• Philip Looney
  • Philip Looney

Argentina & Antarctica 2015

A 24-day adventure by Philip Read more
  • Day 7

    November 27, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Much later start to the day! Didn't get up until late morning and didn't leave the apartment until 1.30pm.

    First stop was for more tango shoes at Lunatango. Good wide fitting shoes. Plenty of choices. Also mens' shoes. Nice couple. Business done from their apartment. $1550 for womens and $1700 for mens (pesos, divide by 10 for aud).

    Had a good pizza across the road. See photo of pizza and pizza warmer.

    After this we were off to our 3rd private lesson and then we went with Nancy to some group classed she was teaching.

    Headed home around 10pm and Brad and Teresa turned up within an hour with tales of adventure from Mendoza.

    I headed back out with the intention of seeing a performance and a good band at a Milonga.

    La Catedral was the first milonga i went to. Dilapidated setting and mostly 20 somethings.

    Second place i went to was La Cachivacheria. When I arrived, live music was under way in a performance style. Stayed for about 4 songs.

    Gave up my wuest and headed home.
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  • Day 8

    November 27, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    Day commenced with rain appearing to be settling in.

    Travelled to Iguazu by plane and met by a driver who took us to our hotel.

    Spent the afternoon walking to a viewing spot of the river where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay.

    Visited an Icebar later in the afternoon. Lots of fun.

    Dinner at a nice touristy restaurent with music and dancing.
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  • Day 9

    November 28, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ 🌙 21 °C

    Iguazu Falls - Argentinian side

    Had a full day at the falls on the Argentinian side. Weather started off raining but eventually cleared. Lots of walking, water and being wet!

    The falls are spectacular for their size (width) and the volume of water. 2 highlights for us were the boat ride into the falls and Devil's Throat. What also makes them enjoyable is the access is easy as there are great walkways that allow you to get quite close.

    Had dinner at another nice restaurant. Celebrated the finding of a camera that had gone missing for 24 hrs!
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  • Day 11

    November 29, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ 🌙 19 °C

    Spent the day on the Brazil side of the falls. The area for walking and seeing the falls is much smaller, it is a path of just over a kilometre. The views are spectacular and start to give you a sense of perspective and appreciation of the width of the falls.

    The path finishes with a walkway out over a section of the falls adjacent to the Devil's Throat. You get soaked from the spray and the noise and power of the falls is incredible.

    We then did a helicopter flight over the falls. Great way to get the whole picture. Unfortunately the flight doesn't take you down close to the falls but was still definately worth it.

    Before we returned to Argentina, we visited a bird park. This was great including because we got to see many toucans.

    We flew back to BA and had a late dinner at another local parrilla (bbq) restaurant. This time we managed to avoid all offal! Steaks in BA are great. Starting to get used to eating late. We didn't head out for dinner until 10 and we were not the last to arrive for a meal!
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  • Day 12

    November 30, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ 🌙 22 °C

    Quite day getting ready for the cruise starting tomorrow, leaving some luggage with our next hotel and having a suit fitting.

    Met up with Mike and Natalie for dinner at an Argentinian restaurant, Don Julio (and got photo bombed by a waiter!).Read more

  • Day 13

    December 1, 2015 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    Travelled from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia for the start of our cruise.

    Had to be up at 3.30am for a 7.00am flight. Mike and Natalie left it later to go to the airport and were caught in a queue for check-in. Luckily it was a charter flight and take off was delayed.

    On arrival into Ushuaia, we were straight onto a bus tour. This started with a lunch at an eatery that also had huskies (more than 100!). Barbequed lamb!

    We were then taken through the national park to the "end of the world".

    We then boarded the ship for the start of the cruise.
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  • Day 14

    December 2, 2015, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ⛅ 9 °C

    This was a full day at sea with briefings about zodiac landings and the Falkland Islands.

    The boat is great, food is good and the staff are exceptional. Cabin is also very spacious and well designed.Read more

  • Day 15

    December 3, 2015 in Falkland Islands ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Arrived at the Falkland Islands this morning.

    Did 2 landings, one at New Island and one at Grave Cove.

    At New Island we saw a rookery of Rockhopper penguins, Albatros and Cormorants, all mixed in together. The penguins were roosting and we were told the eggs were about a week off hatching.

    At Graves Cove there were masses of Gentoo penguins roosting and their eggs were hatching. Mike and Nat actually saw one penguin hatch. We saw quite a number of chicks that were only an hour or so old.

    We also saw the penguins returning to the beach and exiting the water. Very funny. Also some dolphins playing in the water near the penguins.

    Was a good intro to landings. Weather at New Island was very warm with several people removing their jackets. It was much colder at Graves Cove in the afternoon with a cool wind blowing.

    Had a Gala Dinner tonight followed by a musical and then music to dance to. Managed to get a jive, foxtrot, waltz, cha, rumba and a tango (not to mention several line dances!).
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  • Day 18

    December 6, 2015 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ☀️ 1 °C

    First day at South Georgia.

    One landing only today. We were blessed with great weather. A bonus was that the fur seal pups had hatched only a week ago. Also saw a colony of king penguins (about 7,000).

    Brad did a 4 hour walk into the island.
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  • Day 19

    December 7, 2015 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    A big day at South Georgia!

    In the morning, we went ashore at Grytvika. There is an abandoned whaling station, a post office, a museum, a gift store, a church and a cemetery where Shackleton is buried. Lots of baby elephant seals, some young fur seals and some king penguins. Very picturesque!

    In the afternoon we went ashore at xxx. Here there is a rookery of king penguins. Numbers vary but the consensus amongst our guides seems to be about 500,000! Also plenty of young elephant seals and fur seals and a few (very large) older elephant seals. This was truly an amazing place.
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  • Day 20

    December 8, 2015 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ⛅ 0 °C

    Annemarie's birthday!

    This was our last day at South Georgia :(. We had an excursion on the zodiac to Cooper Bay. We didn't land but went up to the coast and saw Macaroni penguins and Chinstrap penguins as well as many birds and seals. Also saw some great rock formations.

    Back on the boat and started our 2.5 day journey to Antarctica. Within half an hour of leaving South Georgia, fog and cloud rolled in and there was nothing to see!

    At night we celebrated Annemarie's birthday over dinner with an extended group including friends made on board.
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    Trip end
    December 13, 2015