Recounting some of my adventures while not on the road. I traveled through Argentina on my way to Antarctica in early 2015, After Iquazu and Ushuaia we boarded the Akedemik Ioffe en-route to Antarctica
We set sail out of the Beagle Channel on our way to Antarctica! We would need to cross the Drake Passage first though. In my research I learned that the crossing of the Drake would either be very smooth (“Drake Lake”) or very rough (“Drake Shake”). I wasn’t too worried because I’d been on boats before without issue, but while our crossing wasn’t the full “Shake” it did lean towards that end of the spectrum and so I spent most of the two days it took to cross in my bunk with seasickness. Near the end of our crossing, I was well enough to explore the ship and got a good sense of our home for the next two weeks.
With the passage behind us, we headed as far south as possible in order to cross the Antarctic circle. Many Antarctic expeditions will spend more time along the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, but there were a few itineraries that offered the chance to go past the circle and so I decided I wanted to have this “achievement” and sacrifice a little extra time on land. We crossed at about 7AM on our third day at sea.
There wasn’t any sort of landmark that marked the crossing. Only our ship’s navigation and the party that our expedition team threw, helped us commemorate the occasion. There was hot chocolate, some tunes, a sounding of our ships horn, a group photo and general revelry among the crew and travelers that celebrated the feat. It was a special event for all of us on board and I’m happy to now say that I have crossed the Antarctic circle in my travels!
We attempted to visit Detaille Island which is past the Antarctic circle as our first stop, however due to ice conditions we wouldn’t be able to get our Zodiacs through to the Island.
So our first Antarctic activity was a zodiac cruise where we caught our first glimpses of penguins, seals and beautifully unique icebergs. It was at this point that I realized just how unique this area was and how blessed I would be to experience this amazing part of the world, barely touched by humans. If just these brief views from our Zodiac cruise was any indication, this was going to be an unreal two weeks!
Cruising was also a great opportunity for us to meet and get to know our fellow adventurers. It was awesome to meet fellow travelers that had a similar thirst for adventure and desire for exploration. We were all amazed at how pristine the environment was, mesmerized by the ice formations and the “cuteness” of the Penguins that greeted us!
Now that we had arrived, we were excited for what the next days would bring!