A Chronicle of Our Trip to the Antarctic: December 19, 2021, to January 13, 2022

To get away from Covid, and to celebrate a 36th wedding anniversary and Brian’s birthday, we took the big leap and chose to go to the Antarctic with Quark Expeditions: this voyage was to celebrate the 100^th anniversary of Ernest Shackleton’s death and to track the partial path of his expedition to the Antarctic.  We were away December 19 to January 13 and on the ship December 23 to January 10.

I was going to write this in chronological order, but even I found that boring.  Subsequently I have grouped comments into topic groups.  If necessary, skip all the preamble and go straight to the sections of most interest such as those on birds, penguins, seals, and whales!

Take your time since this seems to go on forever--chew it in pieces.

 The Trip Down

December 20-21:  Armed with two negative Covid tests in 3 days, we flew from Kelowna to Buenos Aires; our journey included 21 hours of flight between 5 airports, plus hours of waiting between legs to catch the next aircraft.

Buenos Aires is a huge city and dense.  The taxi ride from the airport purportedly cost $100 US which was a bit of an eye-opener.  (I’ll make more comments later.) When we arrived at our hotel, we found it had been newly refurbished with many elegant touches.  The entry foyer said it all.

The hotel featured an outdoor inner garden (yes… or was it an inner outdoor garden?...) which was a haven of peace.  A fountain running down one wall provided a peaceful backdrop of sound, in contrast to the hurly burly of traffic outside. Bedtime was quite early.

On December 22, we met our fellow travellers and expedition team at the hotel, starting off with our third Covid test in 5 days.  Fortunately, we passed, but we did hear of two travellers who tested positive at this stage.  What a huge disappointment that must have been for them!

On December 23, breakfast was served at 6 am, and we were quickly bussed back to the airport where we boarded a charter plane headed for Ushuaia on the island of Tierra del Fuego.  Three hours and 15 minutes of flying brought us to our sixth airport in three days.

We were bussed out for an Argentinian barbeque at a resort about ½ an hour from town.  The building was a rustic wood cabin; they had a large outdoor building dedicated to a big wood fire used for cooking meat.  We were serenaded by an Argentinian cowboy….or whatever.

 

After a brief scenic stop, we were finally bussed to the ship, where we embarked at about 4 pm.

Our Vessel, the Ultramarine Ship

 Each one of the ship’s crew and the Expedition Team (E-team) were really excited about this trip since it was the inaugural voyage of the ship “Ultramarine”, built specifically for polar voyages. 

 It was also built for luxury.

Our cabins were relaxing and well-furnished with lots of storage space designed to handle the rolling of a ship in wilder conditions.  We had a balcony with two deck chairs; the bathroom floors were heated. Decadent.

 

The ship featured helidecks on top for two helicopters, and specially designed compartments for the Zodiacs, kayaks, and paddle-boarding options available for passengers.

 An upper floor included a sauna, steam room, and spa for massages, etc.  A fully equipped gym had two treadmills, an exercise bicycle, rowing machine, weighted exercise multi-station, and loose weights.  There was also a fitness room to be used for yoga sessions, complete with yoga instructor on board.

 

The sauna had floor to ceiling windows looking out over the ocean.

Dining facilities were excellent, complete with linen tablecloths and silverware and more wait staff than you could count.  I thought I’d include a menu from one evening meal just to give you a taste of what we endured.  We soon developed a new saying:  “We ate our way through the day…..”  Quickly our waddling resembled that of the penguins, but thankfully we had noticeably different plumage.

 

The ship also included a large and a smaller presentation lounge with bar service.  Audiovisual was coordinated between the two lounges as well as with the large TV screens in our cabins, so there were ample options for participation.

Art appeared as wall murals in stairwells, unique pictures of acoustical whale representations in the dining room, and a huge feature wall with a life-size drawing of a Fin Whale tail.

Soon after embarking the crew held a lifeboat drill.  This ship had what I would call “Life Pods”, which were totally enclosed to protect you from the elements.

Also, they had a little maneuverable craft to pick up unexpected swimmers.  Brian got a shot of the crew doing a “Man Overboard” drill.  We wondered who was the unlucky one chosen to go into the sea.

 

There was a general ship routine.  In the morning, the day’s program would be posted on screens throughout the ship.  On the days we were sailing, we would get presentations from the Expedition Team (E-Team) featuring birds, marine mammals, geology, history, and anything else you could think of relevant to our surroundings.

 

Just as a side note, sunrise that day was 3:09 am and sunset was at 22:17 pm.  Winter be be obviously the exact opposite.

Most days featured some kind of Zodiac cruise and/or landing, and there was rarely time to just sit around.  If you needed that kind of break, the in-cabin entertainment offerings offered 40-50 movies ranging from the classics to the just-released.

Many of the ship’s crew came from the Philippines where apparently there is a school dedicated to learning the skills needed by sailors, ship maintenance, housekeeping staff and waitstaff.  Their service was impeccable.  Our dining room waiter took about 15 seconds to twist a serviette into a rose for me one night.

 

The Expedition Team comprised 25 remarkably adventurous, skilled and knowledgeable individuals from all around the world who brought unlimited enthusiasm and tremendous expertise.  They worked relentlessly, seemingly without sleep, to make our trip as memorable and enjoyable as possible.

 You can see the planned itinerary at the following link: 

https://www.quarkexpeditions.com/ca/expeditions/celebrating-shackleton-journey-antarctica-to-south-georgia

 At the same time, we were briefed that we were on an “expedition”.  Plans might be completely changed because of weather, currents, or unforeseen circumstances; we could expect that by being flexible we would have a trip unparallel to anyone else’s.  That certainly turned out the case for us.

 “Quarkies”

 A huge perk from Quark was winter parkas for every passenger, many of whom would not have needed winter clothing at home.  The parka had a rugged outer shell, and a light and warm inner jacket, perfect for polar conditions.  I suspect the colour, a bright yellow, was a deliberate choice because you could see Quarkies (my name for us passengers) from a mile away. Here is an example of a handsome model outfitted to a “T”.

 

 Sailing the Drake Passage

Going out, it took us two days to cross the famed Drake Passage, a channel notorious for its evil weather at times.  Our voyage was very benign.  That changed on the way back, when we experienced winds of up to 60 knots and swells up to 4-5 meters. Our captain was actually trying to sail around a couple of storm cells, and succeeded well, but it did add some time to the sail back.

 

Sailing Time

 While we were sailing between stops, time was well spent getting educated in a number of briefings ranging from topics such as geology, glaciology, ornithology, marine mammals, history, and a number of topics guaranteed to pique our interest and illuminate some of the marvels we were seeing around us.

 Excursions

 We had 16 excursions while we were at sea, one with helicopters for “Flightseeing” and the remainder with Zodiacs (inflatable agile motorboats).

 In each case, we were given comprehensive safety briefings.

 For the helicopter ride, they could fit seven of us on the craft with the pilot.  In our case, I got to sit up front in the co-pilot seat and couldn’t be bothered to even try and take inadequate pictures.  Brian and the rest were in the cabin, and he got a good couple of shots from the air.  Our second attempt was successful; the first attempt was marred by deteriorating weather making it difficult for the second chopper to find the ship upon return!

 

Zodiac cruises were mainstream, with some cruise-only options and other with landing options, again depending on the weather.  With all options, we disembarked and reembarked directly at the ship.  This was quite a drill in itself.  We all got dressed up in our cold weather gear, and then donned boots supplied by Quark (Muck Boots—very suitable).  We got checked by some of the E-team for proper wearing of the safety vest, and then lined up, scanned out, and sent out by groups of 7 to the gangway.  Upon return we were scanned back in.

 

If we made a landing, we also had to undergo biosecurity measures before and afterwards.  Those methods included a close inspection of our clothing by the E-team for lint in Velcro, vacuuming of our packets and back packs to remove loose debris, and dipping our boots in a biocide solution to cleanse them before leaving.  Upon our return, we had to clean our boots thoroughly in boot-washing machines before walking through the biocide solution again before proceeding through the ship.

 

Some invasive plants have already made themselves known, just like in Greenland.

 

Landings could be a workout in themselves....

Or fairly benign....

Birds

 Of course there were lots of birds!

If we were near land, some would come out and follow the ship, hoping for treats like the refuse from the fishing trawlers. 

Sometimes we got an unusual experience, such as seeing an elusive nesting site as this of the Snow Petrel, hidden in a small cave within rocks.

 

An occasional colony, such as this one of Blue-Eyed Shags, occurred on rocks much higher up.  Other times we would see them just floating around in the water.

 

One rather distasteful bird (human reaction), the Snowy Sheath-Bill,  was often seen with penguins.  They are the epitome of opportunistic eaters in my mind, for they ingest penguin poop. From what I could tell they ate anything except rocks. They are also very curious and could be seen exploring E-team equipment left on the shore.

 

We saw “Tube-Nosed” birds who had this unique adaptation on their bill to filter out the salt from the seawater they ingested.

 

This guy was a Giant Southern Petrel, with a wingspan of about 7 feet.  Big suckers.

Some fascinating little birds, Wilson's Storm Petrels, would "dance" on the water to attract krill.

Since 2/3 of the E-team and half of the passengers had monster cameras with 2-foot lenses, most of the great bird shots will come from our expedition log from Quark, available a month or so by now.  So you have been spared quite a bit from amateur bird pictures.

Until now......

Penguins

 Finally, the good stuff!!

We did several landings at penguin colonies, and naturally took picture, after picture, after picture, after picture….

The first landing was that at a Gentoo penguin colony.

 

The first suggestion of the presence of penguins is that of trails between dark patches—as you get closer you realize that the trails connect nest sites over snow.  The trails are marked by penguin poo, often very red in colour because of the krill they eat.

 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krill)  

You know you have arrived based on two senses:  the smell of the digested krill (yuck) and the noise of the penguins.  Parents take turns following paths down to ocean to go feeding, and then returning to regurgitate food for the chicks.  Somehow, they know their partners by the sounds of their calls, so there is much to-ing and fro-ing until they have determined things sound exactly right.

 Gentoo penguins are described as having earmuffs and lipstick.  They are a small penguin, weighing only about 12 pounds and standing 2 ½ feet high.

 

These penguins love to climb up slopes to find rocky outcrops, where the stones will help absorb the heat and improve incubation of the eggs.

 Their nests are astonishing piles of pebbles, carefully gathered by the male to entice a mate.  Estimates suggest about 1500 pebbles per nest.  Given the surroundings at times, there can be a dearth of pebbles, so there is constant piracy between nests.  Even when there are more pebbles, piracy is still the norm.

 

As usual, the chicks are as cute as can be.

 

 If you see a penguin with a dirty breast, it means they have been sitting on the nest for a while.  Once they get their chance to go out and feed, they will return in a pristine state.

Adelie penguins are even smaller and seem to make up for that by living by the 1000’s in colonies.  

They are a simple black and white bird with a striking blue eye surrounded by a white eye ring.  These guys seem to be constantly in motion going to and from nests to feeding and back to nests.  At the beach, platoons of penguins moved in both directions, like a high traffic divided highway; they tend to wait until a small group is ready to jump into the water, probably to increase individual safety from predation.  A killed penguin means that a whole family dies; the other partner will not leave the nest alone and the chicks will die of starvation.

 

Of course their chicks are cute too....

All penguins will “porpoise” through the waters, giving a joyous feel to their swimming movement.  This method apparently saves them up to 30% of energy expenditure by diminishing water drag.  Adelies seem particularly adept at this and one set of our cruises involved penguins landing inadvertently in several of our Zodiacs, much to the consternation of penguins and passengers alike.  Our driver that day, Bertie, had had that happen 3 times in seven years.  On our trip, he had that happen twice in a morning!  We would try to set backpacks down to give them a step up, but our guy managed to get out the back quite nicely on its own.

 

We visited a huge colony of King Penguins, the second largest penguin, up to 39” tall and 40 lb.  They sit on their eggs like the famous Emperor Penguin, holding them on their feet above ground.

 

The chicks give no hint to their future plumage until they finally start to moult.  At one time, early ornithologists described the chicks as a separate species, that of the “Wooley Penguin”.  In the meantime, the adults also moult, giving them a very ragged and unkempt look.

 

Like any other penguin, Kings are loud.  I attempted a brief video to let you hear a standard background cacophony of penguins and wind.

 

Although we didn’t actually visit a colony, we would see the occasional Chinstrap Penguin hanging around others.  Apparently, they are the most aggressive and ill-tempered of the penguins, so perhaps missing a colony visit was no loss.  They are rather handsome, though.

 

And finally, my favourite.  We saw some. Macaroni Penguins from the Zodiac.  They were named after men in the mid-1800's who wore extraordinary headgear.  What can I say?

Penguin watching is not for the faint of heart here.

Penguins were vulnerable to egg and chick predation by Skuas, who would tend to work in pairs.  One would get the attention of the bird on the nest, and while distracted the other Skua would steal an egg or a chick. One Skua pair enjoyed their morning success.

 

When we were out cruising in the Zodiac, now and then we could see the head of a leopard seal poking out of the water.  It eventually made a penguin kill and then proceeded to flail the bird against the water back and forth to remove its skin and feathers, preferring the meat inside.  (The seal’s front teeth were optimized for seizing prey while the back teeth were built for straining krill.  Thus, a leopard seal cannot chew its way through a carcass and needed to expose the innards, which then could be pulled out by the front teeth.)  Once a kill was made, you could see the sea birds gathering and landing on the water to eat pieces of blubber, etc., that had escaped.

 

 

Each day the crew holds a recap of the day just before dinner.  One was beyond our wildest imagination.  Noah, one of our three ornithologists on board, mentioned some highlights of the day and then went on to present a paper published in the Journal of Polar Biology regarding the pressure used in emitting penguin poop.  It was just too funny, but very authentic.  It did win an Ig Nobel prize.

 

The Ig Nobel Prize (/ˌɪɡnoʊˈbɛl/ IG-noh-BEL) is a satiric prize awarded annually since 1991 to celebrate ten unusual or trivial achievements in scientific research, its stated aim being to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think." The name of the award is a pun on the Nobel Prize, which it parodies, and on the word ignoble (not noble).

Organized by the scientific humor magazine Annals of Improbable Research (AIR), the Ig Nobel Prizes are presented by Nobel laureates in a ceremony at the Sanders Theater, Harvard University, and are followed by the winners' public lectures at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.^[2]

Can you see how educated we have become?

 If you are interested, you can contribute to penguin research right from your own home.  There is a website devoted to penguin research and they require volunteers to help count penguins in photos.  We did see some of their cameras in the colonies we visited.  Here’s the website:

 https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/penguintom79/penguin-watch

 Some Canadians are doing research about penguin colonies and the impact of climate change.

https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.5750840

Seals

When it came time that we might encounter some seals, we had a graphic training session on how to keep gnarly animals at bay.  Here in one of the presentation lounges, E-team members, cleverly disguised by wearing seal pelts, targeted ignorant Quarkies who had to learn how to keep the beasts at bay using walking poles.

The Leopard Seal is the second-largest seal, and has only one predator, the killer whale.  Their skulls encase massive jaws that make them such a serious predator.

Seals were a common sighting, but the best group was found on South Georgia Island, where there was a colony of Southern Fur Seals.  Seal pups were in abundance everywhere (how to spell CUTE); males had established beach territories, and the females would come ashore just before giving birth to their pups.  They would nurse about 4 months.  In the meantime, the babies loved to explore puddles and trundled all over with seemingly boundless energy.

 

The males were over 4 times the size of the females, and often spent their time sleeping off their arduous labours of protection.

They even came in different colours.

 Here is a typical family group.

 

It seemed like Fur Seals are born to fight: males would squabble over territory, females would snap at the males to protect their pups, and pups engaged in mock battles at any provocation.

We came upon a number of Weddell Seals, who had often hauled themselves up on ice to catch a nice nap.  They like to hang around air holes in the ice and could dive deeply for as long as an hour at a time, so they were not as visible as some of the others.  They were noted for their resemblance to “cat faces”.

 

The final group was that of Elephant Seals, named for their long noses.  These guys were MASSIVE, weighing up to 8800 pounds and up to 6 feet long.  The bulls are much bigger than the cows.  Babies can be born at weights up to 79 pounds and lengths up to four feet.  Weaned pups of all kinds are called “weaners”, pronounced exactly like hot dogs, but these suckers are big.

 

  

 Whales

 We had several whale sightings while we were on board, but you had to be nimble in perception and quick with the camera to get evidence.  Apparently, there were some humpback sightings, but the highlight for us was sailing into waters around Elephant Island that were active with a pod of 50-75 Fin Whales.

 The first signs were blows all over the seascape. The closer we got, the more spouts we could see.  The  huge pod feeding in the waters churned the krill further, while penguins porpoised in the water all around, and petrels were flying over the swells to catch anything showing up to the surface.  It was a truly astonishing site of wildlife all around us.

 

Fin Whales are “baleen” whales, meaning they are built to filter krill through their mouths. They can grow up to 85 feet long and over 110 tons in weight, second only to the blue whale in size.  Brian got some great pictures of them beside the ship.

 

It seems they were hunted almost to extinction by the whalers.  With the restrictions set on whaling in the last decade their numbers are improving, but it remains to be seen how full their restoration might be.

That story is repeated for a number of whale species in the Antarctic.

Icebergs

Just like looking at penguins, you could take a zillion pictures of icebergs and still find a new one that was just so evocative.  There are a number of basic features about icebergs. 

 The saying “the tip of the iceberg” refers to the fact that the iceberg is about 90% under water.  If you get close to one, you can see the foot just below the surface of the water surrounding the tip. 

 

Some icebergs start as large tabular bergs—looking like large tables floating around in the ocean.  They can be several stories high.  Over time, with weathering and wave action, their contours will change and they will roll to come into equilibrium once more.  That can be quite a dangerous experience if you are too close.  With further weathering and rolling, unique forms will be carved out of the ice, becoming quite fancy pieces of natural “art”.  The deeper the ice was in the original glacier, the less gasses were trapped in the ice from the pressure of the weight above, and the bluer the ice was in colour. 

 

We didn’t see any real examples of icebergs calving from a glacier, but we did run close to the side of a very active face with the water full of brash ice (pieces no greater than 2 meters long).  Moving through this stuff in a zodiac was somewhat disconcerting, for the ice moving against the rubber made sounds similar to that of surfing in a coffee grinder.

 

Our fellow travellers seemed to enjoy icebergs even more than we did.

Rocks

 A geologist could spent a fine time in the Antarctic.  Evidence of volcanic activity was everywhere, from the caldera of an active volcano in the midst of Deception Island, to spires of basaltic columns on Elephant Island, to “ventifacts” of volcanic tuff, and all kinds of interesting rock formations.  A new term for our vocabulary was “nunatak” i.e. an isolated peak of rock projecting above inland ice or snow.

 

We sailed right into the heart of the caldera since an eruption was unlikely.

Basaltic cliffs...

Ventrifacts...

Rock formations...

Volcanic tuff....

  

Vegetation

 We encountered little vegetation on our landings until we reached South Georgia.  Even lichen populations on rocks were worthy of note.

South Georgia had the first vascular plants we’d seen, the biggest of which were Tussock Grasses, growing easily 2 ½ feet tall.  I quickly named these “Growling Grasses”.  They were wonderful hiding sites for weaners, who would emerge only to challenge anyone disturbing their nap.

 

Other plants and fungi were only inches above the ground.  Greater Burnet, a small flowering plant, created seed pods that separated and clung to absolutely everything. Compare that to Burdock, Cheat Grass, or any other tenacious invasive who overcame anything to travel at their will.  I found an individual seed on the side of my suitcase back home, and that bio risk was quickly eliminated.

 

The Antarctic Feeling

How to summarize the Antarctic?  When we started the voyage, it became immediately clear that any preconceived notions had to be discarded in face of reality.

One of the first things I had to come to terms with was the hugeness of everything.  Long distances between destinations, big sweeps of ocean, weather systems and currents unhindered by land masses, massive glaciers and looming stark rocky mountaintops…..nothing fit the “little boxes” that would help me scale things.  As a result, I have often included pictures of Quarkies or Zodiacs just to help give an idea of scale.

Despite being there in the height of summer, temperatures varied little from 0 to 5 degrees Celsius, and we could experience rain, snow, high winds and any other variation of weather that could happen all in one day.  Katabatic winds were common here:  winds caused by local downward motion of dense cool air under the force of gravity.  These would blow down off the glaciers and steep slopes and were quite forceful, as well as being darn cold.  Because of the low temperatures and high humidity, skies were often overcast.

Because of the weather, a lot of scenes were monochromatic and moody.

For the most part, everything was silent, except when you came upon a penguin colony or a fur seal baby beach, and those were not as common as my pictures might have suggested.  Normally, you just heard the wind.

Even in summertime, the Antarctic was also relentlessly unforgiving.  Survival is a word that could be used daily here, even as sheltered as we were on our luxury trip.  The history of some of the explorers was gruesome, even for the successful ones.  Like many other places, the area was exploited by whalers and sealers who only left when the sea stocks were hugely depleted.  Fortunately, the animals are coming back.

I think I could sum it best by borrowing the title of a book on Newfoundland: “This Marvellous, Terrible Place”

 The Shackleton Story

Sir Ernest Shackleton was one of three Antarctic explorers making significant expeditions to be the first to get to the South Pole.  On January 9, 1909, as part of the Nimrod Expedition, he reached 88 degrees 23 minutes south with only 89 miles left to go but was unable to proceed further.

 On 14 December 1911, the Norwegian Roald Amundsen and his team were first to reach the South Pole, using skis and sled dogs to great advantage.

 On 17 January 1912, the British Robert Falcon Scot reached the South Pole, finding to their dismay they had been beaten.  All five perished as they started back.

 Shackleton and his crew set sail for the Antarctic from Britain on August 1, 1914, literally days before Britain mobilized for World War I.  His goal was to be the first to traverse the Antarctic continent.  They made the whaling station (Grytviken) at South Georgia Island, via Buenos Aires, on November 5.  By December 7, they encountered heavy pack ice end eventually became trapped in the Weddell Sea, encased in an ice floe, on January 18, 1915. They drifted for 10 months until the ship was crushed on October 26, eventually sinking on November 21.  On April 9, 1916, Shackleton and his crew took three lifeboats to reach Elephant Island, arriving there in three days, and becoming the first humans to set foot there.

 Elephant Island is one of the bleakest, rockiest, and inhospitable islands you can imagine.  There is very little beach, with steep spires of rock, and glaciers everywhere.  Where the men sheltered would have offered very little protection from violent weather and waves.

 

(Keep in mind these pictures were taken at the height of summer.)

On April 24, Shackleton with 5 select men headed out for South Georgia, eight hundred miles away.  They landed on the south side of South Georgia, and had to cross uncharted glaciers, crevasses, and mountains before finally returning to the whaling station 18 months after their original departure.

The crew left behind on Elephant Island survived for another four months before being successfully rescued on the fourth attempt.

You can get the full, if somewhat understated and matter-of-fact, story in his book, "South:  The Endurance Expedition" Having seen some of these locations (in the height of summer) brought to full force the physical and mental challenges they faced less than a century ago.

Our final landing was made at Grytviken, the whaling station on the north side of South Georgia.  Shackleton is buried in a tiny whaler’s graveyard on the side of the station.  The tradition is to toast Shackleton in scotch, then throw the remainder of your drink on his grave.

 

Tim Jarvis

 We had the privilege of having Tim Jarvis aboard, who made an almost unimaginable journey by recreating parts of Shackleton’s voyage, wearing the clothing of the time and eating the food such as that available to the men.  His subsequent book, entitled “Shackleton's Epic: Recreating the World's Greatest Journey of Survival” describes the physical challenges faced by Shackleton and his men in terms of today’s perception.  Tim is a big man, 6 foot 5 inches in height and 220 pounds in weight, and he is also very fit.  He told us he lost 70 pounds on his journey, and his pictures of the conditions they experienced and the frostbite endured made weaker mortals like me quail.  Naturally Tim did the toast to Shackleton at the gravesite.

 

The greatest importance of Shackleton’s Expedition was that he brought his men all back alive despite harrowing circumstances.  It was a remarkable tale of leadership, loyalty and the endurance of the human spirit.

 Grytviken

 Grytviken is a fascinating site on its own, with remnants of large-scale whaling activity to render blubber into oil and ship it back to Europe.  One estimate suggests 178,000 whales were processed there; little wonder the seas emptied in very little time.  Baleen from baleen whales was used before plastics came to replace them, with a classic use of putting baleen in ladies’ corsets (and mens’ !) to sculpt a more svelte figure than nature intended.

The station has buildings such as a church and a museum (probably living quarters at one time) as well as derelict whaling ships, massive conveyers to haul carcasses out of the water, enormous storage tanks for whale oil, and artifacts everywhere.

An amusing side note is that seals considered many places ideal for naps.

You can see a good tour of Grytvicken here.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-60010608

Occasions

Although Brian tried to keep his birthday low-key, on the morning of the day he received a birthday card signed by all members of the E-team.  At dinner, the dining room staff brought out a chocolate cakes with candles, and he was serenaded in both English and Philippine with the appropriate birthday songs.  Upon returning to our cabin at the end of the day, we were met by a birthday bunny, created by our cabin steward.

 

Two days later we received another cake on our anniversary, which was shared eagerly by some teenagers sitting close to us.

Christmas and New Year were marked by exquisite meals where I didn’t have to cook, and Brian didn’t have to do dishes.  It just didn’t get any better!!

One of the strongest traditions on a polar voyage is the of the Polar Plunge.  You jump in the ocean (and die)….no, you get out quickly and spend hours warming up after.  Having met this challenge on both an Arctic and Antarctic trip in the past, I felt no compulsion to reinforce cold.  Brian, a much more sensible person, has declined the opportunity right from the beginning.  One of the best parts, however, is being treated to a photo show afterwards on facial expressions of those entering the water.  I believe 58 of the passengers on this trip succeeded on that right of passage.

Covid and Health Challenges

Quark made every effort to ensure the health and safety of passengers.

We met our fellow travellers and expedition team at the hotel Emperador on December 22, starting off with our third Covid test in 5 days.  Fortunately, we passed, but we did hear of some travellers who tested positive at this stage.  What a huge disappointment that must have been for them!

 Our Christmas present was a PCR test.  Whoopee-do.

 We learned the next day that a passenger had tested positive for Covid, and was now quarantined as well as two close contacts.  We had been introduced to two out of three; both been brought on the trip as special presenters.  We hoped to see them in the last part of the trip.  (We did.)  We all had been assigned to specific tables in the dining room, suitably separated.  Staff were extremely discreet but careful observation of a suddenly empty table led to our conclusion about victims.

 On December 28, we had our second Covid test on board.

 Before dinner that night we were informed that a passenger had had a medical emergency and we were required to travel to the South Shetland Islands to the closest location with an airfield.  The airfield was there because of several research stations located on the island.

Regrettably, another passenger tested positive for Covid, and had to be sequestered.  They were part of a large family group of 10, and all those contacts were now in quarantine.  Bummer!  It is a relief that Quark has such careful precautions; it is a shock that, despite all those precautions, cases are still showing up.

 We would be tested again on December 31.  If that showed a positive case, it would be likely a shipborne transmission. Fortunately, that did not happen.

On December 30, much to the relief of everyone, the medevac was carried out successfully, around 4pm.  We could see the aircraft arrive on the island about noon since the ship was pointed right at the airport.  The medevac was a far bigger production than I had expected, for it took several hours.  The plane landed, and subsequently sent out a team of two doctors, a nurse, and a paramedic to assess the patient before transporting them back to land.  We found out that the patient was immediately transferred to an ICU upon arrival in South America and was stabilizing.  Apparently, the situation was more dire than we realized.

 In the meantime, a second plane had landed.  The family affected by Covid had evaluated their situation with regards to the remainder of the trip and had decided to charter an aircraft to return home more expeditiously.  I have no idea of how much that cost, but the hospital was 1000 km away from the airfield.  Apparently the second aircraft was able to bring more support personnel to help with the first situation, so everyone benefitted.

 Naturally we were all curious; the E-team cleared with the affected parties to allow them to communicate some of the info to us while ensuring privacy.  This was a classic situation of grace under pressure.  This also was a reminder of how stark things could be in the Antarctic.

Buenos Aires

We arrived a day before we were to meet our group, so we could recover from travel fatigue.

Exploring around the hotel and in some green spaces certainly expanded our experience. 

One park featured a huge sculpture of a blossom that apparently opened during the day and closed up again at night.  

Statues, fountains, other “art” and plantings were dotted hither and yon. 

Huge trees were planted in the boulevards, many of which were Jacaranda trees in bloom with clusters of purple fragrant flowers. 

From our hotel window we looked upon 10 lanes of divided road just below us, and construction cranes dotting the skyline.  Nonetheless, once you walked the boulevards you got a wonderful sense of greenery and shade.  Temperatures were in the mid-30’s (not a viable staging place for our cruise……)

 

We did learn some fine points about furniture moving in the city.  Apartments are packed along city streets, and I am sure some (many?) are miniscule in size with small hallways and doors.  An apartment on the first floor of a building was just in process of receiving a credenza, sofa and love seat.  It was imperative to stay and watch.

 

How to spell excitement in Buenos Aires:  take a taxi.  Their unwritten charter consists of the following points:

•      Do a minimum of 20 km over the posted speed limit, especially downtown.
•      Turn signals are not allowed under any circumstances.
•      Tailgating is a necessary procedure to give you a chance at a faster lane.

How to spell incredible excitement in Buenos Aires:  ride a motorbike.  Some of their strategic moves involve:

•      Creeping up between any lane of cars on the lane lines to reach the front of the intersection.
•      Pre-anticipating the light change by 2 nano-seconds in order to surge out in front of car traffic and gain an advantage.

 How to spell regular excitement in Buenos Aires:  drive a car.  Your rules are as follows:

•     You are in control of your destiny.  You own the lane, your speed is your choice, and oblivion prevents you from being irritated at any other drivers.
•      Along parkways, feel free to pull over at any point, drive onto the grass and get out to have a picnic in the shade of a tree.
•     Drive a European car of any kind since North American cars have not been invented at this point, and even if they were they would be too damn big.

 Ushuaia

Ushuaia has a population of approximately 90,000 people, many of whom are involved in provisioning ships for voyages in the Antarctic.  The Andes mountains terminate here, so the terrain is much like that of Newfoundland.  Gravel, jagged mountain tops, and snow at the upper levels made us feel quite at home, but the tree line was only 600 meters above sea level.  Temperatures were about 5-10 degrees Celsius, which would be the height of summer for them.

The port has the advantage of being well inland and sheltered from the Antarctic weather, winds, and currents, so many vessels such as ours used it.  Some were fishing vessels, some were container vessels, and some were cruise ships.

 We had brief chances to explore both at the beginning and ending of our trip, with a tour to a National Park on our return.  Tiera del Fuego is an island shared equally by the Chileans and the Argentinians.  There is purportedly great harmony, but I suspect also great rivalry.

 Like our Canadian coast-to-coast road, Argentina has a Tiera del Fuego highway right up to Alaska.  It was impossible to get a solo view of the marker with everyone posing, but the subjects all seemed happy.

 

  A very southern post office was another feature.

 

 At the end of the day, and at the end of the journey....

We missed the bulk of the Omicron Covid-19 outbreak in Canada, and after 6 PCR tests, two antigen tests and two more PCR tests during our trip, we arrived home healthy and sound.  During our absence, our neighbours experienced a week of abnormally low temperatures (10-20 degrees below what we experienced in the south) and at least 24 inches of snow in two separate dumps.  Tough for them.  No wonder we went south!

We also experienced an intensity of new discoveries, sights, sounds and experiences beyond our wildest imagination.  What at thrill!

Thank you for visiting this site and sharing our experience.  It was incredible.