Return to Antarctica - 2015

The trip is finally here! Headed to the airport at 9:30am. After a short stay in the AA lounge, we boarded our plane for a noon departure to Dallas. Had a two hour layover, then boarded a 777 for our flight to Buenos Aires. Started watching The Newsroom, really enjoyed it.

Landed at around 9am, National Geographic took us to the Caesar Park hotel where we took a bit of a nap, then walked a short bit around the hotel. At 6pm there was a group briefing, then we walked down the street and had dinner with Hank and Mari, two fellow travelers. Then back to the hotel for another episode of Newsroom and bed.

Early flight down to Ushuaia, then a bus tour through a national park, ending at a catamaran for a lunch sail back to the harbor. Met Stephanie and John, two of our “partners in crime” for the rest of the trip. Boarded the ship around 4pm, settled into our room which was in the middle at the back of the ship. Headed upstairs for a lifeboat drill, then had a welcome aboard cocktail party in the lounge as the ship set sail south.

A whole day crossing the Drake passage. Seas were fairly light, the ship wasn’t moving around too much (to us at least). Had breakfast, and then spent time reading and watching more Newsroom.

After breakfast we had an Antarctica landing briefing, then had a gear check to make sure we weren’t bringing any contaminants to the area. After lunch we got our first landing at Barrientos Island where we saw a colony of Gentoo and Chinstrap penguins. Sooo cute! We had lots of fun taking pictures and video. Had a great diner back aboard then retired to our cabin for some Newsroom and reading.

Started out with the ship’s nose pushed right up against a rock wall; our captain loves showing off the capabilities of the ship! Did a zodiac tour where we saw a leopard seal and some cool icebergs. In the afternoon we went to Pleneau Bay, also known as the Iceberg Graveyard. Many icebergs breaking off the continent end up here due to the currents. They run aground and then slowly melt over a couple of years. Since they are grounded they are much safer to zodiac around.