Tag: argentina

Buenos Aires and the End of the Trip

February 13, 2025

After we caught our Uber to the Airport in Ushuaia on January 27, we discovered our flight had been delayed due to mechanical issues with a plane earlier in the day that backed things up.  We flew from Ushuaia to Buenos Aries and arrived there about 11:30pm.  We had a private tour scheduled for 9am on January 28.  We used a tour company, Welcome Pickups, to show us around the city.  They provided our transportation from the airport to the hotel, our tour guide for the day and our transportation to the international airport after the tour.  We were very pleased with Welcome Pickups!  We could never have seen so much of BA on our own.  Our guide was so knowledgeable about his city and via e-mail we had discussed the types of things we wanted to see and he made suggestions taking into consideration our limited time.

One of the first places we stopped was the famous BA sign in the park.  BA is known for all its parks and theaters (not movie theaters) with major productions.

Just driving through the theater district was a treat to see all the beautiful buildings.  One of the old theaters, the Grand Splendid Theater, which opened in 1919 was closed and in 2000 was renovated, being converted into a bookstore –  The El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore.  The bookstore now draws visitors from all over the world, eager to see the theater’s original elements preserved in its structure and restored ceiling frescoes.  The place was amazing – so beautiful.  So glad they preserved all the beauty of the theater yet transitioned its use to a bookstore with areas to lounge and read as well as a coffee shop.

Our regular readers know we like to visit historical churches, so we also visited the Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires.  It is a beautiful building with lots of history. Pope Francis held mass here before moving to the Vatican in 2013.

Other  popular spots we visited were the Caminito which is a colorful, historic street know for its painted houses, Woman’s Bridge and the Plaza de Mayo.  Click on any of those link to learn more about the sites.

Argentina is also known for its beef cattle and the people are big meat eaters.  Our guide also made reservations for us to have a wonderful steak dinner at his favorite restaurant.  Wonderful meal.

After a little more sightseeing we were taken to the airport. We are glad we decided to go there early because when we arrived the line for the Delta counter already stretched around the corner. But we made our flight and safely back to Alabama where we said our goodbyes to Donna and Barry and drove back to South Carolina, ending another wonderful trip of a lifetime.

Whales and First Zodiac Cruise

February 6, 2025

(Continuation of our adventures on January 20, 2025)

There were some fun things going on while we were in the Drake.  We had various classes we could attend.  The expedition staff were very knowledgeable and even though we had done some research before embarking on our adventure we learned lots.  There were specialists in penguins, whales, and other sea birds as well as a historian on all things Antarctic. When things began calming down from our passage, the crew were able to open the decks and we could visit the bridge and watch our Captain and crew at work.  Our Captain and crew were all from Croatia and he sometimes for fun he called his crew the Croatian Mafia.  They were all very nice and thankfully very competent and most concerned about our safety and enjoyment of our cruise.

With the decks open, we could be outside watching for whales, birds, dolphins etc.  We were so excited when we saw our first whale blow.  Then, we saw fin whales, humpback whales and a blue whale that came up right beside the ship.

Blue Whales are massive.  They are the largest animals to have ever lived on earth.  The Antarctic blue whales are generally larger than other blue whales, weighing up to 330,000 pounds and 110 feet long.  The females are larger than the males.  They are named for their gray coloring which appears light blue underwater. We did not realize what a very special event it was that we got to see this amazing creature. After all the excitement, we learned most of our guides had never seen a blue whale and one had seen 3 previously in his 14 years of guiding.  Blue whales are now on the endangered list.  They generally swim at about 5 miles an hour but can accelerate to more than 20 miles an hour for short bursts.  They are also among the loudest animals on the planet emitting a series of pulses, groans and moans, that in the right conditions can be heard by other whales up to 1,000 miles away. Click here for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration web site for blue whale sounds.

God created such an amazing world for us to take care of.   We constantly thanked God for allowing us to have this experience.

After dinner on January 20, we were able to board our zodiacs for the first time. It doesn’t get dark until about midnight – so why not.  There would be no shore landing this time, but we learned how to board our zodiacs and go see neat things.  Again – so exciting – and a little scary.  We went out to Penguin Island at Turret Point in the South Shetland Islands and were able to see elephant nose seals (so ugly they are cute?), Antarctic fur seals, and chinstrap penguins – so very cute.  It was a very busy and exciting day.  On returning to the ship we collapsed into bed.

The Drake Passage

February 4, 2025

As you remember from the last post, we left Ushuaia at 6:15 pm on January 18th headed out into the Beagle Channel traveling east for about 60 miles toward the Drake passage.  We had another briefing and were prepared for the weather to deteriorate as we neared the Drake.  The Drake was forecast to be swells below 5 meters and winds below 30 knots.  We had another wonderful dinner, made sure we all continued to take our meclizine to prevent sea sickness and went to sleep.

So, what’s the big deal about the Drake.  The Drake Passage, usually a two day journey, is considered one of the roughest and some would say, THE ROUGHEST waterway on Earth.  This reputation comes primarily because of the powerful currents created by the collision of cold Antarctic waters with warmer northern waters, combined with strong, unimpeded winds from the Southern Ocean that encounter no landmass to disrupt their flow, resulting in large waves and turbulent seas. More than 800 ships are believed to have sunk in the Drake Passage.  This has resulted in the deaths of over 20,000 sailors. The crossing of the Drake is a whole adventure of its own.

All expedition cruise ships must cross the Drake to reach the 7th Continent and modern expedition cruise ships are well equipped to tackle the crossing . Almost all have underwater stabilizers to reduce the rocking and rolling on heavy seas and have the latest technology to follow the weather.  Depending on the weather, you might encounter the “Drake Lake” (very smooth) or the “Drake Shake” (what we encountered.)  Our ship was equipped with stabilizers, but we still felt the waves – a lot. We did go to sleep as usual after making sure everything in our state room was secured.  This was not much different from securing things for a travel day in the RV.  We were both awakened shortly before midnight feeling the ship being tossed around but we didn’t fall out of bed and went back to sleep.  By morning there really was no improvement.  We were having 20 foot waves at times.  We were holding to railings as we went to breakfast.  At breakfast we were holding onto our plates so our food wouldn’t end up on the floor.  At afternoon tea and treats there was a big crash when a stack of dishes hit the floor.  Over the next 24 hours there were those who fell out of bed and out of chairs when we would have a larger wave.  We finally completed our crossing on the 20th and thankfully the meclizine worked and we were not sick.  At 7:10pm we first spotted land.  Not yet Antarctica, but the South Shetland Islands and they were a beautiful site!  We survived the Drake and it’s fury, no worse for the experience.

Finally On Board and a Free Penguin Cruise

February 4, 2025

After our embarkation briefing the evening before, we all began the day (Friday, January 17th) excited to finally board our ship later.  All luggage was tagged and in the holding area at 8:00am, except for our day packs.    The luggage would be taken to the ship and placed in our staterooms by the time we arrived.  We spent the remainder of the morning hiking the trails on the mountain – part of a nature preserve owned by the hotel.  Another beautiful area with a few inclines to climb but mostly fairly easy. The winds were getting stronger all morning.  We went back into town to do a little more shopping prior to boarding the ship.

We were picked up by a bus about two blocks from the pier, because we were not allowed to walk through the gates to the ship.   So, we all hopped on the bus and then right back off at the entry gangway of Seaventure.  By this time – about 4:30 pm, the winds were so high that Anne almost lost her footing when leaving the bus. It was a little scary.  The very short distance to the safety of the ship was a challenge.  After being led to our state rooms it was time for mandatory safety drills required to be completed prior to leaving the dock.  Unfortunately, we learned at the briefing that we would not be sailing today.  There was a storm in the Drake Passage with swells over 7 meters (22 feet).  The captain planned for a 6pm departure the next day (January 18th).  We still had a nice evening on board the Seaventure, enjoying our first of many wonderful meals.

On Saturday morning, due to the delay in our departure, Polar Latitudes arranged for a catamaran tour out the Beagle Channel to get our first glimpses of Gentoo and Magellanic Penguins and South American sea lions. We didn’t get to make any shore landings but that will come later.  We all enjoyed the catamaran tour and then as planned on our return, we were able to throw off the lines from the dock and begin our Antarctica Expedition for real.  We departed at 6:15 pm.