Antarctica Favorites

  Boat Ride Antarctica
by yobei
 
  • Boat Ride Antarctica
      Boat Ride Antarctica
    by yobei
  • penguins King George
      penguins King George
    by yobei
  • city sign King George
      city sign King George
    by yobei
  • Russian Science Station King George
      Russian Science Station King George
    by yobei
  • Russian church on King George Island
      Russian church on King George Island
    by yobei
 

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Reviews from VirtualTourist Members

What camera to take? Will it work in the cold?

by XenoHumph

Generalities:So you are wondering if your camera will work in Antarctica because it is so cold there. First, most likely most of you will go to Antarctica in the summer and the least cold parts of it (Antarctic Peninsula, coast) and therefore, it will not be that cold. In McMurdo station (78º South), the temperature in December and January hovered just below freezing. And I doubt that it is any different in the Antarctic Peninsula where most Antarctic cruises go. That is in part why there are actually tons of animals and plants there, it is not that cold by Antarctica standards! So if I were to take a cruise along coastal areas, I would more worry about sea spray than cold. Plus if you stay in nice warm accommodations (ship, dormitories of McMurdo), any camera will be nice and safe.Now if you go in the interior of the continent or in winter, then of course you may start to be careful...

Taking picts near McMurdo (from Castle Rock)
My Logbook : 10 DECEMBER 2008

by globetrott

Breakfast between 07.00 and 09.00am and after 09.00am there was the official disembarkation-time.It would have been possible to store the luggage onboard and get it later in the day. For the crew it was time for some repairs and for storing new provisions onboard. The next turn of passengers will arrive 2 days after the last disembarkation and sailing will be again 09.00am the next day. On the total it was a great trip and I am sure that we saw a lot more than passengers of most of the other cruiseships, because we were just 34 people onboard and we had most sights just for ourselves. All other ships have to divide their passangers into groups of not more than 100 passangers and it might happen that the 1st group has great weather, but afterwards it is getting worse and the remaining groups get their excursions cancelled by the capitain !But next time in the Antarctic, I guess I will...

4 more images
My logbook : 9 DECEMBER 2008

by globetrott

We had the whole day for excursions from Ushuaia or for shopping. Ea. Haberton was one of the day-excursions, but we had been there two times already. Read more about this interesting place in my Haberton-page !Breakfast, lunch and dinner was held at the ordinary times onboard the Bark Europa and there was a farewell-party as well after dinner. Every passenger got a present from the ship: a DVD including all facts, dates and details of our cruise.The extras like barbills, souvenirs etc. could have been payed in the evening, US $, ARG $ and Euros in cash are accepted for these bills. After having payed the bills, our passport had been given back to us. It was certainly a good idea to have some sparetime at the end of the trip, so we were not in a rush to catch a flight. b.t.w. flights will be confermed by the tourguides of the ship, you just have to fill out your flight-details on a list...

My logbook : 8 DECEMBER 2008

by globetrott

This was now the 2nd last-but-one day of our Antarctica-cruise, we arrived east of Haberton in the morning around 09.00am and had to wait there some time for the pilot, who arrived around 11.00am. The cruise through the Beagle-channel was quiet and mostly sunny. After all of the rolling seas of the last 6 days we somehow were happy to be back again. At 07.00pm we arrived in Ushuaia and were able to go ashore. We did not get boardingcards to go ashore, but in case that we were asked at the checkpoint, they had our names on a list. I was also glad that I could still show the original letter that was provided by the cruisecompany for the embarkation-day.

My logbook : Dec 1st till Dec. 7th, 2008

by globetrott

5 full days and nights of a heavily rolling ship, giant waves smashing a lot of water on deck and an icy wind that makes any minute out on deck a terrible experience. In my berth the condens-water-problem is getting really bad,because of the extremely cold weather OUTside and the warm cabin INside. The water is gathering at some shelf and dropping down into my matress every few minutes. After complaining I was offered another berth, but did not want to move because that other berth would have been an upper berth and steping up and down in heavy seas is also not a lot of fun. Instead I asked for another blanket, that would soak the water and after 2 days the worst time was over. I decided to spend most of these 6 days in my berth, reading several books and leaving from there only to get something to eat or to powder my nose.

My logbook : 30 NOVEMBER 2008

by globetrott

Melchior Island was originally on the schedule for this day, but unfortunately we had to skip it, due to the bad weather-situation again. Almost everybody was seasick and the ship was rolling all day long in the heavy seas, it was hard to stand anywhere and so I stayed most of the time in bed, reading a book. I did not feel very good, but at least I was not really seasick, but instead I was sick of that ship, also because I knew the situation will stay like this for another 5-6 days !

My logbook : SATURDAY 29 NOVEMBER 2008

by globetrott

In our itinerary there should have been a visit of Port Lockroy today, but due to a very bad weather-forecast we had done Port Lockroy already one day before and left there today very early in the morning in order to avoid sailing into the worst area of the bad-weather-front that was scheduled for our part of Antarctica. Not very far from our ship another cruisehip stranded in a storm and more than 100 passengers had to leave the ship, named M/S Ushuaia, I am glad that in our area we did not have severe problems except some seasickness.

My logbook : FRIDAY 28 NOVEMBER 2008

by globetrott

At 04.00am we had left our anchoring-place in Trinity Island and were arriving at the scenic Graham Passage at around 10.00am. A lot of great icebergs we were passing by in a perfect weather with sunshine and only a bit of a wind, so it was nice standing out on deck and enjoying the landscape. At 02.00pm we had been at the ship-wreck of the Gouvernren, that was a Norwegian whaler-ship that had stranded here in 1916 after a fire. We were sailing alongside to the wreck and fixed the Bark Europa on the wreck and stayed like that for about 30 minutes. I guess there are not many ships that could do this !Cuverville was on the schedule for 07.30pm, but we did not do it in time and so this excursion had to be cancelled ! Sailing through a carpet of icebergs in perfect sunshine was the best experience we had today !

My logbook : THURSDAY 27 NOVEMBER 2008

by globetrott

Trinity Island : the main attraction is the so-called cemetery of icebergs : there is alarge bay, where the watercurrants and the steady winds will blow all icebergs and there they will be stuck and are not able to float away again. We made a cruise in our zodiaks through the icebergs of the Iceberg-cemetery and we could get really close to them, touch them and cruise through them, that was really a great adventure.

My logbook : WEDNESDAY 26 NOVEMBER 2008

by globetrott

Our daily program had scheduled 3 different excurions for today on Deception Island :1) Telephone bay : walk round some of Deception's newest landscapesUnfortuantely it had to be cancelled due to strong winds and rain2) Swimming at Pendulum CoveUnfortunately we did not even go to this other anchor-place, it was so cold and windy that everybody gave up of thinking of taking a swim at a place, where you cannot change your clothings afterwards and have to do it in an icy rain...3) A walk in Whalers Bay and to Neptune's Window At least this is what we have done, although it as still very cold and windy and heavily raining It was great to walk between the ruins of Whalers Bay and to step inside of the one of the large tanks. I got home soakingly wet all over, but it was a lot of fun anyway and I am glad that my small new camera, a Panasonic Lumix LX3 was able to withstand the rain, beeing...

Antarctica Favorites

Reviews and photos of Antarctica favorites posted by real travelers and locals. The best tips for Antarctica sightseeing.
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