Antarctica, South Georgia, and the Falklands: Trip Report

[Deleted]

This sounds amazing! Thank you for sharing. I need to work on h to convince him to go.

How was it crossing the Drake passage? Was it really as bad as everyone says?

[frlcb]

I can't wait to see pictures, thanks for sharing! Is there a minimum age for the ship?

[frlcb]

Feb 21, 2015 15:59:53 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

Feb 21, 2015 15:00:54 GMT -5 frlcb said:

I can't wait to see pictures, thanks for sharing! Is there a minimum age for the ship?

There probably is a minimum age, but I don't know what it is.  I would say that I wouldn't want to do this trip until my kids are a little older - maybe 10+?  The surfaces you walk over can be kind of treacherous, and kids need to be old enough to be around the wildlife without it being dangerous at all, so my guess would be 10-12 as a minimum so they can truly enjoy it.  If I were to do this with kids, I would probably want to try to find a "family" trip if they offered one.  The crowd on board the boat was all much older than we are, and we were referred to as "middle age" by some of the staff (because they usually only see retired people or (grand)parents traveling with their teenage / low 20s (grand)children) so I'm not sure how well what we did would have been tailored to younger ones.  Also, the boat has nothing to entertain you except lectures, which would have made the sea days REALLY long since I think you need to be at least 12ish to really find the lectures interesting.     

Thanks! We wouldn't do it til they were probably teenagers anyway but this is good info!

[frlcb]

Amazing photos!

[GilliC]

I'm curious what the landings are like at this time in the season. Were you walking through a lot of snow? Or were the landing sites more clear and rocky? I've heard that late in the season they can get very muddy from all the landings, but it's probably still early for that. We were on one of the first sailings of the season, so many of our landings required an advance team going out and flagging a path through thigh-deep snow! Of course that also meant the penguins weren't nesting yet, but it was so iconic seeing them all standing around in the snow! I guess by now most of the chicks had hatched? Were they adorable?!

Where else did you visit on the peninsula? Did you send a postcard from Port Lockroy or visit one of the research stations? We were planning to visit the Brazilian base (this was before the fire), but conditions kept us from landing, so we visited the Polish Arktowski base instead. When I wear my Arktowski shirt, people ask if I worked there! I wish!

Did you go swimming? Our landing at Deception Island was on a windy overcast day with snow coming in sideways, and it was hard convincing ourselves to strip down on the beach! But we were all glad we did! A few people had done a plunge right off the boat launch a few days earlier! That terrifies me! But I'd like to try it just to face the fear (and enjoy the bragging rights)!

[GilliC]

Also, that is NOT a molting Adelie! That is a snake! Why is there a snake?! *shudder*

[GilliC]

One of the naturalists on our ship was previously with Lindblad and had very food things to say about it! I think it's definitely the cream of the crop, but the prices can be so high! I definitely wouldn't let it sway anyone from going, though. My first trip was with GAdventures, and while the ship was not high end, it was still very comfortable, and the little quirks about it being less cruise-shippy were kind of fun and actually something I'm going to miss sailing on the Hurtigruten Fram next year.

Re: the flights, Hurtigruten includes a charter flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia in their rate, which is convenient. And last time I was worried about the connection, so I just spent afew days in Ushuaia beforehand, which was nice because I had the chance to do some hiking in Tierra del Fuego. Also, GAdv includes a pre-trip hotel night in Ushuaia to try to minimize latecomers. The bigger problem on our sailing was delayed luggage, since Aerolineas Argentinas had a habit of putting people's bags on later flights! A lot of people didn't get their luggage until the next day! Nerve-wracking!

We had a very smooth crossing both directions, but the sailing after ours was bad enough that guests were sequestered in their cabins because it was too dangerous for people to walk the halls! A friend sent me video of the waves splashing five decks up onto the bridge! We did have one rough night down near the peninsula, but after setting everything on the floor (that hadn't fallen off the desk already), we were able to get back to sleep okay.

frlcb I'm sure it varies by company, but I've seen at least one list a minimum age of 12.

[thebulldog]

Amazing report. So great. Thanks so much for sharing.

Were you that close to wildlife or or those super zoom lens? Perfect photos.

What did you pack for this trip? I imagine spending a fortune at REI.

I live vicariously through all your adventures.

Sent from my SM-G900P using proboards

[labbie]

Amazing! Thank you for sharing, this trip is on my bucket list. As you mention, going to cross it off sooner rather than later.

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[mrsukyankee]

That's amazing. Can you give me a ballpark figure for the entire cost (so I can start convincing my H to save up)?

[GilliC]

mrsukyankee Our Hurtigruten trip next year is the cheapest I've seen of the trips visiting South Georgia, and it's €6000 per person, excluding flights to buenos aires, drinks, and activities like camping and kayaking. My first trip with GAdventures was just to the peninsula and cost $5000 US per person and required me to get to Ushuaia. Of the four or so years I've been watching, it seems that most trips start around $7500 per person.

[GilliC]

Feb 23, 2015 0:14:49 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

Are you doing the itinerary that has the South Orkney Islands?  If so I will be interested to hear about that.  I saw they have a longer Antarctica trip that does 8 or 9 days in Antarctica - I wish NatGeo would do that one, because I'd go back to just Antarctica for a longer time no questions asked!  It's neat to see that some companies are offering those longer trips.  

We are doing the South Orkney itinerary, but statistically they don't get to land very often, so everyone says not to get your hopes up, and that they add more Antarctica days instead which is definitely not a bad thing.

[mrsukyankee]

Thanks so much for the information!

[MNH2013]

Amazing pictures! It sounds like it was really a great trip. I can't wait to show H your report.

[SJ]

Your pictures are so incredible! Thank you so much for sharing!

[starryfish]

Feb 22, 2015 11:50:41 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

That's amazing. Can you give me a ballpark figure for the entire cost (so I can start convincing my H to save up)?

I went with a diff company and spent $10k. Could have gone it for $9k if had a cheaper room (this includes flights, etc). This is per person cost

Drake passage was pretty rough for our boat the first day but easy on second day. Our sister boat who left 24 hours ahead of us had a really bad crossing. The meds my doctor gave me were a lifesaver!!!