of the line the receptionist looked under our cabin number for us and we weren’t there. Then she scanned the whole list and couldn’t find our names. Alright, getting even more nerve-racking now, not on the pickup list, not on the rooming list. Then she goes, ‘ahh I have another sheet. Oh and this means you’ve been upgraded.’ Wow! Bonus!! In fact the upgrade to a much bigger stateroom (normally priced at $9100/person) seriously magnified our value.
However, arriving at the room was a bit disappointing, the bathroom had not been cleaned (there was no toilet paper), there was still trash on the floor, the beds had no sheets on them, and our luggage had not arrived either. So I went looking for our luggage and fortunately found it in our original stateroom, while Mom went looking for someone to finish cleaning our room. All-in-all, not a good start and a bit disconcerting with regards to the overall organization. The upgrade was great though!
Later we speculated why we were given an upgrade and decided it had to do with the fact that we booked early (though mid-October is actually not that early). Well, we booked early enough to pay full price compared to well over half the ship that booked less than 10days before departure and so got last minute deals. The ship put the people that got last minute deals in the lower, cheaper cabins while upgrading those who booked earlier and paid full price, even though it was full price for the lower grade cabin. In truth we’ve found less than a handful of other English-speaking pairs who booked early and paid full price. This is a bit curious because the travel agent was rushing us to book claiming the ship was nearly full. In fact, the majority of the ship’s passengers seem to be last-minute bookings after the sinking of the M/S Explorer. Word to the wise: if you have flexibility in your travel schedule or don’t have your heart set on going to Antarctica, hold out for last minute deals; they do exist at discounts of 20%, i.e. the week before the sailing. Then contact (not necessarily in person) travel agents in Chilean or Argentine Patagonia for specials.
Afternoon tea was offered immediately upon boarding and the brownies were sooooo good. I knew from then on that at least one aspect of the ship would be rewarding, the food, and in fact, so far the food has been excellent. Lunch and dinner are both four-course sit-down meals, which are at set times but open seating. Breakfast is buffet and again open seating. Free glasses of red and white wine or beer and water are offered with every dinner. The ship also has a Chilean doctor on board whom we met the first day, just by coincidence, not by necessity. The ship also has a gym, a shop, a conference room, and a couple of lounge rooms. Compared to the Russian Icebreaker ships, this is a very well-equipped ship, much more along the lines of a cruise ship rather than a research vessel.
Embarkation night we cruised out through the Beagle Channel which was a calm experience with lovely scenery. However, we had been pre-warned of the crossing the Drake Passage and so we prepared our sea sickness pills and patch and bags. The Drake Passage is where the Pacific Ocean meets the Atlantic Ocean and also where the northern warmer oceans meet the cooler Antarctic waters causing a lot of fierce winds and waves as the different densities of the oceans try to assert themselves. Drake has caused the crashing of many ships, the wrecks of which now litter the the Patagonia coast or caused many sailors to turn back. And had my drawer falling off hinges, my water bottle lost under my bed, silverware sliding off the plates at meals, it has also caused many passengers to become very seasick…
Besides being told this is one of the smoother, easier passages across to Antarctica and wearing a prescription strength seasickness patch, these were not enough for me to keep my breakfast or my lunch in the first day at sea. Plus with the drowsiness effect of the patch, I ended sleeping most of Day 2. I did manage to make it to the informational lecture on Antarctica’s history.
The same day they introduced 2 contests, the prize being a bottle of champagne. The first contest involved guessing the time at which the ship would cross the Antarctic Convergence, the place where the warm water sinks below the cooler Antarctic waters, and as a result of this mixing fish and bird life are abundant. Mom guessed 9:30am on Day 3 while I guess 11:54pm on Day 2 and the actual time was 9:45pm on Day 2. We were ahead of schedule due to favorable conditions in the Drake Passage and were promised the lurching motion of the ship would be finished by 5pm on Day 3 when we reached the South Shetland Islands. The second contest was to see who could spot the first iceberg.
On Day 3, still in the Drake Passge, two more lectures were held, one about penguins, and the other about the IAATO (International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators) as well as proper behavior for shore excursions. By dinner time, 7:30pm, the seas had definitely calmed as we had reached the South Shetland Islands; we could see a research base, very large icebergs, and even a few penguins.
Tonight we have stopped at Anchor. Tomorrow morning at 9am we will make our first landing in the Zodiacs, a special term for motorized rafts used in Antarctica. The Zodiac groups were created using sign up sheets, in which passengers got to choose which group and with whom they wanted to go ashore with. Since the ship has less than 100 passengers everyone is allowed on shore at the same time (max 100). The timing of the landings are set far in advance and are very strict so that not more than one boat is at the same place at the same time and number of people on land is strictly controlled, all as a means of protecting the pristine natural environment.
Tomorrow the prospect of seeing Chinstrap and Gentoo Penguins lurks for our first landing!
(All of the Antarctic pictures will be posted at one time…a later time )
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