Get spoiled in luxury
By Jaimy de Vries
. We started to explore Antarctica by Zodiac. The Zodiac took us everywhere, to land, to our kayaks and to explore the area around as a zodiac cruise. We sailed our way through the brash ice, looking for seals and penguins in the maze of ice and marveling at the icebergs of various forms and sizes.
Arrival!
So attempt two to start my world trip. Now I’ll start in Argentina. While writing my monthly newsletter I’d came to my mind that I travelled over four continents in just one month: Canada (North America), Iceland (Europe), Argentina (South America) and Antarctica. Well I surely felt it. In just one month the airports become more familiar than my own home, and while first I was quite impressed flying on a plane, now it’s just daily business . The flight from Amsterdam to Ushuaia (End of the world) was the longest trip I’ve ever had. First I flew 2,5 hours to Madrid with a stopover of 2 hours, then a flight of 13 hours to Buenos Aires with a stopover of 9,5 hours, then a 3,5 hours long flight to Ushuaia. The last flight made everything okay! Wow what a view. It gave me such a glorious feeling that I’m here, a bit unreal. But I am so grateful!
Most beautiful flight I’ve ever had
Freestyle Adventure
My trip in Antarctica started the day after I arrived in Ushuaia. I wanted to be here a day before, just in case something happened like a flight cancelation. But everything went fine, luckily. I booked my Antarctica last-minute with the help of freestyle adventures who are stationed in Ushuaia. If you book last-minute you can have a discount up to 50%! I can really recommend to look for a last minute trip. The season starts in December and ends in March, so you have 3 months to try to get a last-minute deal. You can do this while you’re in Ushuaia or like me by emailing tour operators from abroad. I had contact with Freestyle. Freestyle did an amazing job helping me. Their service is off the chart. On my first day of the expedition I went by to their office to arrange some paperwork and they helped me to gear up. After that I went to the Arakur hotel by taxi.
Arakur hotel
Then took a taxi to our 5 star hotel!! The first time on a five star hotel. This was included in the 12-day Antarctica expedition. Arakur is a 5 star hotel. I’ve never been to a hotel like that. It was on the cliff of a mountain with an amazing view over the beagle channel and Ushuaia city.
It was possible to check in in the morning, but the rooms were not ready yet. So I decided to take a hike at Cerro Alarken (next to the hotel). After checking-in I took a small peak at the lobby and met two ladies from California, Colleen and Joanna who are joining me on the cruise the next day. They want to join me on my 3-hour hike to Rio Olivia valley in Cerro Alarken.
A 5 star hotel, you can see wild horses on the right
Cerro Alarken
We had an amazing hike. The nature is really fascinating. We saw big forest with lots of light-green moss on it. The color of the moss means that the air is very clean (a guide told me later). Some tree’s had really interesting shapes too. And I saw many many dead trees. One looked like an old lady with back problems. When we walked to Rio Olivia the forest turned into a swampy area and the ground was really mousy, it felt like walking over a matrass. Never experienced something like this. And I come from the Netherlands, where the ground can be mousy too, so that means something I guess ….What I really loved about the hike is that we saw so many wild horses, we saw like 20, and they came very close. We also find some El Calafate blue berries that we eat. I think it’s so cool to eat from a natural source.
What a scenery
Bewitched tree
Wild horses
Love these tree’s
Muddy trail
Lot of dead tree’s too
Hello roommate
After the hike I got the key to my room, when entering the room I found at that my roommate was already there. We had a nice conversations to get to know each other a bit. After that I settled in and took a bath. Everything was so luxurious!! There was so sea salt, big nice soft towels and a very big bath tub. Who would have thought that a backpacker on a budget like me, can have a bath like that!? I really enjoyed it. After that it was already time to have dinner. Me and my roomie ordered roomservice, because we needed to be careful to avoid getting COVID-19. We were talking for so long that we forgot the time. We were happy, both solo female travelers, that we got matched. Later that night we had a COVID test and it was negative! yeah! Later we found out we are roomies on the cruise too. We had so much fun!
My roomie!!
Welcome on board
Then finally we went into the bus towards the harbor. The crew waived at us when we arrived. I felt so pumped and happy walking on the plank up to the cruise ship. We are finally here and we made it! At that moment all the stress of getting here we left behind at the harbor. We got welcomed with juice, a warm towel and a small presentation about the ship and the crew. After going to our room to check and unpack our bag we had a presentation about the safety on the ship with a safety drill of course. We succeeded of course!
Yes finally on the cruise!!
Safety drill
Drake passage
We sailed over the drake passage. This is considered one of the most treacherous journeys for a ship.
The Drake Currents at this latitude don’t meet any resistance from landmasses thus waves can rise to 12 meters (40 feet). Most powerful convergence of seas. It’s the body of water that connects Cape Horn and the Shetland Islands of Antarctica. Such a bumpy ride, that’s why they also call it the drake shake. The ship is being tossed around so easily. What makes it hard to walk straight. The expedition leader recommended us ‘one hand for the ship’ to prevent to fall or go overboard. Oops! Let’s try to prevent that from happening.
Spoiled in Luxury
The trip was as luxurious as it could be. Welcome cocktails, the crew knowing your name in one day, big luxury cabins, a hot tub outside, new towels every day, your room cleaned 3 times a day, lots of lectures, well planned trips by zodiac or cruise, a warm towel and drink after a trip, a photographer on board… I can go on and on, but I guess you get the idea. And I haven’t even got started about the food. The food! I’m starting to drool thinking about all the delicious food we ate. We got at least 3 dishes with every mail, and breakfast was no exception! You could choice between fish, meat (steak), Italian, Indian, Thai, etc. etc. It was insane! I can get used to this lifestyle, but it’s good that I don’t…because otherwise I get depressed sleeping at hostels. To make you a little bit jealous, here some photos of the delicious food we got.
Pasta bolognaise
Tiramisu
Gran dessert
Seal on the beach
Finally the sights of icebergs!
On our third day we finally arrived in Antarctica Peninsula. Everyone went outside to look at the icebergs. There was so much wind I’ve never experienced before. The strong wind, the rough sea and the icebergs on the background…wow…I got blown away! Literally and so do speaking!! The idea of being on an incredible place with lots of icebergs, wildlife and no human residents, is exciting! But before we set of, first all our outer stuff and clothes needed to go through a bio clean-up. That means that all our stuff get checked if there are bio species on it (like seeds). This is to keep Antarctica as it is. The IAATO & Antarctica treaty set rules to keep Antarctica as it is. Humans already destroyed and interfered so many natural environments. Let’s preserve our precious Antarctica!
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