Where to : ANTARCTICA
Route : By cruise (M/V Sea Spirit operated by Poseidon Expeditions) from Ushuaia
Cost : 8000 USD for cruise on triple sharing basis + 2500 USD for round trip tickets from India
Season : October to March (My trip was from 14th -25th Dec 2017).
Awesomeness factor : Out of the stratosphere !
Landscapes : http://devanshdhar.com/antarctica/antarctica-i/
So here I am waiting at Netaji Subhas Intl. Airport, Kolkata to take on my flight to Mumbai which is delayed by more than an hour. Consequently, it leaves me with just 3 hours to clear the anaconda length queues at Mumbai immigration. I hurry through the issuing of boarding pass (for Emirates a separate team cross-checks your documents for Latin American countries, so this takes about additional 15 more minutes). I tried for a business class upgrade but the flight from Mumbai to Dubai and Dubai to Buenos Aires was completely booked (even first class!). I reached Dubai and transited through Terminal 3 and took my connecting flight EK-247 to Buenos Aires. The accomplishment in this is I travelled for nearly 20 hours in Economy class – yes you read that right, 20 hours. I consumed 90 ml of 2 Baileys Irish Cream, 3 Jack Daniels and 2 JW Red Label. Additionally, to quench my thirst and ease my tooth pain I consumed 4 small bottles of white wine (unfortunately none of them were Chardonnay which is my choice for wine). Well yeah, I can drink!
Needless to say, Emirates Economy class is pretty good in terms of seating comfort, seat pitch and leg space (Business and First Class enjoy hot meals ala-carte). The best thing is one can get a 200 ml bottle of Moet and Chandon on the flight for just 20 USD! Liquors include JW Red Label, Jack Daniels, Bacardi, Budweiser, Heineken, Baileys Irish cream and an unlimited supply of packaged fruit juices. Overall it was an enjoyable experience with Emirates. Their staff is extremely courteous and try to accommodate the passenger’s needs to the maximum extent possible.
After I reach Buenos Aires International Airport, I tried to reschedule my flight to Ushuaia for one day later but unfortunately due to some technical issues it could not be done. I spent the night at the BA- EZE airport. Located on the 1st floor of Terminal A is a nice carpeted area where people sleep and rest and also the window ledges are a nice place for a nap. But it gets cold inside the terminal so make sure you have a jacket or pullover to cover yourself. The security does not seem to mind the waiting passengers who lie down, sleep or chat - what a nice gesture by the airport authorities! Had an empenada and 2 beers for dinner and went on to sleep on one of the window ledges. The Aerolinas Argentinas departure is from Terminal C which is approximately 100 metres from Terminal A (however, LAN and Iberia have their departures from Terminal A itself). Seamless transition, boarding and thereafter landing in Ushuaia - the southernmost town in this world. The temperature was around 9 degC and it was windy. Had to take out my jacket immediately before I let the cold get the better of me.
I booked my accommodation at Yakush Hostel which is a decent resting place for weary travellers and offers the basic level of hygienic accommodation at good prices. The wi-fi connection was disturbed but still served the purpose. I went around town in the evening basking in the sunlight and cold winds, but was overpowered by the tiredness of the 36 hours of travelling. Came back and slept around 7 to wake-up at 5 the next morning. I went for a short stroll and ended up having breakfast in a nightclub! Its serious, the nightclubs stay open till 7 a.m - just Argentinian things.
Don’t forget to try the food at Christopher Food and Grill, gulp a drink at Dublin Bar and shake a leg at the Nautica club (all within walking distances of each other).
A lazy start to a really good weather day. Bright sunshine and white puffy clouds in the sky, best enjoyed with a cup of coffee and hearty breakfast. I could only manage the former. I went around town trying to find something interesting to shoot, but as is usual with touristy places, it was crowded everywhere. I reached the Arakur resort at 14:00 hrs which was part of a complimentary one night stay arranged by Poseidon Expeditions (a very reputed tour company which organises polar cruises). Opulence galore and with state of the art facilities, it is undoubtedly one of the best properties I have stayed at. Many hotels boast about having infinity pools, but this one has an infinity jacuzzi! They just upped their game by many notches in a building an infinity jacuzzi with a view of the mountains and the Beagle channel. A complete game-changer and a sight to behold coupled with an experience to die for. The winds were so hard that my slippers and bath robe blew off the cliff, but I went back the next day to retrieve them and I did so successfully. The evening was spent having dinner with a lovely American couple and my room partner Rahul Jagtiani who is a very successful entrepreneur. Be sure to follow his travel show ‘Plush places with Rahul Jagtiani’.
The day started with a briefing lecture by Guadalupe Aguirre from Poseidon Expeditions in the hotel and was followed by a hearty breakfast. The excitement of boarding the cruise was marred by a bit when I spilled some beer on my laptop keyboard. Had a hard time fixing it, but nonetheless managed to get it back on only to discover that the Wi-fi was not working and the MacBook would not start without getting the power through the cable (battery had gone kaput). But I didn’t rack my brains much into that and went ahead to board the ship. Wow, the dream was really happening and shit just got real! The opening session on board was one of a formal introduction to the ship, its layout and facilities, introduction of the crew members who would be in touch with us and the emergency evacuation procedure drill. The crew members were extremely knowledgeable and humble people and always ready to help. After the briefing session, a few room changes took place and I was upgraded to a double room. To my utter surprise, my cabin mate was one of the crew members, Artem who was a historian from Russia (Siberia). He had wonderful knowledge and did the North Pole earlier in 2017 which basically means he was doing Antarctica and North Pole in one calendar year. Talk about accomplishment, well here is some! Turns out he is a polyglot who can speak English, Russian, Chinese, German and Spanish.
So we sailed from the port of Ushuaia towards Antarctica with the weather forecast of the Drake passage indicating calm and pleasant weather, making sure that we hit the Drake Lake and not the Drake shake! Dinner was served early at 7:30 p.m comprising of some very delectable dishes. Post dinner, distribution of the parkas and the Wellington boots was carried out and we retired for the night with our hearts brimming with excitement. The small bottle of Chinas Regal 18 years kept me warm and gave me company for the night.
The day unfolded pretty badly with everyone feeling nausea and butterflies in their stomach due to the sea sickness syndromes. Even though we were on a relatively smooth Drake, but still most of us were not prepared to handle the effects arising out of the motion of the ship on the waves. I had a light breakfast and spent most of the day lying on my bed till I decided to head for some fresh air on the balcony in the afternoon. Breathing in some fresh air definitely helps as it made me feel much better and for the first time in the entire day I had a smile on my face. I contemplated taking a dip in the jacuzzi too, but refrained from it as it was really sunny outside and I didn’t want to look like a barbecued steak. Went to the bridge and voila, I find a handsome Punjabi crew member by the name of Vishal. We had a wonderful chat and later that night I met up with an Indian chef (Anthony) on board. He made a count of all the Indians on board and delightfully agreed to serve us some delectable Indian cuisine. Within an hour, we had triple the head count for Indian dishes than we had normally estimated! The power Indian food holds in unifying food lovers is unparalleled to any other cuisine. I went to sleep after a light dinner. Just after the dinner, the captain announced that we had officially entered the Antarctic waters! Woohoo …. And tomorrow we were all ready to set foot on the Antarctic land.
Woke up feeling much better and after a quick dancing shower (because of the bumpy ride), I headed for breakfast. Had my customary bowl of yoghurt and muesli along with scrambled egg burritos (the Chef’s special). Post breakfast we had a mandatory briefing session about the IAATO guidelines which gave us a good comprehensive outlook on responsible human behaviour on the Antarctic land to preserve the wildlife and the natural vegetation. A lecture on penguins was scheduled thereafter but I skipped it to photograph some albatrosses from the ship’s deck. Lunch was to be served early because we had to make a landing right after it. We halted and took off on the Zodiacs in groups of 10 to H.O Island which was one of the best locations to catch up with the hatching of penguin eggs. As we approached the island, the stink of the penguin poop shot right through our noses sharper than the smell of vinegar but after 15-20 minutes we got acclimatised.
The route to be followed was made clear with red markers and expedition members from PE along with those. Seeing penguins for the first time was such a surreal experience that it can never be expressed in words. The puffy little animals waddling and running around, sometimes shrieking, playfully nudging each other and falling over is one of the most hilarious sights in the entire wildlife regime. We stayed there for 2 hours and photographed them to our heart’s content. Some were very curious and came up close to catch a good look at all the red jacketed PE adventurers. There was another group who went kayaking and got around the island to see some penguins bobbing up and down in the water. We returned to our boat and were greeted with a warm towel and a hot cup of tea. Ahh, pure bliss!
Later in the evening, we had a briefing session on the following day’s activities and post dinner we made a landing at Deception Island. It had the broken remains of a whaling station from the bygone years. Rustic old iron structures against a backdrop of snow capped mountains with their contours highlighted by the setting sun was more than a reason to sit back and contemplate on life and existence. I took some shots with my wide angle lens. But the icing on the cake was to hear a sleeping seal snore like a human! I died laughing at that. We made our way back to the ship to be greeted by some hot goulash on the aft deck.
The day unfolded from the early hours in a rather dramatic manner with icebergs all around the ship, albeit small in size. After an early breakfast we headed out to make a landing on Mikkelsen Harbour. Its a very pristine location with a Gentoo penguin colony and a bright red wooden house which used to be an emergency rescue room sometime in the past. Ample opportunities for taking close-up shots of penguins and seals. Crossing over to the other side of the snow, there were remains of a broken boat and whale bones which made up for an interesting composition for landscape wide angle shots.
The day was nice and bright with some clouds at a distance. A few whale sightings were also done afar and we heard a few gun firing shots. We came to know that it was the sound of icebergs cracking! We were hopeful to catch a few dropping into the ocean breaking off from the landmass, but luck didn’t favour us. We headed back to the boat for a quick lunch and were all set to make our next landing for Cierva Cove. The Cierva Cove viewing was a zodiac tour which lasted around 1.5 hours and I got to take some real cool shots of the massive blocks of Icebergs. Years of compaction had created a density difference which was reflected from the blue colours in the crevices of the icebergs. A few were breaking up, which was indicated by the echoes of gun-shot noises in the vast infinity. The best part was pulling on board a crystal clear piece of ice weighing nearly 10 kilos and taking it on board to drink some cocktails infused with ice from the belly of the Antarctic peninsula! What a moment for everyone on board.
Once back on the ship we were greeted with some waffles and ice-cream - pure bliss! Dinner was served early at 6:30 p.m (with some nice Indian fish curry and aloo chokha) since we were scheduled to make another landing at Portal Point. Portal point was a piece of land covered with ice and was surrounded with broken glaciers on all sides. A group of campers went on to one side for digging the holes in the ground with their shovels and preparing for the night while the others went on a small hike to the topmost point of the landmass to get some spectacular views. The snow was soft and we were sinking in knee deep into the snow quite frequently. I managed to get some spectacular wide-angle shots and was left mesmerised at the sheer magnanimity of the Antarctic peninsula. What a place!
I slept late at 3:30 a.m and guess what kept me up ? Whale watching! Yes, you read that right. So myself and William were up on the deck and suddenly we spot 2 swooshes in the distance and immediately recognised that they were whales. 2 giant humpback whales diving freely into the water at a distance of 30-40 metres from the ship. They usually don’t come so close but since the ship was quite stationary and not moving around, they took the liberty of coming close. What a sight! We got some pictures on William’s phone since I was not carrying mine.
I woke up at 10:00 a.m and had a late brunch before heading to the briefing session by Adam, Ida, Boris and Jan on the day’s activities. The weather prediction for the forthcoming days was a bit gloomy since we were headed to a low pressure zone. Camping activities were rescheduled as per requirement. Around 2:00 p.m we took the zodiacs to Neko Harbour for witnessing some glacier carvings close-up. Unfortunately for us, there was just one small carving which took place but there were numerous sounds of glaciers cracking up.
There was a gentoo colony too and there were some really curious ones! One very nearly came to pecking my hand but decided against it at the last moment and turned back. Needless to say, I got some amazing glacier shots with my zoom lens. We headed back after a couple of hours and had tea on board. After dinner we entered Paradise Bay and whoever named that place did the most apt thing of his lifetime. The campers were doing their nights on a small island in Paradise Bay and the expedition leader had a small surprise in store for the rest. He arranged a small half an hour zodiac ride for the non-campers and the zodiacs took us pretty close to the glaciers. It was a fun ride. Back on the ship I spent my time listening to Johnny at the piano and sipping some JD on the rocks.
Today we had to cruise through Lemaire channel. The entrance to the channel was very picturesque with glaciers on both sides and a narrow passage to sail through. We entered the channel but had to make a quick exit as the captain decided that the surrounding ice was floating pretty heavily and it could trap us inside for sometime. So we touched the southernmost point of our trip and decided to head Northwards towards Port Lockroy. Just after lunch the PE leader announced that there was some real action on sea upfront and guess what the action was? Orkas !!! Better known as killer whales there were 3 of them diving smoothly into the water and coming up after a few seconds. The entire ship along with crew members rushed to the bridge with cameras in hand and we had a great time photographing them. What majestic animals! Absolute brilliance to witness their sheer power up close.
After about an hour we landed at Port Lockroy. Prior to the landing, the team leader of Port Lockroy; Hanna Laura came on deck to share some valuable historical and tourist friendly info with everyone. It is the southernmost post office in this world and is supported by a non-profitable organisation based out of the UK. They receive around 2 ships daily, sometimes 4 if the ships are small with the daily limit of passengers being 350. Port Lockroy received an astounding 17000 passengers last year from Nov to Mar. They sell merchandise to sustain their activities and penguin colony monitoring is also part of their job. We saw some penguin chicks in the colony and needless to say it was cuteness overload! I posted some cards which I bought onboard from the post office hoping that it will reach India and bought some merchandise as souvenirs.
Back at the ship we had a ball with some barbecue dinner on the open deck followed by some music and dance. When it started raining the party shifted indoors in to the bar and we danced away the night like crazy. Some members of PE were just killing it with their moves! To top it all there was Indian music too. I hit the Jacuzzi later around 1:30 a.m with some other guys who left the bar late and went to sleep around 2:00 a.m.
An early morning start to the day with a wake-up call at 7:30 a.m. After a light breakfast we made our landing amidst heavy snow at Danco Island. There was a good Gentoo penguin colony there and I took some photographs. Did a rather high hike up the mountain only to discover that it was clouded all around and just when I came down it turned sunny. Arghh, the frustrations of a photographer. While photographing penguins there, I was penguin mobbed by a few curious penguins. It was a pretty funny moment.
One even came close enough to peck my neck. I am glad it didn’t do so because I have heard they peck pretty hard. In the afternoon, we had a zodiac tour of Deception Island and man, what an hour on the zodiac it was! The weather was windy with choppy seas and we got drenched out there. The ride was a bumpy one with Adam, our driver trying his best to keep all passengers on board. There was no chance of taking photographs in that kind of weather conditions with water splashing all around us. I had an extra pair of gloves with me and that saved my fingers from going numb. I asked Adam to communicate to the guys waiting at the ship to keep an extra set of gloves ready because they were going to need it. It was a taste of expedition and adventure out there taking on 3 meter high waves. We made it back for some warm beverage and never in my life has the warmth of tea felt so soothing and comforting. After dinner we had an Origami session conducted by the beautiful Ida Olsson (PE kayak expert) and after a few drinks at the bar, retired for the night.
We made our last landing for the expedition at the Russian station at Bellingshausen Station. It was a fully operating staton with makeshift modular buildings and even 4 WD cars. It was a pretty amusing feeling to have seen cars after a week and that too on the Antarctic peninsula. There was a church atop a small hill which is probably the southernmost church in this world.
I could finally set-up my camera on the tripod and take a few long exposure shots, not that it was the best location for long exposures but given the fascination I have with them, no trip is complete unless I shoot a few frames with more than 10 seconds exposure. I came down the small hill to photograph a colony of chinstrap penguins. Those were really close to us and weren't in the least bothered by our presence amongst them. We came back to the ship to do the most awaited activity on an polar expedition - The Polar Plunge! There were 59 people out of 82 who gutted up for plunging into the ice cold water. I got a small video of myself on Abhi’s GoPro. Nibras also got a great aerial shot of me doing the plunge. The chilling sensation which sets in the body parts is something of an adrenaline rush! Many people go into a brain freeze too, so the PE team tied a harness to everyone’s waistline in case someone became unconscious or lost their ability to function in those freezing waters.
People enjoyed it totally and some of us wanted to go for a second dive too, but were denied that opportunity. Later at night, we were taught to tie some useful knots by camping leader Ryan Hope-Inglis which was followed on by a hilarious session of karaoke music late into the night.
The day started off with making our entry into the Drake Passage and man, what a sailing it was! The Drake Shake greeted us. 8 metre high waves and 40 knots of winds, well I fell off from my bed and decided to spend the rest of my day at the Oceanus Lounge which is located on the aft of the ship. My room was the first one from the bow and I was having it the worst if I would have stayed in my room. A friend shot a video from the 4th deck bow and the ship was nose-diving into the water. There were a few lectures throughout the day on whales by Boris, making it to Antarctica on a sailor’s ship by Marta and a recap of the camping and kayaking session by Ryan and Ida respectively. People attended these sessions more as an escape to beat sea sickness, rather than gaining information from them, although Marta’s lecture on her travel to the Antarctic peninsula in a sailing ship was nothing short of being inspirational to overcome all the odds which holds us back. I decided to spend my night at the lounge itself as my roomie was really sea-sick since our room being the first from bow was receiving all the rock, roll, bumps and bangs. A screening of Happy Feet with popcorn took place in the lounge, but I ignored it all and went ahead for a peaceful night of sleep.
Another rocking and rolling day to start with but my 02:00 p.m we were in much calmer and sheltered waters of the Beagle Channel. There was a small Christmas celebration on board by all the PE staff members which was later followed by high tea on the aft deck under the sunny skies. The captain’s farewell cocktail took place at 7.00 p.m and we were shown a movie comprising of videos and images of our entire trip. I stole the spotlight by getting featured quite often! We had a wonderful dinner and I shared the table with the expedition leader Jan Bryde and needless to say, he treated me to the best red wine on board!
The ship docked at Ushuaia port at 9.00 p.m and the staff and crew members got off the ship for a breath of fresh air and to celebrate Christmas in whatever ways they could. Speaking with their families was everyone’s priority and the internet connection at the docks made it possible for everyone to connect with their loved ones. I went out for a stroll and ended up having a deeply spiritual conversation with my friend Turk, who happens to be one of the brightest students at MIT's B-school. What an amazing guy! We returned to the ship at around 01:30 a.m and I packed my remaining baggage and left it outside the cabin for the staff to pick it up at 06:30 a.m.
I woke up to Jan’s wake-up call and realised that the time for disembarkation has come. Hugs and waves all around us along with promises to meet in the future were made. We left for the airport with smiles on our faces but deep within there was a sad feeling that the wonderful trip of a lifetime had finally seen its end. I clicked some good-bye selfies with the crew members and my new friends.
Very deep emotions played within me. Boarded my flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires. The Aerolineas Argentinas staff put me on a different flight which saved me precious time as it took me directly to the EZE International Airport (instead of my original booking of AEP airport thereby saving me 1.5 hours of road transit time). I geared myself up for taking the marathon 19 hours flight from Buenos Aires to Dubai! Ahh man, travelling in Economy is sometimes a pain in the ass (literally). Slept like a baby on the flight from the tiredness of the past week. Didn’t eat or drink much as I had a long way ahead. Crossed numerous time zones and realised that I boarded a flight on 25th Dec and reached my destination on 27th Dec!
Reached Dubai and was left aghast at the sheer magnanimity of the airport! Boarded my flight to Mumbai and reached at 08:35 a.m. Serpentine queues in the immigration took a toll of my patience but I still had to board another flight and reach Kolkata and drive down to Haldia. Damn man, travelling on such tight schedules is not a good idea when the office timings are sacrosanct. Nonetheless, I decided to spend my time at the Aviserv lounge located in the arrival hall of the International terminal. It has a flexible pricing option depending on the facilities which one wants to use which include baggage storage, lounge, food, shower facilities and sleeping pods. I slept for a couple of hours and woke up for lunch. Post lunch I had a nice warm shower and felt refreshed after my marathon flights. Headed down to catch my flight to Kolkata and reached Kol at 8:35 p.m. Went home and was greeted with warm hugs from my ever smiling parents. Had some light dinner and rested for the night at home. Left home early next morning at 6:00 a.m to reach Haldia by 8:30 a.m and that marked the end of my much coveted Antarctica trip. Thanks to everyone for having made it possible and as they say, “God be with it”. Thanks everyone for reading. Please share so that this informative article reaches out to more people. Cheers and stay hooked for my next travels after 6 months ;)
For the stunningly beautiful pictures of Antarctica, please visit my website http://devanshdhar.com/antarctica/antarctica-i/
