Related Antarctica Favorites Tips

Favorite thing: I've heard the sea is rough, and I get seasick easy, so I chose to fly. Tt was also the cheapest way to go. I booked with DAP from Punta Arenas to King George Island. You can read my post if you like:

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/fa181/9/

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Favorite thing: My husband and I flew to King George Island with DAP.

http://www.aeroviasdap.cl/

It is cheapest to schedule with them directly. Their office is in Punta Arenas. If you take a chartered flight it is about $3,000 per ticket and you spend the day, doing what you described. Seeing the penguins and the science centers. They also have one hour layovers there if you luck out and arrive when a cruise ship is getting picked up. I don't think they usually sell these tickets, but if you met them in person, they might be willing to work something out if they have extra seats. I would not go twice in my life, but I would choose to go again the first time, knowing what it is like. Yes. It is a once in a lifetime experience.

Fondest memory: I loved seeing the sign with all the arrows and city names pointing in every direction.

Favorite thing: We went to Machu Picchu in December of 2011. It was very rainy. Take a poncho. The ones they sell are worthless. Having my own made things so much more comfy and helped protect my camera. We flew to Antarctica, so high seas were not a problem.

Favorite thing: For one of our on-board lunches, the crew of the Ushuaia chose to fire up outside grills and have a (what they called) Antarctic Barbecue. The weather was clear and sunny - albeit it a bit cooler than your standard outdoor barbecue. And, the plan was never to EAT outside, given the coolness. But, a lot of folks hung around outdoors drinking Quilmes (Argentine beer) and enjoying the delightful smells coming from the giant cookers.

The menu included barbecued chicken, beefsteak, and several different kinds of sausages - including chorizo and blood sausages. When it was time to eat, we assembled in the dining room, and they brought plate after plate of barbecue to us. One member of our table (the intrepid and clinically insane - ha ha - Samantha Browning of Perth, Australia) chose to try one of the blood sausages. I couldn't imagine why, they didn't really look like anything I wanted to try and besides - I spent 30+ working in a clinical lab. I know what happens when you heat large volumes of blood - it coagulates and gets pretty gross. But try it Samantha did, and she pronounced it "not so great" and mentioned that it had little "lumpy" parts of unknown origin. (My guess would be they were roasted blood clots... yech.)

OK, the blood sausage wasn't a great idea, but everything else was very good, and it really hit the spot on a clear and breezy afternoon near Port Charcot.

Fondest memory: Samantha's face when she tried that blood sausage. Even my sweet daughter Sara - who will eat darn near ANYTHING - passed on the bloodies. Samantha, dear.... what WERE you thinking?

Favorite thing: Do I really need to write this tip? Is anyone out there stupid enough to get on a cruise ship and pay no attention to "becoming friends" with the bartender?

Let's list a few reasons to be good friend with your bartender...

He'll notice YOU quickly when everyone wants a drink.

He'll set aside the last bottle of a pretty decent little cabernet and deliver it to your dinner table later, fibbing to everyone else and telling them that he's sold the last bottle.

He'll make sure that you get an EXTRA COLD can of Quilmes, the very drinkable Argentine brew of choice on board.

He'll find you some snacks when you need them.

And on our boat, he was in charge of selling t-shirts and stuff, so he'll dig though his entire supply in his spare time to find the last one of the size and color you really, really wanted. Thanks, Alvaro.

Our terrific bartender on the Ushuaia was the enigmatic and gregarious Alvaro Fierro. I know that's an interesting combo of descriptive words, but let's just say that Alvaro is a very special cocktail himself. Good guy.

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Favorite thing: I'd seen many many penguins in zoos, and I felt like I had a pretty good idea of what they were like. I figured the trip to Antarctica would show me penguins in their native habitat and in unimaginable numbers. But, I was surprised and delighted to see them SWIM.

They generally will go for little swims in groups, and they really do look like "little porpoises", zipping along and hopping up into the air along the way. They actually seem to synchronize the hops a bit, because it seemed to me that groups of 8 or 10 penguins would almost always be out of the water at the same time.

My pictures probably don't do it justice, but if you look at several of them, you'll maybe get the idea. Seeing these little guys on a synchronized swim just brings a smile to your face.

Fondest memory: Seeing my first penguin swim show, and at first thinking they were porpoises or some other type of sleek swimming water mammal or fish. They do things so very TOGETHER.

Favorite thing: Antarctica really isn't a country or sovereign nation. They have no foreign ministry, passport offices or customs officers. In general, the interests of the continent are a world concern, and the area is overseen in the interest of all the world by a group of treaty-signing nations. There ARE nations who have territorial "claims" on Antarctica, including Argentina. However, that notion seems to be a thought of past centuries. It seems that, for the foreseeable future, the treasure and unique place that is Antarctica will be protected by a large group of concerned and committed governments and their citizenry.

That being said, you DO want to have evidence and bragging rights to visiting such an incredible destination - a place that very few people EVER get to see. So, at several of the research and weather stations on the continent, they'll stamp your passport with local information. In our case, we were stamped at both Vernadsky Station (by the Ukrainian residents), and at Port Lockery (in the name of the British Antarctic Trust). I don't think there's a charge for doing so, but you may have to ask. (In our case, our expedition leader just asked up front if anyone did NOT want a passport stamp, and to my knowledge everyone wanted one.)

Get your stamp and then go home and brag. :)

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Favorite thing: Seating on the Ushuaia - and to my knowledge on most of the smaller expedition ships - is quite informal and open. In theory, you can sit anywhere you want to anytime. That being said, people are creatures of habit. It seemed to me that everyone pretty much kept sitting with the same little group all the time. We were no exception, and a special thanks for the fun to our table mates, Andrew Povah and Rachael Best (who are "kind of" a married couple... from Britain but now living in Sydney, Oz) and the Browning family of Perth, Australia - Steve, Samantha and Jasmine. Add the three Chamlis travelers, and you had table one.

Our two waitresses - Nicole and Veronica, and our head waiter Hector took excellent care of us... and quite honestly, they really seemed to "like" us. I guess we did a good job of showing our appreciation for their help and kindness. There's something very comforting when they KNOW how you take your coffee, when you'd like to have your dessert, if you'd maybe like seconds on entrees and such. Within a very short period of time, they could anticipate every need.

We also appreciate the time they took to help our Sara get her morning breakfast buffet selections to the table during heavier seas. Keep that breakfast bacon coming, guys. :) And yes, we'd like another go of coffee....kaffee negro for Bonnie and con leche for Sara and I.