Home again, home again, jiggity jig! What a trip!

Hello Everyone! It's good to be home but what a fantastic trip it was! Best I've ever taken in every aspect, including ship, food, scenery, tour staff, and excursions. I'm going to try to give you as much info as I can, but not overwhelm you. I kept a diary on the trip, so it will be the basis for the next few posts. Since it takes a while for pictures to load, I will break up the "travel log" into several posts, probably over the next few days, unless I get up a head of steam today. Green text is dates; black is picture ID and blue is from the diary. (Blue in parentheses is additional explanation where indicated.) Enough of that. Here we go:

THURSDAY, JANUARY 31 st and FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1st, 2008 (since they sort of blurred together.)

Took BART (Bootheel Area Regional Transport) to St. Louis, leaving at 10:15 am. About halfway there it began to snow. Flight was delayed 40 minutes for "de-iceing". Arrived in Miami safe and sound. Departed Miami at 8:30 pm EST for Buenos Aires. Nice flight, quiet, but I only grabbed about 1 to 2 hours sleep. Arrived in Buenos Aires around 9 am on 2/1. Quickly cleared customs and got a taxi to the Hotel Colon. After checking in I called our room and Ellie Gates, my future cabin mate, came down to meet me. We went for a light breakfast and then some walking, exploring downtown. Temperature in mid-80's and sunny.


This is a well known landmark in the city, a beautiful obelisk that was only a few blocks from our hotel.

On the right is a typical street scene with lots of small shops and cafes.

No cars on this street, since it's a pedestrian walkway, but on the streets where there is traffic, one has to be careful not to become "roadkill". It seems the red lights are only "suggestions" to stop.

Recognize this building? It's the location of many public appearances by Argentina's most famous (? infamous) presidential couple, Eva and Juan Peron. It was also the site where scenes from the film, "Evita" were shot, with Madonna standing on the center balcony.

Buenos Aires has many small parks and plazas with lots of refreshing green space. You know you're in a different place when you see parakeets pecking around on the ground like sparrows! (Look closely--they're the little green guys.)

After about 1 pm I was too tired to continue, so I caught a cab back to the hotel for a much needed shower and nap.

At 8:15 pm a van picked us up to go to "El Querandi", the Tango Restaurant/Theater. Fabulous meal and show. I had a yummy potato-based appetizer, excellent spinach crepe, and fruit with ice cream. Ellie and I shared a bottle of Chardonnay and there was a complimentary glass of champagne--all this for about the equivalent of U.S. $80 a piece. I hadn't brought my camera along, since I figured they probably wouldn't allow pictures--wrong! Ellie took some and will send them to me, but take my word for it, the dancers were great!

Back to the hotel after midnight and a short sleep to catch our early flight to Ushuaia.

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2nd

Up VERY early (4 am) for our 4 hour flight to Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, locally known as "el fin del mondo" (the end of the world). Nice room in the Hotel Albatross. Lunch in hotel restaurant and then out to walk around the waterfront area.

This picture was taken from Ushuaia's dock area. I believe the largest vessel is a Princess

Line cruise ship, either coming or going to/from Antarctica. The large ships cruise the peninsular

area but due to size cannot reach many of the areas where we will go, nor can they offload passengers in any of the Antarctic region.

The mountains in the background are the southern tips of the Andes. Tierra del Fuego, an archipelago off the tip of South America, is split between Chile and Argentina. The eastern or Argentinian section is part of the region of Argentina currently known as Patagonia.

This picture taken from the dock looking back toward part of the town. Ushuaia is currently a bustling little city of 65,000 and growing rapidly. Because there is work here in the tourist and electronics industries, people come from outlying areas seeking work and a better life. The temperature was in the high 50's and windy. It didn't rain while we were here--highly unusual, since it normally rains virtually every day in the summer, which of course it currently in southern hemisphere.

Ellie and I had a nice dinner in a local restaurant (trout, potoato and salad) and walked back to hotel. Finally--a good night's sleep!

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 3 rd

Breakfast at 8:30 am (buffet style) and off on a motor coach to tour Tierra del Fuego National Park. Lots of rabbits! Beautiful views of river, lake and the Beagle Channel Bay and Mt. Condor.

Left: Bay, Part of the Beagle Channel

Below: Mt. Condor

Back on motor coach and heading for lunch, which is to be a "typical" Argentinian BBQ--lots of lamb, chicken, and sausage, and salad and dessert. Back to Ushuaia for a little shopping and then on board our ship, "Lyubov Orlova" (named after a famous Russian actress). Nice roomy cabin. considering the size of the ship.


I'm jumping ahead with this photo, taken from one of the Zodiac rafts, but it gives you some idea of the size of the ship. Of course, the Antarctic mountains in the background dwarf everything.

My side of the cabin. Some of my outdoor gear laid out ready to don. Technically the cabins can hold four (note the upper bunk bed which can fold down above mine), but that would really be cramped. I'm glad they put comfort over the extra dollars of having more passengers per trip. The bright light at top right is coming from our porthole. Since Ellie often works at night (she's an astronomer) and is used to sleeping during the daytime, we had some minor disagreement as to whether or not the porthole cover should be shut at night, since it never got completely dark after we reached Antarctic waters. It turned out I was tired enough to sleep under a spotlight, so it didn't really matter. Since we were on the 4th deck, not far above the water level, we couldn't open the porthole to the air or we'd get splashed. The in-ceiling ventilation fan/heater control was somewhat difficult to adjust, so the room tended to be stuffy. We often left our door open while we were in the cabin.


Our miniature bathroom At least if we lose our balance we have something close to grab--since everything is close!

Shortly after boarding we attended a meeting to meet the staff and get a briefing, then lifeboat drill. Believe me, I paid close attention this time! (A passenger cruise ship hit a small iceberg and sank in Antarctic last November--all aboard were rescued but lost all their luggage, etc.)

We are late leaving port due to heavy wind. (Should have left at 6 pm or so.) Dinner at 8--back to the cabin and bed at 11.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4th

Finally we are at sea! I woke in the night to the movememt of the ship. Woke again at 5:30 or so when the medicine cabinet door was banging. I got up and secured it and returned to bed but couldn't get back to sleep. We are both awake. Ellie isn't feeling well. I'm a little shakey but otherwise OK. A lot of ship motion here in the Drake Passage, (an area known as some of the roughest water in the world.) I estimated 12 foot swells, and later over the PA was announced 5 meter (15 foot) swells, so I wasn't too far off.

Went for coffee at 7:30 and then breakfast at 8. I took Ellie a cracker, but she won't eat. She did manage to make it to the dining room later for some tea. It appears about a third of us are "missing in action" due to seasickness.

9:15 am Lecture on "Birds"--very interesting. Hope I can remember it when I see them. Then went to get my credit card imprinted for use on the ship. Feeling a little woozy, so took a dramamine and drank some ginger tea.

11:00 am Lecture on Antarctica, general info and some history. Very good but I already knew a lot of that from my reading. The forward lounge where we have our meetings is very warm, and I was feeling more queasy and very sleepy. Back to the cabin for a nap--slept through lunch, but had some raisins and Ellie's cracker, which she didn't eat. Awake at 2 pm and feeling much better. Probably just needed rest. Did some video filming in the room and then geared up to go out on deck. The sea is a little calmer than earlier, and I feel great now. Saw several wandering albatross, storm petrels, and what I think was a sooty albatross. Back to lounge at 3 for lecture on "Whales and Dolphins". Then "tea" at 4 pm in the dining room, with tea and coffee and a lovely selection of pastries.

5 pm Lecture on the geological history of Antarctica, extremely interesting.

8 pm Nice dinner--Chinese BBQ pork, veggies, salad and excellent bread. Another recap and briefing (ship's position, weather, etc.) and a film, the first part of the National Geographic video, "Antarctica". To bed by 11.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5th

Up at 7 and had a very careful shower. Much less severe ship motion this morning. Overcast sky. Noticeably cooler outside, about 40 degrees F. and a chilly wind. Out for coffee, then breakfast. Lecture this morning on "Penguins". Came back to cabin and napped for an hour. Lunch at 12:30--turkey enchilada, mushroom soup, and semolina with pistachio pudding (which tastes way better than it sounds.)

A note about the meals: at all meals the tableclothes are wet to reduce sliding of plates, etc.

(Notice I said reduce, not prevent.) Glasses and cups are in a wooden holder at the center of the table. Tables seat 6 and we are encouraged to eat with different people to get to know one another. There are 110 passengers, and we are a very polyglot group, with Americans, British, South Africans, French, Swiss, Germans, Slovenians, at least one Canadian, and some others. Most of the dining room staff are young Russian women. (Most of the ship's crew is Russian, including the captain.) Some of the diningroom supervisors are Americans, however, including one who is engaged to our tour staff's ornithologist, Akos (a young Russian). They are a cute couple and very sweet together. (More about Akos later.)

Some views in the dining room. Breakfast was always buffet style, except hot drinks were brought to our table. Other meals were partially buffet (salad and breads) and the rest sit down and order from menu. For lunch and dinner we had three choices of entrees: a fish, a meat, and a vegetarian dish. All the meals were excellent, equal to those I've had on any other cruise ship. The soups were especially good, and many of the desserts were made on board the ship by the pastry chef--all were excellent, which I can verify since I had them all, more's the pity for my waistline. Good thing we were burning a lot of calories just trying to stay upright!

As you can probably see from the photo, many of the folks on board were in my general age group (ahem, upper middle age). There were several I would call downright old, including one fairly elderly and somewhat frail lady who as far as I know never got off the ship during the cruise. She fell as we were going through the Drake Passage, and was having trouble moving around, so didn't feel she should chance a landing. Probably a wise choice. I hope she was able to see a lot from the ship's decks. She seemed to be enjoying herself.


I saw a whale spout during breakfast, and I think I'll go out to see if I can spot some more, as it's very stuffy in our cabin...saw no whales but did see more birds. Then took another nap. (Skipped the lecture on digital photography, figuring I'll just wing it.) This time I didn't sleep through lunch, but I ate lightly. Seas somewhat rough again but dramamine working. Nevertheless, I don't want to push it.

Lecture on seals after lunch.

I forgot to note after breakfast this am there was a lecture on whales. Very interesting. Spent some more time out on deck after lunch and this time did see some small whales. Couldn't tell what kind from the distance. Also more birds.

"Tea" again at 4. How can I resist?

Later this pm lecture on Zodiac raft landings, the first of which is planned for early am tomorrow!

Supper: French onion soup, nice fish and veggies and plum-something for dessert

(This post has taken over two hours to set up , so tune in later. Next post, "Land Ho!")