Antarctica with Apprehension

[Flying mermaid]

I will lodge a report when I’ve tried the chinese
glasses. We’re doing a NZ cruise in 3 weeks and I will try them out. Hopefully they will come before then.

that would be great - quite a lot of interest on here!

 

[Flying mermaid]

The arctic is similar but different, if that makes any sense. Of course no penguins but there were polar bears and walruses which were cute. There were some dry landings and overall less snow and ice, but we were there in August so quite late in the season. Probably not as many animals but the polar bears are special. Lots of birds, earlier in the season there are puffins as well.

would love to see polar bears!

 

[drron]

Well even the Silver Explorer has been hit by a freak wave in Drake Passage-smashed the Bridge window.The Expedition Leader had a nasty gash to the head.
Another Close Call in Antarctica: Silver Explorer Damaged By Large Wave | Cruise Law News

But the Clelia II really copped it-it became the Orion 2.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Well even the Silver Explorer has been hit by a freak wave in Drake Passage-smashed the Bridge window.The Expedition Leader had a nasty gash to the head.
Another Close Call in Antarctica: Silver Explorer Damaged By Large Wave | Cruise Law News

But the Clelia II really copped it-it became the Orion 2.

Omg - glad I didn’t see that before we went!

 

[Flying mermaid]

OK - let's get this report back on track. Mr FM, suitably chastened, has supplied some more photos. Lots more ice in the sea at and on the way to the Antarctic circle.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Drinks on deck as we crossed and then of course an initiation ceremony. Ice down your back and a pink nose.

 

[Flying mermaid]

This was followed by a polar plunge, with zodiacs in the water to push the ice away. Ms FM and SIL did it - with her Raynaud's, her fingers and legs froze, so she needed help getting back up the ladder

 

[Flying mermaid]

Some photos of the ship's interior

View from the Panorama lounge out to the swimming pool

The lovely central spiral stairway. There were lifts as well, which we took when queasy - somehow walking round the stairs made it worse!

The main lecture theatre - also had welcoming and farewell coughtails here

 

[Flying mermaid]

The crossing back again was if anything smoother than when we came over. Ms FM wasn't great even with the patch, I was OK and Mr FM refused to wear a patch or get out of bed. I made him take a Kwells and that seemed to settle his stomach and he was OK after that. At 3AM I woke up and thought - we aren't rocking! Yes we were back in the Beagle Channel - wonderful. Later that day we docked again.

We still had another evening on board the boat, so a hike was being organised. It was supposed to be very wet, so we didn't really have the right hiking boots. We joined the hike and walked up the hill to the top of Ushuaia and then just wandered around on our own.

Patted lots of friendly dogs and then went back into the little town and bought some penguins and t-shirts and things. Saw some fabulous carvings from Argentinian stone that I would have bought in a heartbeat 10 years ago, but at my age I am getting rid of things not accumulating.

 

[Flying mermaid]

There was a farewell buffet that night with masses of desserts

 

[Flying mermaid]

There was an auction of a chart of the voyage, illustrated and signed. Quite a beautiful piece. The proceeds from the auction went to the Crew welfare fund, to pay for extras for them. First I had heard of it and as I have learnt since we could have contributed to it, which we would have been quite happy to do -seems to be one of those "in" secrets for frequent cruisers.

Initially it was the American bidding against each other, but then the Chinese stepped in and won it with a bid of US$5,000.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Luggage had to be outside your room that night and this time we didn't see it again until Santiago. Organisation was immaculate and we were transferred to the airport and given boarding passes. Quite a long boring wait to board the plane. Lunch was served on the plane - two choices plus cake and cheese and biscuits

 

[Flying mermaid]

Most people who were staying in Santiago seemed to be going back to the Sheraton. We wanted something a bit nicer for the last two nights and had booked The Singular independently. Our transport was waiting for us and we were soon at the hotel getting checked in while we sat and ate chocolates they provided

I much prefer welcome chocolates to a welcome drink.

 

[Bindibuys]

Late to this TR, but fabulous report, Thanks

 

[Flying mermaid]

That night we ambled around the neighbourhood - it was a Wednesday night, but really lively and murals on the walls of buildings

 

[Flying mermaid]

No-one felt like doing anything formal for dinner, so we ate at Cafe Lastarria and thoroughly enjoyed it. Apart from a variety of Empanadas, we also had a stew with cheese and crab and prawns - loved that.



We then walked it off with a walk through the park seeing families and dogs.

we were accosted by a rather inebriated man seeking money, he became a bit stroppy when we wouldn't give him any. He asked if we were Americans, but when we said no Australians, he seemed to approve of that and was quite friendly and then went wandering off.

We returned to the hotel and went up to the roof bar for a drink - lovely atmosphere, particularly as it was warm and humid. coughtails were pricey (but then I always find coughtails expensive). We drank there the following night as well really enjoyed it.

 

[Flying mermaid]

Not too many photos of the hotel - we had arrived at photo taking fatigue by now. This is one of a courtyard from one of the floors above.

 

[Flying mermaid]

The next day we walked up Santa Lucia Hill which was near the hotel. More interesting than I thought, as apart from the gardens there were historical facades and statues and fountains.

 

[Flying mermaid]

We then ate at a restaurant opposite Casa Lastarria - Urriola - nice but nothing special

 

[Flying mermaid]

Ms FM had been told by the concierge to visit the Costanera Centre, so we took an Uber there. I didn’t enjoy it really - too many branded shops - could have been anywhere in the world.

Ms FM did buy a dress from Desiguel (a huge favourite with my girls) and I got some chocolates.

When we arrived there was a large dog outside looking in some distress from the heat. Fortunately we had a couple of bottles of water with us, so SIL used his hand as a receptacle and we were able to give him some water. We went inside to buy some more, but he was gone when we returned. Apparently there are a million street dogs in Chile - 1/2 million in Santiago alone. Apparently they really like their street dogs and look after them. All the dogs we saw seemed in fairly good condition and well fed, but it doesn’t seem that great a system really.