South America Trip D10~D26

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The Antarctica Diary

Day 10 Date : 8 Nov 2009 Place : Rio Gallegos ~ Ushuaia

I went to bed at 10:00 p.m. last night and waked up at 6:30 a.m. I prepared breakfast( 3 pieces of ham and 2 sausage)myself. I thought that bread was supplied in the breakfast. However, hostel owner only provided tea and coffee.

I left the hostel with my 25 kg luggage at 8:00 a.m. and arrived the bus station at 8:17a.m. by foot. The wind was as strong as typhoon signal number 8 on the way. I got on the bus at 8:50a.m. All passengers' passport and ticket were checked by military people.

The bus left the station at 9:35. The bus drived through the Patagonia and the landscape was temperate flat grassland for several hours. It was rather boring.

The bus reached the Argentina border at 11:00 a.m. I needed to get off for chopping in passport. I arrived at the border of Chile and all luggage was unload and checked this time. These two processes took almost 2 hours. The bus moved again at 1:10p.m.

It was rather windy outside. However, it was very comfortable inside bus which was a Benz. The bus crossed the Strait of Magellan at 2:00 p.m. It was learned 30 years ago in school time. Now, I came and saw the real channel. There was only one boat taking bus and passengers to cross. The crossing took about 30 minutes. I left the bus and stood on second floor. Although it was windy, it wasn't too cold.

After crossing, it was a gravel road. The speed of bus in this part ( Chile) was slow while the normal speed was 90 km/hr. Now it was about 30 km/hr. The bus came to San Sabastian which was another border at about 5:00 p.m. I needed to do another set of immigration process. It meant that 4 processes in a day. I asked the driver the arrival time. He said that it took another 5 hours. It was crazy that it took 13 hours to travel 584km only!!

After San Sabastian, the road was paved. The speed was back to 80~90 km/hr and the bus arrived Rio Grande at 8:00 p.m. I changed into a cleaner bus and came to Tolhuin at 21:20. I brought some sandwich as dinner in the 15-min stop.


Sunset was about at 9:00 p.m. and the sky turned black at 9:30p.m. After Tolhuin, the scenery changed into hilly and more trees were seen. I could see some snowy mountain and the snow line was only 420m while snow line was normally more than 4000m in Asia. I finally reached the destination Ushuaia at 11:10p.m. after 13.5 hr bus ride.

I had calculated the distance travelled in "2 Nov ~ 9 Nov" as follows :

Place Distance travel Price ( Peso) Time
Iguazu Buenos Aires 1610 km $155 17 hr
Buenos Aires Puerto Madyrn 1565km $240 18hr
Puerto Madryn Rio Gallegos 1111km $208 18hr
Rio Gallegos Ushuaia 584km $150 13 hr
Total 4870km $HK 1831 66hr


Ushuaia was similar to Hong Kong when it was looked from far away. It was a hilly harbour and the house was built stepwise on the slope. There was little rain when I got off the bus. Some tour guides sold their hostel in the bus station and the price was $50 peso (about $125 HK). I went directly ( about 10 minutes) to my pre-booked hostel Cruz Del Sur. Hostel manager was a lady and she reserved a lower bed for me. The dormitory had four beds and it was rather spacious. The price was $40 including breakfast.

Day 11 Date : 9 Nov Ushuaia

7:00 a.m. wake-up. I went to Hotel Albatross for check-in at 9:30a.m. and I was the second to report. As the room was not ready, I stored my luggage and went to tourist information to get some information about Glacier Martial. Taxi was about $20 and the distance was about 7km. So I decided to walk to there.

It was raining at the beginning, but got sweating when sunny later. It was snowing after 30 minute and arrived the entrance of Glacier Martial at 11:50 a.m. That was the end of the road and I took a rest and some food.

The tram was closed. So I went along the gravel to the upper tram station. It was heavy snowing during walking. I arrived the tram station at 12:40a.m. and walked on the snow after crossing the bridge. The deepest snow was about 3 foot.

I supposed the Martial Glacier was a leisure walk only. Now, it was demanding. Although the view was not spectacular, it was expected beautiful. Finally, I climbed a slope and a hanging cliff was in the front. As there was heavy snow and gusty wind, I decided to turn back at 2:00 p.m.

I arrived the entrance at 3:00p.m. and ordered a small pizza in the "Refugio De Mantana" restaurant. Pizza was served on an oak tree plate. I went downhill along the road and came to YHA to book a night on 20 Nov.

I came back to Hotel at 5:30 p.m. and attended the Antarctica briefing at 6:30 p.m. It was surprising that there was more than 20 Chinese in the cruise. I was belonged to the travel agent "Amazing Tour". There were 2 HK pp from Sydney, 3 from Mainland China, 16 Taiwan tour and me. My room mate was called Lee Ka On from Taiwan who checked in at 8:30 p.m.

Day 12 10 Nov Lyubov Orlova

I left the hotel at 8:00 a.m. Originally, I wanted to hike in the "Fin de Mundo". When I walked near the pier and joined the cruise on Beagle Channel organized by "Patagonia Adventure Explorer". The cruise was $150 and the duration was 4 hours. I could see seal, bird island and a lighthouse. The wave was great and was windy in the rough sea. It would not be any loss without joining. I brought the ticket to Puerto Natales on 21 Nov. at the cost $225.

I embarked the ship "Lyubo Orlova" at 4:00 p.m. and shared a double room with Mr. Lee. The room was comfortable and deluxe comparing with dormitory. The facility of the ship was very good. I had dinner with Chinese and the conservation was in Mandarin. The dinner was full course and delicious. The ship was supposed to leave Ushuaia at night. However, the expedition leader said that it could not depart due to technical problem!

Date 13 11 Nov Lyubo Orlova

There was a safety briefing in the morning. The second lecture was about Albatross birds. The lunch announcement said that ship would not depart before 6:00p.m. and they provided a free half-day tour in the afternoon.

The tour departed at 2:00 p.m. to Andes to see snow capped mountains which were nothing special. The second stop was a Nordic dog nursery. Dog slog riding cost $50. The dogs were very funny. There was a short hike downhill lastly and went back to ship at 6:00 p.m.

Grand general meeting was held at 7:30 p.m. Most people thought that we would depart tonight. However, the vice-president of Quark Expeditions company and Expedition Leader announced that the expedition was cancelled. I could not believed at that moment and surprised that such a famous company would cancel an expedition. Many people were screaming and crying!!

They provided several compensation option for us to choose :

1. To choose to join any departure in this season.
2. To return home and reimburse all cost of voyage and airfare.

Additionally
．Pay for air change fees
．Arrange and pay for any hotel accommodation
($200 double & $150 Single room)
．Food allowance $US 60 per days
．Communication charge <=$US 40 I choose the option 1 with departure on 17 Nov. It meant that I needed to wait for a week there. Date 14 12 Nov Lyubo Orlova

There was another meeting in the morning. The vacancy on 17 Nov was 33 while the number of people to choose was 60. I was lucky that I was chosen as 17 Nov. Some needed to switch to 19 Nov. Some needed to pay extra money to 13 Nov. Some had to go back home immediately. I was allowed to stay in the same ship till 17 Nov. All accommodation and meal were free!!
I needed to reissue the bus ticket in the afternoon and rebooked the YHA accommodation. It was rather leisure to walk on the street of Ushuaia. I met two shipmates "Alan & Becky". Firstly, I thought they were couple with old rich lady with a young man. I knew later that the lady was mother. She was 51 year old while her son was 24 and was a doctor.

Day 15 13 Nov Lyubo Orlova

I went to Tierra Del Fuego National Park at 9:00 a.m. The return mini-bus ticket was $50. The first stop was the train station "El Tren Del Fin Del Mundo". It was lucky that the train just left. I could take the stream engine train head. The train had only four compartments. I and the passengers of the train swung hand at the same time.

The second stop was the Fin Del Mundo. The famous sign was the road plate saying that it was the end of the road from Alaska. The total length was 17848km. I said goodbye with other shipmates and walked alone to Hito Trail.

The trail was muddy and arrived "Negra lake" after an hour. It was tranquil as there was only me. Costera Trail took me 3 hours to complete. Most parts were in muddy and in shadow. The scenery was better toward the end of the trail and on the sea shore side. I took 5:00 p.m. bus back to ship and saw some people moved to another ship.

Day 16 14 Nov Lyubo Orlova

I took a taxi ($18) to Glacier Martial and arrived the tram station at 10:40 a.m. I walked to tram upper station at 11:30 a.m. I changed into mountaineering boot, gaiter, hook and gloves. This time was well-prepared for snowing and gusty wind. I get to the road junction at 12:00 p.m. and turned right along the snow valley this time.

The gaiter protected snow from getting into my foot. The depth of snow got deeper and deeper when I walked higher in the valley. The depth of snow reached to my knee. It was very difficult & slowly to walk. I reached the top of hill( 930m ) at 2:10 p.m. I would see the valley behind the mountain and Ushuaia. Although it was snowy in the valley, I was sweating when the sun was clear while it was cold in cloudy. Four seasons were appeared alternately with hours.

I took 10 minutes rest at the top and turned back. I arrived again at the Refugio de Montana at 3:40 p.m. and walked 1.5 hour back to ship in order to save $18 taxi fare.

I shared the room with a Taiwanese Mr. Lee and the room was spacious to store all our belongings. Floor 3,4 &5 were passenger cabins. The Reception was in 5/F. Besides reception, dining hall, lecture hall and bar were also in 5/F.


The itinerary of these days was regularly as follows :

7:30 a.m. wake-up call
8:00 a.m. breakfast
12:30 a.m. lunch
7:30 p.m. dinner
11:00 p.m. sleep

The meal was very good quantity and quality.

Day 17 15 Nov Lyubo Orlova

It was a rest day. I went to ask the time schedule to Parque Nacional Tierra Del Fuego and wanted to climb Cerro Guanaco(973m) tomorrow. I wanted to exchange some Chilean peso in HSBC and exchange shop. However, there was no peso there.

I dated with room mates to dinner out tonight. However, they came back at 6:45p.m. and said too tired to go. I went dinner myself. BBQ buffet($55+6). There was beef, pork, chicken, lamb, sausage and salad. It was the most delicious and full meal in the trip.

Day 18 16 Nov Lyubo Orlova

I took "Liner Regular" bus($50) to Roca Lake and started at 10:30a.m. I walked along the lake shore and reached the entrance. The notice board stated that no entry after 12:00 p.m. The first part was a jungle with little bit muddy. The view was opened after an hour. The snow line was about 590m and I could see a snowy hill in the front. I did know whether it was the Cerro Guanaco(973m). I just hiked along the slope. It was rocky and then deep snow. The snow was fresh and pure. I met only 6 people on the way and followed the footstep to uphill. There were yellow marks either on rocks or tree. So it was easy to walk.

Finally, I got to summit at 2:30 p.m. It was windy and cold and I needed to wear a fleece and down jacket. The scenery was stunning and I could see Ushuaia and Beagle Channel. Downhill started at 2:50p.m. and got on bus at 5:10p.m.


Day 19 7 Nov Akademik Sergy Vavilov

I packed my luggage in the morning. It was surprising that the lady from Los Angeles was in the same room with me and Mr. Lee in room 531. I informed Quark to deal with it and we changed into room 535.

We moved into the expedition ship "Akademik Sergy Vavilov" at 4:00 p.m. The ship was run by Russian crew. The ship was like a ***** hotel once I got into the lobby. The corridor was new and my room was spacious. Besides sleeping beds, there was a desk for me to write diary. The storage space was abundant. A large window was above my bed. It could be opened to get some fresh air.

After taking some photo in the room, I toured by myself to various places. The library was close to my room. The Observation Lounge was in 6/F. It was the most comfortable and beautiful place. Some meeting and briefing were held there. The weather was excellent today. It was a sunny day with blue sky with beautiful harbour. The view was breath-taking.

I met two ladies from Hong Kong and one backpacker girl from Taiwan. She said that she also booked the ticket to Puerto Natales on 28 Nov 2008.

We departed at 7:00 p.m. Lyubo Orlova's Expedition leader and Quark's Vice-president were welcomed us in the pier. Our (33 pp) hearts were difficult to describe using any words. I resigned the job and travelled half the earth to Argentina and took bus 66 hours from Iguaçu. It was cancelled in the first cruise. There would not have second time. I waited 7 days, 168 hours, 10080 minutes and 600480 seconds. The ship was departed finally. I was really 百感交集. You could understand only if you were one of us.

We took a happy and relax dinner with Chinese. I made a call to home at 9:00p.m. It was very expansive $50 HK per minutes.

Day 20 7 Nov Akademik Sergy Vavilov

I was waken up by sunshine at 5:30 a.m. and went to 6/F lounge to see sunrise. No sunrise was there and I just went to outside to get some fresh air. The temperature only had 4-5 oC and rather chilly. I was back to room and slept to 8:00 a.m. till breakfast time.

I was the first one to the dining hall. It was buffet breakfast. There was only one-third people there as so many were seasick. I felt the wave was very small and would be funny if it was larger. Otherwise, it could not be called an "expedition"!

I attended a lecture after breakfast. The reason for seal to dive at depth 300m was that their oxygen were stored in the blood and could slow down the metabolic rate as slow as 2 beats per minute.

There was 50% people at lunch. Mr. Koo and Mrs. Koo were still absent. Lecture about penguin was in the afternoon. It was rather boring and I would grade it as "F". I got to bed for a snap.

90% of people took dinner at 7:30 p.m. The food was good but only had a few fruit. Waiters were too mature and too cool for lacking smiling faces.

We crossed Drake Passage today. It was cloudy and without any sight. It only had endless sea dotted with albatross. I was just sleeping, eating, sleeping, eating...

Boring! Boring! Boring!


Day 21 19 Nov Akademik Sergy Vavilov

The sea was quieter and could not feel so called "Westerly Wind". It was similar to cruise in Hong Kong. I hoped the wave could be larger on return. Moody, the expedition leader said we were close to Antarctica and stepped on it tomorrow.

Day 22 20 Nov Akademik Sergy Vavilov

I waked up at 4:30 a.m. to see sunrise and could not see due to cloudy. I could see the iceberg at 7:00a.m. and the Antarctica was in sight. The sky was pale with some snowing. The temperature was about 0oC.

We went to Mudroom to wear rubber shoe for landing at 9:00a.m. Everyone was very exciting. We board the Zodiac ship which was a small rubber ship powered by 40 horse power engine. Each one carried 10-12 people.

I landed on Peterman Island at 10:00 a.m. A group of gentoo penguin welcomed us. I went up and turned right Some penguins built nest by taking rock from other nests. Their movement was funny. The Adelie penguin went to and fro between nests.

I climbed a small slope to the back of the island. Only few penguins and icebergs were seen. I came back to Emergency hut to take some close-up penguin photos. Some more close-up photos were taken just on shore on boarding Zodiac. They were clean and fresh from the sea. I was back to ship at 12:00a.m.

There was another landing at 2:30p.m. As the weather was bad, it was postponed into 5:00 p.m. We shared our photos in free time. I was the first boat this time. As the weather was still bad, we just cruised around the Argentina Island and surrounding icebergs. It was snowing. I wore 5 pieces of clothes and two trousers. It was freezing cool. I went back at 6:40 p.m. and hope it would have sunshine tomorrow.

I was not so excited as other people in Antarctica. I had seen the longest Balto Glacier in Pakistan, stunning scenery in Switzerland, historical site in 羅佈泊... Antarctica was just "Come and See". I had seen two kinds (Gentoo & Adelie) of penguins. It was about 300~400. It would be better if the number can reach 10,000 like wildebeest in Kenya

Day 23 21 Nov Akademik Sergy Vavilov

I took Zodiac cruise to Pléneau Island in the morning. It was snowing, windy and rough. There was nothing, but icebergs. Their colour was white while they were blue under the sea level.

The program was supposed to sail through Lemaire Channel. As the channel was blocked by icebergs, the course was changed from 2 hours into 6 hours. The ship was sailed into rough open sea into Port Lockroy. The wind speed was more than 50 km/hr. I found difficult to stand & breathe outside.

We had dinner at 6:00p.m and landed in Port Lockroy at 7:30 p.m. Three scientist ladies stayed in Port Lockroy for the whole season. They studied the behaviour of penguin under the influence of human being. There were a lot of gentoo penguins there. They built nests near the station. I had "Zero Contact" with penguins and took a lot of photos as well as video. The camera also needed to take a rest as raining in the end. I also brought some postcard from the station.

I went back to ship at 10:00 p.m. Miss Tu, Taiwan backpacker, took a very good video of penguin swimming. I hoped to take some later. The weather was erratic in the two days. Not only four seasons in a day, but also four seasons within an hour!


Continental Landing

Day 24 22 Nov Akademik Sergy Vavilov

Paradise Harbour was in the Antarctica. I had stepped on the 7th continent today. I landed to Paradise Harbour in the morning. I wore my mountaineering boot and gaiter today. The deep of snow reached my knee and climbed to the top of the island once I landed. It was more comfortable and easier to walk with my boot. It took about 15 minutes to reach the top and the view was breath-taking.

When I looked back, more and more people were coming. Some wore red jacket, some were yellow, blue,... forming a S-shape loop contrast with crystal white snow. The pattern was very beautiful. The area on top was small and could accommodate only a few people. I turned back after taking some photos.

I sit and look the behaviour of penguin in the foot of hill for 30 minutes. Normally, I always walked and moved. It was always fast. It was seldom a chance to appreciate slowly.

I went to another Zodiac cruise at 10:40 a.m. It was lucky that the weather was fine without snowing. There was a lot of ice on the sea. Cracking sound was formed when the bottom of Zodiac colliding with ice. Sometimes, the driver needed to stop the engine for clearing of ice jammed in the engine.

Besides flowing ice, there were various shape of icebergs on the sea. I often use the idiom of "Tip of iceberg" and it was the first time to see. The zodiac sailed close to the glacier to stop for taking photos. It was tranquil and stunning. There were glaciers and the clicking sound of camera. The cruise took about 1.5 hour and was the most impressive one.


Another cruise was at 3:30p.m. and this time was Nebo Harbour. We landed on the peaceful harbour. It was usual gentoo penguin and not so exciting this time. Mountaineering was climbing to 200m height only and had not reach the top. The calm bay enclosed by hanging glacier. I saw 20 minutes penguin along the way downhill. Lastly, I went to the shore to see penguin swimming. However, it was very difficult to take the video and photos. I saw about an hour this time and back to ship at 6:30 p.m.

The highlight was whale watching at 7:00 p.m. When I came to the pilot of ship at 7:00 p.m., we could see two whales. It was only two spots at the beginning. The captain adjusted the speed and sailed close to it. I could see their tail and body. It was called Humpback whale. As the temperature was very cool, I went to dinner after taking some photos.

The life of expedition was rich. There were two landings everyday. Each was 3 hours. I needed to deal with photos and care of camera. There were three meals a day. Movie was broadcasted in the evening. Lecture and talk-show were held sometimes.

Day 25 23 Nov Akademik Sergy Vavilov

The landing to Cuverville Island was at 9:00 a.m. This island had about 4800 pairs of penguins. The most striking scene was penguin parade. The migration of penguin was from point right to left hand side of the island. Their movement were group by group. It seemed that it was endless!! They formed a beautiful line along the snowy bay. They neglected my present and killed me a lot of memory.

Another Zodiac cruise was at 3:30 p.m. and it was no more attractive. The most interesting part was a lovely leopard seal lying on iceberg.

A BBQ was held at 6:30 p.m. to cerebrate the ending of the Antarctica. There were chicken, beef, lamb, sausage and salad. Each was allocated a giant hat. It was very funny and warm. We came to 6/F lounge later to chat and more photos were taken.


Day 26 24 Nov Akademik Sergy Vavilov

As the sea was very rough, we could not land in the Baily Head. It was changed into Zodiac cruise. I could see many, many Finstrap Penguin. The number might reach 440,000. They were scattered along the shore. More climbed above the cliff to built nests.

The ship sailed into the Whaler' Bay which was a volcano crater. There had a whale-killing station in the past and was converted into a historical site now. I climbed into a hill and looked back the entrance of the Whaler' Bay. The path was easy to walk. Downhill was along a snowy slope and I ran down to the whale station.

Some abandoned oil tank and building were left. I saw two finstrap penguin near the shore and a leopard seal with zero contact. I took many close-up, but it was sleeping. Some people swan near the geyser near the shore. They were given a certificate later.

The Antarctica trip was ended. Now, it was another 48 hour back to Ushuaia. The sea was calm relatively when crossing Drake Passage.

Feedback

Although most people felt exciting in the Antarctica, I felt nothing special, it was just a tour. I thought the wild life in Antarctica should be abundant Now, it was mainly penguins. I only saw a few seal and one pair of whale only. There was only a few bird in the Antarctica.

I could not take good picture because of bad weather, bad camera or poor shooting skill. Glaciers and icebergs were spectacular, but no blue sky in these 5 days. It was meaningless for having white colour only! The cruise on flowing ice was interesting. Zodiac created smashing sound when colliding with ice.

The dream of stepping on 7 continents was achieved. However, it was too easy without encounter giant wave in crossing Drake Passage. I did not feel excited!