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traveled in 26 countries Read more Calgary, Canada
  • TravelerSouth America
    111
    Day 124

    Mikkelsen Harbour

    January 7, 2023 in Antarctica ⋅ 🌧 2 °C

    63.54°S 60.47°W

    In the afternoon of our first day, we cruised past Tower Island, a place so remote and infrequently visited we were the first ship to record soundings, and we were told only about 100 people had ever been there. We then visited Mikkelsen Harbour, near Trinity Island.

    We were to visit a Gentoo Penguin colony on D'hainaut Island.

    These were our first steps on land in Antarctica! At our first steps on shore, we saw the remains of a blue whale and an old whaling ship. Huge veterbrae and a giant skull lay there on the beach, left behind from the heyday of whaling.

    We walked around the island, observing the hilarious little dudes in their natural environment. We learned about penguin behaviour, breeding tendencies, and nest building. We didn't see any chicks at this colony, but we did see one Penguin stealing pebbles from another, and one poor guy just trying to get home but having a hard time!

    There was a 'refuge hut' placed on the island back in the 50s for anyone who may have needed safety in the time before modern communication, and we saw a broken egg we think was stolen and dropped by a bird to eat the chick inside.

    Very cool experience to walk among the penguins, surrounded by the same moody, pristine environment as the morning.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    1
    Day 124

    Lindblad Cove

    January 7, 2023, South Atlantic Ocean ⋅ ❄️ -1 °C

    63.51° S 59.25°W

    "Good morning everyone, good morning, and welcome to Antarctica!"

    The words that we woke up to on our first day officially at the seventh continent.

    We sprang out of bed with shivers going down our spines and rushed up to the deck to get our first glimpse. We were greeted with an exceptionally moody, and if I must say, fitting day. Cold with low hanging clouds, very calm water, and overflowing emotion.

    We stood on deck simultaneously crying and laughing, surrounded by sea ice, icebergs, and an indescribable calm.

    We were told the conditions would allow us to get out in the Zodiacs, and we quickly hurried to get ready for our first foray into Antarctica.

    We cruised around one giant iceberg, with the lighting conditions really accentuating the blue tones in the ice. We were greeted by a dwarf Minke whale who spent a few minutes swimming around our tiny boat, no doubt curious about his new visitors. Little did we know it was just a taste of things to come.

    Something you can't capture in photographs is the emotion. There's a feeling that comes along with being here, our first taste of which we received this morning. It's a mix of excitement, adventure, peace, and a growing respect for the beauty, power, and importance of nature.

    Our expedition team worked very hard to plan our time in Antarctica, chasing weather conditions suitable to getting off the ship, planning our excursions to maximize our time down here.

    With that, we enjoyed our Zodiac cruise and headed off to our second site of the day, ravenously curious to find out what lay ahead.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    1
    11111
    Day 120

    Ushuaia

    January 3, 2023 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    Ushuaia, El Fin del Mundo, the southern most city in the world!

    We came earlier than we had originally planned to be here to celebrate the new year, or as it's referred to here, the end of the year at the end of the world.

    We stayed with the most incredible local family. The apartment was lovely, they brought us lots of fruit, fresh baked bread, they left us champagne on New Years Eve, and they even gave us some fresh, delicious homemade empanadas!

    The weather luck continued here. There is some hiking and sightseeing to do in the area, but with so much rain and cloud, we didn't end up doing much of that!

    We did meet some really great people here. Fellow travelers and adventurers, some of whom are continuing on to Antarctica, some are not, but we had a blast at the local pubs with our friends from Austria and the Netherlands.

    The excitement was building by the minute here. We picked up all our snow gear, and we spent some time at the pier watching the ships come and go.

    Next, we go to Antarctica, the seventh continent, the most remote region in the world, the land of adventurers and discoverers.

    Antarctica.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    1
    Day 115

    Puerto Natales

    December 29, 2022 in Chile ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    Well, true to form, at our last stop in Chile the luck (or lack thereof) continued.

    It absolutely poured rain, the wind was off the charts, and the conditions on the trails we wanted to hike were extremely bad with ice and mud, so ultimately we decided to just stay in the room for our 3 days here.

    It's too bad, we really wanted to see the Torres del Paine but it wasn't in the cards for us this time.

    We leave Chile feeling defeated, not having accomplished a lot of what we came here to do, and not seeing a lot of what we came here to see.

    But we move on back to Argentina and with big things ahead, Ushuaia and the end of the world await!    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    Day 110

    El Calafate

    December 24, 2022 in Argentina ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C

    The epic Perito Moreno glacier is near El Calafate.

    My God did it exceed expectations! It's huge, beautiful and very active! It's constantly breaking and groaning, getting ready to calf. We witnessed 5 or 6 pretty good chunks fall off in our short time there.

    It really left us with an impression of just how beautiful and powerful mother nature is. This is absolutely not to be missed.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    Day 108

    El Chaltén

    December 22, 2022 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Got to hike up to the famous Mount Fitz Roy!!

    This was a big one for us, definitely one the coolest looking mountains around and absolutely worth the journey and the 11 kilometer hike up to its base.

    Anna did great with her knee, and luckily, our hostel offered hiking poles to take for free. The hike itself wasn't too bad except the last kilometer is quite steep, and there's lots of loose rock and gravel, we were definitely grateful for the poles on that stretch!

    We had the best weather during our stay in El Chaltén the day we went, which we were very happy about, although there was a bit of cloud cover by the time we got to the top.

    Nonetheless, it was an amazing experience in an amazing part of the world. It's just gorgeous here with the blue lakes, tall mountains, huge glaciers, and the unspoiled nature.

    We were quite lucky to be able to see a friend we met in San Pedro de Atacama here as well, a super fun treat to encounter another adventurer and exchange some stories!

    Gotta say, though, the wind is absolutely crazy but that doesn't put a damper on anything down here!    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    Day 104

    Perito Moreno

    December 18, 2022 in Argentina ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We had initially planned to spend a day in Perito Moreno to see a cave with prehistoric hand paintings inside.

    But as we go on, we've been prioritizing a bit better and decided to skip here to spend more time in El Chaltén to maximize our mountain time.

    We still planned to spend a night here to break up what would have otherwise been a ridiculously long drive.

    We also planned to stop here to be back in Argentina for the world cup final.

    We did indeed make it back in time to watch (most of) the game, only to find an absolute ghost town.

    No people, no cars, no dogs, not a tumbleweed in sight. Nothing open. We couldn't even find a bar to watch the game!!

    Driving up and down the avenue, Anna happened to spy a small group of people in a bakery watching the game. They graciously allowed us to join them, (the jersey Zach got in Mendoza may have helped) and we were able to watch the drama unfold in a bread shop with a small but extremely dedicated group of fans.

    Argentina became world Champs and in no more than 2 minutes the streets were absolutely flooded with people, sirens, horns, music, and absolute jubilation. What had been a ghost town moments prior was now full of life with people dancing on cars and rooftops, climbing street poles, the fire brigade even came out and was hosing down the crowd in celebration.

    It was amazing to be part of, and wonderful to have made some memories where otherwise we may not have had any.

    Viva Argentina! Campeones del Mundo!!!    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    Day 103

    Puerto Rio Tranquilo

    December 17, 2022 in Chile ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    Puerto Rio Tranquilo is hands down one of the most beautiful places either of us has seen.

    It's UNREAL, the colour of the water, the scale of the mountains, the calmness, the freshness of the air. Amazing. It is, in a nutshell, the best of what Patagonia has to offer. Clean air, fresh, beautiful, cold, water. Astounding natural activities, friendly people, I mean come on!

    It's famous for the marble caves. They're accessible by kayak or by motor boat tour. We chose to kayak so we could get a little closer, and of course, why wouldn't you want to go out on this gorgeous lake for some exercise!

    They are breathtaking, incredibly unique, intricate, and detailed marble formations rising up out of the lake. We went early to beat the crowds, and in total, there were 4 of us, including our guide. The water was pristine and calm, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and it's a hell of a way to start your day!

    We actually did this hike up behind the town on the same day as the kayaking tour only takes the morning.

    What VIEWS!

    It has inspired us to get better at landscape photography because my God is it something to behold. Vast, clean, colourful, and just absolutely gorgeous in every way. And this is coming from someone who lives in the Canadian Rockies!

    Anna made a Christmas pinecone with flowers she picked along the way up to help celebrate. This will be the first Christmas we've ever spent abroad, so the little things are really nice!

    What a phenomenally beautiful place. An absolute must for any journey through Patagonia.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    Day 101

    Coyhaique

    December 15, 2022 in Chile ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    Our drive here was super interesting...

    Heading south, we were directed by our GPS to turn right suddenly down a terrible dirt road through what appeared to be nothing but barren fields as far as the eye could see.

    We decided to trust it, potentially at our own peril, and ended up driving west through these fields on this, at times, BRUTAL, dirt road, crossed the border at a weird farm house in the middle of NOWHERE, and eventually ended up surrounded by these gorgeous Chilean hills and flowers.

    We were immediately struck by the change in landscapes crossing the border between Argentina and Chile. The hills came out of nowhere, these gorgeous purple and yellow flowers lined the hills, and the road ended up cresting the hill over gorgeous Coyhaique.

    Of course the pictures do no justice to the scale and grandeur of the valley in which Coyhaique lies.

    Gotta say though, we were had, once again, by Chile. We had one day and had planned to do a hike in the natural reserve nearby, only to find out on our arrival that entry tickets were required to be purchased ahead of time, and the park closed at 2pm, which wouldn't have left us enough time to complete the 18km we had planned. C'est la vie en Chile!

    Nonetheless, it's beautiful and we spent our time checking out a couple viewpoints near the town, and made sure we were well supplied for the next leg of our journey.    Read more

  • TravelerSouth America
    1
    1111
    Day 99

    Esquel

    December 13, 2022 in Argentina ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Just one day in Esquel also, about 2 hours south of El Bolsón.

    We weighed some options and instead of doing a paid tour we chose a hike up one of the mountains outside of town.

    It's 5k up a valley with almost a kilometer of vertical gain, and some gorgeous views of the town and the Andes in the distance.

    We went for the requisite post-hike beer to watch Argentina advance to the world cup finals!

    Big drive day tomorrow, about 8 hours to the Chilean side of Patagonia for a few days then back to Argentina.    Read more

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