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Antarctica and PatagoniaAntarctica and Patagonia
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Antarctica and Patagonia

January - March 2025
It's been six years since we put a deposit down on this trip! Postponed twice but now finally getting there! Read more

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  • Chile
  • Australia
  • Antarctica
  • South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
  • Falkland Islands
  • Argentina
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  • 27.9kkilometers traveled
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  • 24footprints
  • 35days
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  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    Day 2–4

    Sydney to Buenos Aires via Santiago

    January 27 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    After a six year delay from first booking our trip, we finally headed off from Sydney to South America. First leg was approximately 12 hours to Santiago where we basically spent the afternoon and evening at the airport hotel adjusting our time clock before heading off the following morning to Buenos Aires.
    BA feels and looks very European - we oriented ourselves with a hop on hop off bus trip introducing us to the wide boulevards, quaint neighbourhoods, extensive gardens and parklands, impressive historical monuments (which laid bare my complete ignorance of Argentinian history - did you know Britain tried to invade BA in 1806/7?) and lots of museums I would like to go back to. A delightful tapas bar dinner with Mendoza Malbec rounded off the day.
    Today we took a boat trip up the Rio de Plate to the delta at it’s mouth and cruised amongst the multiple islands there at Tigre on the outskirts of BA on which are the holiday houses of the city people plus permanent residents - there are no bridges or roads so all transport is via water craft.
    Tomorrow we head of to Ushuaia at the bottom of Argentina where the adventure really begins!    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    Day 4

    BA to Ushuaia

    January 30 in Argentina ⋅ 🌬 15 °C

    A 4am start to get to the airport and then onto Ushuaia - El Fin de Mundo (The end of the world) - the southernmost town in South America. Very exciting approach to landing over the mountainous foothills of jagged rock ridges denuded by snow and ice against the backdrop of snow tipped mountains and glaciers - plus the accompanying wind buffeting the plane as we landed!
    Check in with our expedition team Aurora in a hotel high above the Beagle Channel - a body of “protected water” between Ushuaia and a group of islands - which has the most magnificent views over the water from all rooms.
    The town itself is disappointing in that it has become a typical tourist cruise ship stopover - lots of shops selling you stuff you don’t need and no local flavour anymore - inevitable I suppose. It doesn’t detract from the natural beauty of the water and the mountains which we are enjoying whilst watching the sunset at 10pm!
    Random fact for the day - I have now achieved the unique double of having been to the world’s southernmost brewery in Ushuaia and the northernmost in Spitsbergen in the Artic.    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    Day 5

    Ushuaia and Beagle Channel/Embarkation

    January 31 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    The big day has arrived! After a leisurely morning repacking, we headed out into the Beagle Channel for a 3 hour catamaran sightseeing trip - South American sea lions, lots of cormorants, terns and albatrosses - and a small but cute lighthouse.
    Then onto the boat - the Sylvia Earle - named after the American marine biologist and conservationist. It looked rather small compared to the other five cruise/expedition boats on the marina but that's a good thing - a maximum of 130 passengers on our boat which might sound a lot but it isn't.
    Inside it is an amazing bespoke designed polar ship - our cabin is like a 4 star hotel room with it's own balcony. The bow has a section that covers two floors that is metal latticework with glass inserts that allows you to see out from the lounge and library plus multiple out door viewing decks. Too much to describe but I will post pics as we go along which will highlight the features.
    Currently just about to exit Beagle Channel into the Atlantic Ocean and then a day cruising to the Falklands.
    Weather is calm with not too much wind but I still have taken my TravelCalm anyway and will continue to do so!    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    Day 7

    Falkland Islands

    February 2 in Falkland Islands ⋅ 🌬 13 °C

    We spent a full day and night steaming from Ushuaia to the Falkland Islands. First confirmed sighting was in 1592 and it was a base for whalers, sealers and penguin hunters over the years until in 1833 Britain claimed sovereignty (as they did). It has one settlement Stanley and continues to be a self governing Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom despite the attempted invasion by Argentina in 1982 which Maggie Thatcher put an end to (and consequently has a memorial dedicated to her in the main street). It is mainly a sheep farming economy (there are ~ 550,000 sheep on the islands - 125 per human) and now also includes tourism and sale of fishing licences (there is currently a small fleet of Taiwanese longline squid trawlers here).
    It is a rather windswept and bleak looking place but the main reason we came was to see the Magellanic penguins which we won't see after this. That and a meal of traditional British fish and chips and warm flat ale in the hotel! We got to test out our waterproof gear as well with several rain storms.    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    Day 8

    Plan B - Bleaker Island (Falklands)

    February 3 in Falkland Islands ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    At our daily evening briefing yesterday we were told that there was a significant wind front that was approaching from Antarctica smack bang between us and our next destination South Georgia (two days sea travel away). The screenshot from Windy app shows the size of it with predicted waves of 4 - 6 metres! So we stayed put here and moved down to an island called Bleaker Island - not an inspiring name but at least it wasn't Bleakest Island! All the crew were actually very excited to have another day in the Falklands because they believe one day isn't enough.
    Bleaker Island is one of the larger of the 778 smaller islands of the Falkland group and is the home to one family cattle farm - it is bleak with no trees, only low lying grasses and shrubbery BUT lots of penguins. We were deposited on a beach and had a 2km walk to the rocky cliffs of a bay which was home to a large colony of several hundreds of Rockhopper penguins - the name derived because they literally hop up rocky cliff faces to their nesting area on the top - in this case about a 40 to 50 m climb. They also have the most amazing yellow feathery eyebrows which makes them look like old gentlemen at a Parisian opera house. They share their rookery with cormorants as well.
    We then walked back to the other end of the island where there were more Magellanic penguins but a bigger amount of Gentoo Penguins plus two sets of King Penguins with beautiful bright yellow markings. We made our way back over the paddocks dodging the returning penguins from feeding in the sea and watched them torpedoing along in the waves and rocketing out onto the beach to then waddle ungainly up the sand back to their burrows or rookery.
    We expect we will set sail tomorrow to South Georgia which will be rough but not what it could of been.    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    1
    Day 9

    Plan B+ - Kidney Cove

    February 4 in Falkland Islands ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Well the weather is moving eastwards from us but still the centre is before South Georgia with waves 5-6 metres so we stayed until midday at the Falklands before setting sail after lunch expecting to have some rougher seas over the next 36 - 48 hours.
    So we spent the morning at Kidney Cove - plenty of Gentoo and Magellanic penguins plus a couple more King penguins.
    The procedure for getting on the zodiacs to land is very slick - the "mudroom" is at the stern with our gear in personal lockers - wet weather gear and muck boots which we have to dip in disinfectant before and after landing. Also we keep 5m minimum from wildlife and we don't kneel, sit or put bags etc on the ground. Avian flu has reached Antarctica and has jumped from birds to mammals causing widespread wildlife deaths recently which is very sad.
    On board we have lectures every day about wildlife, photography, geology etc. Food is fantastic - both buffet and a la carte with two restaurants. And I found a guitar on board! So plenty to keep us amused for the next 2 days before reaching landfall again.    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    Day 12

    South Georgia - Jason Harbour/Grytviken

    February 7 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ 🌫 4 °C

    After 2 1/2 days at sea we woke this morning at South Georgia Island - "discovered" by Captain Cook and claimed by England it became a major sealing and whaling outpost as well a major stationing point for Antarctica expeditions for the likes of Scott and Shackelton - the last settlement before the South Pole.
    It was a misty, wet and cold morning as we alighted at Jason Harbour to be greeted by multitudes of southern fur seals - cavorting in the water, harrumphing at us on the beach and occasionally trying to get a little to close for comfort. The was a huddle of King Penguins on the beach as well showing signs of moulting which they do each year. Most impressive though were the female elephant seals lolling about on the beach and up in the tussock grass - the thought of them dragging those big bodies up into the grass is exhausting!
    We got well and truly soaked by the time we got back on the boat for a hot shower despite our wet weather gear.
    Next stop was the old whaling station at Grytviken - a Norwegian company with Argentinian backing and whalers from Scotland and Scandinavia - they used to process 30 -50 whales a day here. 400 men worked here at it's peak. This is one of three whaling stations left relatively intact - the other two being Albany in WA and one in the Faroe Islands. There was a lovely museum, and historic walking tour amongst the blubber, muscle and bone boilers used to extract oil and a visit to Ernest Shackelton's grave in the cemetery - he died here from a heart attack in 1922 whilst about to embark on an expedition to circumnavigate Antarctica.    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    Day 13

    Godthul and Ocean Harbour

    February 8 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ☁️ 2 °C

    South Georgia Island is 170 km long and 2 to 40 km wide. It is a mountain range pushed up from the ocean floor as the micro tectonic plate of the Scotia Sea subsides under the Atlantic plate - so it has snow covered mountains nearly 3000m high and glaciers flowing to the sea. The west coast is battered by storms and the east coast has the more protected harbours that became the whaling stations. We awoke to see glimpses of Mt Paget 2935m (highest mountain in S Georgia) and the Nordenschild glacier. We visited two previous whaling locations at Godthul ( translation Good Harbour) and Ocean Harbour. Both sites had abundant fur seals (95% of the Antarctic fur seal population is on South Georgia), scattered elephant seals and King and Gentoo penguins.
    Also first experiences with small icebergs floating around the water.    Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    Day 14

    St Andrews Bay

    February 9 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    If there is one iconic site in South Georgia this is it thanks to David Attenborough. The footage of him walking along the beach in front of a glacier surrounded by one of the largest King Penguin rookeries in the world is well known. So to wake up anchored off the shore and to see a 3-4 km long foreshore, with a backdrop of three glaciers feeding down from the mountains, packed with King Penguins plus fur and elephant seals, was an exciting and awe inspiring prospect. We saw some male fur seals for the first time here - significantly bigger but surprisingly less aggressive than the pups! At the peak of the season there are up top 150,000 nesting couples of King Penguins here. We were lucky to be able to land and walk to the high vantage point overlooking the main colony - some crew members had been here on three prior occasions and had never been able to reach the lookout for various reasons such as avian flu outbreaks, a flooded river blocking access etc. It is impossible to convey the enormity of the scenery and the sheer mass of wildlife everywhere you looked and walked - weaving in around seals and petrels, penguins waddling at you as you keep ogling the snowy mountains rising from sea level wrapped around glacial flows. The video shows the breadth of the rookery probably better than the pictures. A morning not to be forgotten.Read more

  • TravelerAntarctica and Patagonia
    1
    Day 14

    Gold Harbour

    February 9 in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands ⋅ ⛅ 1 °C

    In the afternoon we headed to another smaller but no less dense King Penguin rookery at Gold Harbour. However here we could walk at eye level to the rookery and observe the penguins more closely. Check out the video in which two male penguins are having a slapping contest over who gets a particular female. The highlight here was we saw young male elephant seals for the first time - these blokes are not sexually mature yet which is when they get the enlarged proboscis (nose) but they are still big - maybe 1.5 tonne but they get to be the enormous beachmaster bulls that weigh in at 2 - 2.5 tonne and can rear up to 3m height!Read more

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