El Calafate, Argentina

After yesterday, today is going to need to be a bit slower paced. My joints feel better than I was expecting but no appetite for the cycle around the lake I had previously suggested. Fortunately Justin was in a similar mind (although his previous life as a mountain goat ensured his muscles were recovering more effectively) so whilst we caught the 8am bus to El Calafate, I slept most of the way and on arrival we ignored the bike hire flyers. We spent the afternoon strolling around the town, lunch was a avocado waffle sandwich (better than bread!) and several coffees. After the shock of postage charges we bit the bullet and bought stamps for our Antarctica postcards. Each card needed £3.75 worth of stamps, and I had 9!!! Such a crime, even the locals in the queue were shocked. After that episode we elected to cook tonight, finishing some of our food supplies in tuna pasta and enjoying the remaining wine from the end of the world. Squeezed in a ice cream, under the guise of trying out the local Calafate berry (nice – bit like blueberry but tarter) then spent the evening playing cards and reading. I am getting quite excited about Buenos Aires tomorrow, although Justin isn’t appreciating my singing from ‘Evita’.

El Chalten, Argentina

It is a clear morning and great conditions for seeing Mount Fitzroy. We set off on the Laguna de Los Tres, which is a walk to the closest you can get to Mount Fitzroy. This was explained as 4 hours each way with the final hour being a steep ascent to viewing point. This hour was about 1km in length but rose up 400m, gulp! I decided I could make the decision at that point and thus we set off with a tummy full of sweet breakfast. We picked up sandwiches and water, I was slightly distracted by cakes. Having decided we would need a reward for all this exercise, I bought 3…..2 for me and 1 for Justin. I felt I would need more motivation so I crammed the tray of cakes into the rucksack along with my more essential items. We hit the start and ascended up to walk along a ridge above the Rio Fitzroy. The path opened out to a panoramic view of the valley which was stunning, we pushed on strolling along with these great views. The landscape kept changing along with tree types and heights but included plenty of whispy litchen which I love. Couple of hours in you see Mount Fitzroy at a view point, looks like a painted backdrop with the crisp blue sky. The walking at this point isn’t challenging as it is mainly same level and undulating a little El Desnivelso plenty of time to soak up this stunning place. We bumped into Gabriel from the Antarctic boat and James from a previous hostel, such a small world. We hit Rio Blanco on time, and whilst Justin joked on the approach that people were walking up the hill in front….they were! I am not one to dramatise but this was more a cliff than a hill rising for the last past almost vertical. This was steeper than I had envisaged, but I figured that everyone said the view was worth it and it wasn’t going to be a race, I could just put one foot in front of the other and suck it up. I told Justin to go ahead as watching him skip up like a billy goat to then wait for me is frustrating and I needed my breaks. There were points in this cliff when you were just stepping up huge boulders, like giant’s walkway steps as you headed vertically. There is even a point where you think you are at the top to find you have to go further….but I made it. Loads of people at the top and legs were shaky by the time I found Justin. I earnt that cake! Absolutely phenomenal view of the Fitzroy massif, just stunning. Headed back down for the 10km return hike, we were pretty speedy and took the loop via Laguna Capri for a different view. My knees were killing me by the end and I had to take the small descent at the end really slowly. We both decided that if we went back to shower we may not make it out again, so we stopped en route at B&Bs. This burger joint had beer happy hour on as well, all tasted splendid as I inhaled it in my shattered state. Legs were now seizing up when I stopped so we went back for hot showers and my last cake!

El Chalten, Argentina

Today we have a 6 hour walk in mind, I have read that a clear day is best for the hike to base of Mount Fitzroy and we think tomorrow will be clearer. The hike today has a little ascent but then follows a river to Laguna Torre. We still get some amazing views of Cerro solo and Torre mountain, the rock structures are big layers with the occasional waterfall from the glacier I assume. The end point is Laguna Torre with views of Glacier Grande which is huge. The walk is 22km and we manage over 35,000 steps. The rain came in for part of the return but I still really enjoyed the route. I had spotted a nice restaurant for dinner, La Tapena so we headed out early to get a table and sit down to river trout followed by chocolate fondant!!!!! Delicious, can hear Polly in my ear telling me I am not a real backpacker, but it’s chocolate fondant!!!! Who cares!!!!

El Calafate, Argentina

Bought Avocado last night for breakfast, what a treat, it is even ripe! Leisurely morning before our bus departure at 1pm. We strolled to the lake to see the birds and spotted flamingos, even saw them flying. I am struck by how green this part of Patagonia is and it seems to be a good growing spot. They have huge lavender bushes, roses and lots of other more English native shrubs. Bus was ok and about 3 hours up route 40, I slept for most of it but managed to wake up as we started to get views of the Fitzroy massif. It is a glorious day as we enter the town of El Chalten. Our hotel is right near the bus station at the bottom of town so no luggage haul for us. I had found a Cerviceria, microbrewery for dinner so we sampled the pilsner (delicious!) and justin tried the dark. The Argentinian stew and wedges were great, good hearty meal in prep for our hike tomorrow.

El Calafate, Argentina

Lovely atmosphere in our hostel, coffee and breakfast also better than expected. Today we are off early to hike on the Puerto Moreno glacier. Mixed thoughts post Antarctica as to whether anything ice related will be as good. Strange doing an organised tour as it picked up at each hotel, it then takes about an hour to reach the Los Glaciares national park and the start of our trip. We board a boat across to the south side of the glacier. It is quite epic, it is 170km long and 5 km wide and at the front stands 50m tall above water and another 100m below. It is self sustaining, so as much adds to the top from the cold Andes air as breaks off at the base. I think the most impressive part is the sound of ice breaking, like a whip cracking as it moves at different velocities along the edges causing crevasses and ultimately tumbles off into the lake. We walked for a couple of hours on the ice, which was harder than expected with the crampons. Learnt about sink holes and colours of the ice – still looks like meringue to me! Justin had whisky on glacier rocks to celebrate the finish, whilst I stayed with chocolate. We then got to see the north face via a series of boardwalks before heading back to town. It seems like the whole bus slept on the way back. Grabbed groceries for a budget meal at the hostel, still reeling from postage charge.

Ushuaia, Argentina

Sad morning call this morning, I have enjoyed a great expedition in amazing comfort and met great people. Breakfast was the usual feast but I am surprisingly full – think it is cumulative! We disembark about 9am to a drizzelly grey Ushuaia. We have no real opportunity to do anything before our flight this afternoon but having decided to post back our Quark parkas head to the Post office. People are really helpful here, and after boxing it up and queuing for 90minutes we are able to send the 6kg box to the UK for £200!!!! Nearly fell over when Justin told me the conversion. Spent the rest of the day walking around and drinking coffee, our lunch baguette has been halved for dinner after my post office shock. We take a taxi to the airport with Emelie and Kasper, goodbye Ushuaia- I feel I stayed too long. El Calafate in contrast seems a lively town, similar to Pucon, bit of a summer destination. We eat our baguettes with our wine from the ‘end of the world’ chatting to James who lives off 5USD a day, justin and I can’t comprehend this!

Ushuaia, Argentina

Overnight we have had fun listing in the winds before anchoring in Ushuaia harbour. We will wait here for a berth at the pier, probably getting one tonight. I am now used to at least 3 courses at every meal, I am probably half a stone heavier and will be sad to leave the comfort of the ship. Today will be packing day, Justin brought a vacuum bag for us to put our expedition jackets into but I am concerned that the cases will be a tight fit! It is too tight so we are now planning on sending parkas and non essentials home via post in Ushuaia- could be expensive? We had our last debrief this evening, which was a little sad, reminded of all the great things we have experienced, such an amazing time that actually feels like months rather than days. There was also a photography contest onboard and I was thrilled to actually win first prize for wildlife! Lovely picture of a Weddall seal which I loved and hope will be of a quality to frame at home. Totally 5 star last dinner and then a boogie into the night, ignoring the early wake up call tomorrow.

Tolhuin, Argentina

As we crossed out of Antarctica and once again faced the Drakes Passage it gave us a bit more of a shake around with Force 10 conditions and wind gusts of 63mph/102kph, 9.3m high waves. The pills held me together and I spent a relaxing day, now with a familiar pattern of lectures, food and naps.

Artigas Base, Antarctica

Pretty much as soon as we got back to the cabin last night we packed everything away and the wind picked up. Our cabin is at the front behind the bridge so we get the most movement, particularly the slams as we hit waves. It doesn’t seem to be consistent noises so woke a few times in the night despite earplugs. Today was spent attending a few lectures, blog updates and a fair bit of napping. Seasickness pills seem to be holding off any nausea (touch wood). Sea calmed late afternoon and by sunset it was lovely, stepped outside to see a couple of Albatross flying around the ship.

Paradise Harbour, Antarctic Peninsula

Early morning call today as we attempt to pass through the Lemaire Channel. The Lemaire Channel is an 11 km long by 1.6 km wide passage that runs from False Cape Renard to Cape Cloos, separating Booth Island from the Antarctic continent. At its narrowest, the Lemaire Channel is less than 800 m wide with towering peaks overhead. The channel can be full of icebergs and sea ice, which makes manoeuvring difficult. Unfortunately for us as we approached the entrance we could see it was littered with iceburgs and due to wind, once in the channel the ship would have little steerage so it would be foolish to attempt. We turned around and headed for shelter from the gusty wind, in the form of the aptly named Paradise Harbour. Whalers named Paradise Harbour because it is such a protected anchorage. Deep and glaciated, it is a favoured location for zodiac cruising, particularly around the glaciers of Skontorp Cove, which sometimes calve. This region supports nesting blue-eyed shags, Cape petrels and Antarctic terns on the nearby cliffs. It is also home to the infrequently occupied Argentinean station Almirante Brown that is located on the Antarctic mainland. We learnt that the Argentinians built the most bases and refuges on Antarctica, mainly as political statements. It was great getting back in the zodiacs to zoom up close to the glacier and around the ice structures looking at sea birds and penguins ‘porpoising’ or cruising along the surface of the ocean. We even managed to look up around 10.30 to view a partial solar eclipse through cloud which was cool. On landing Gentoo penguins greeted us, many of them adults moulting so they conserve energy and shelter themselves in groups. We hike up to a high point for a spectacular view of Paradise Harbour and bizarrely it is the first walk on snow this trip. We walked over to the Cove and just marvelled at the glaciers, massive descending ice to the sea shore, with blue and white peaks often looking like meringue. This afternoon we headed in to Cuverville Island which lies in the Errera Channel, between Rongé Island and the Arctowski Peninsula. This small rocky island has vertical cliffs measuring 200 m (650 ft.) in elevation with extensive moss cover. Cuverville Island is home to the largest gentoo penguin colony in the region (6,500 breeding pairs), along with southern giant petrels, kelp gulls, Antarctic terns, snowy sheathbills and south polar skuas. It was amazing to see how high up the penguin colony is based and all the trails down the snow to and from the beach, bit like ski runs! Saw a few penguin carcasses that were not so nice to see, but we do get reminded of the circle of life. Last trip on the zodiacs was with Daven and we were keen to see whales, we shot out of the cove and sped past the seals languishing on iceburgs, Crabeaters and even a Leopard seal swimming underneath the zodiac could not stall us we were on a mission. Just outside we spotted a couple of sleeping humpback whales, on waking they dove down with a quick furnish of tail fins. We kept our eyes peeled and spotted a couple more in the distance, and then the previous two surfaced nearby for us to watch. There was a annoying American woman, trying to get a perfect whale shot on a iPhone who kept moaning about missing it or Justin’s bobble hat getting in the way. We still had a great time sat watching them and at one point there were about seven around us which was incredible to watch, such large magnificent creatures. Got back to the ship and learnt that in order to get ahead of a storm we would leave Antarctica tonight in an attempt to have a calmer trip across Drakes passage, we were told that the last expedition crossed in 11m high swells….sounds terrifying! As I was finishing my lovely hot shower tonight an announcement was made that in 10minutes time people could do the ‘Polar Plunge’ if they wanted. Basically they tie a rope around you and you jump into the Antarctic Ocean which is below zero – of course we were doing it! As we lined up the music was pumping to fire the energy as about 70 of us got ready to jump one by one. It was great to see Sarah, Paul and Kasper in the line and people coming out looked okay. I lowered myself down the steps off level 3 to the platform where they tied the rope round me, there was a boat off the stern taking pictures so I launched myself dramatically and flung myself as far as I could. Big mistake, this water was cold and I had not factored in such a strong current, as a started swimming back to the platform I remembered how small the lady was who had the other end of the rope….but we got out, just as Justin threw himself in and made a similar choice! It was exhilarating and we chatted for a post plunge minute before heading back for hot showers!