Arriving home in San Francisco just yesterday, I’ve gotten this question from many people. After all, it is a great question.

And while I’d love to flip through each of the 5,000 photos and chat for hours about this trip, the truth is………… I actually can’t.

It was honestly such a blur (the happy kind, not the drunken too-much-tequila blackout kind.) I physically cannot have an informed, fluid conversation about everything I did – simply because we did A LOT of things, and there are countless names/locations I can’t recall without referencing my notes…. and it didn’t help that there were penguins…… everywhere. Penguins as far as the eye could see.

And thus, for my own purposes of record-keeping, and to answer this FAQ… HERE IT IS.

(I will warn you, this is a SAGA of a tale, so I’ve split it into two sections.)

T-9 days before Touchdown

Locations: Foster City, CA; Houston, TX; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Ushuaia, Argentina

7:06AM on January 7, 2016: I woke up in a daze, sans alarm. My alarm was set for 8:00AM.

It must almost be time to wake up.

I checked my phone: a text from Delta Airlines that came 6 minutes ago.

“Your flight DL157 to Atlanta, Georgia has been delayed to 2:30PM PST.”

A;SDLKFJADS;LFJASD;FJ. HELP, A 2.5-HOUR DELAY.  

The first leg of my trip was from SFO – ATL and I had originally only a 1-hour layover to catch my next flight to Buenos Aires. I WAS GOING TO MISS MY CONNECTION.

Panic set in.

I’m doomed – DOOMED, I tell you. This trip is over. I didn’t get trip cancellation insurance for my cruise to Antarctica. Why didn’t I get trip cancellation insurance? Because I am dumb AF, that’s why. Dumb and Doomed.

-2 minutes later- No, I must make it to Argentina. I WILL make it to Argentina. AT ALL COSTS.

Without second thought, I went on a mad Google-Search-frenzy for flights – literally for anything that flew – airplane, helicopter, drone, condor, carrier pigeon  – that would get me to Ushuaia, Argentina before boat embarkation in two days.

In the end, I ended up booking a new flight out that night via CheapOair. Yes, people. CheapOair is a real company. Yes, I had my doubts, too. Yes, whoever named this company needs to reassess marketing strategy. No, it was not actually cheap.

I had four hours to cancel this flight without penalty if I was able to resolve the original flight situation. CheapOair was my back-up plan.

Concurrently through all of this, I had like 15 tabs open on my computer trying to LiveChat Priceline (where I booked my original flight), who referred me to Aerolineas Argentinas, who referred me to Delta Airlines, who told me to call them, who made me wait in the call queue for 20 minutes, who transferred me to three separate departments, who then told me to go directly to the airport kiosk to attempt to rebook.

This was all in the course of an hour. My hair was literally on fire (not literally).

I hadn’t even finished packing yet, and so, in my haste to get to the airport ASAP, I threw all the shit I could find around my room (including a retainer case but not my retainer) in my suitcase and dragged my sister out of bed to rush me to SFO.

I approached the Delta kiosk…………. and in 10 short minutes, they rebooked me on a couple of United flights  (SF  to Houston, Houston to Buenos Aires), just like that.

…………….TL;DR – If I had just gone to the airport in the first place, I wouldn’t have had to go through cardiac arrest bright and early.

Lesson #1: Be patient. Refrain from lighting your own hair on fire.

Now I had to cancel that CheapOair flight before the 4-hour window closed.

So I was sitting there in SFO trying to cop their spotty free wifi to cancel this flight. LiveChat, after 10 grueling minutes, told me to call them, so I did. So there I was, stuck in this infinite call queue, when FINALLY I talked to a guy and urgently explained my situation and that I wanted to cancel (albeit a little forcefully). “My department can’t handle cancellations; let me transfer you to a different department.” *call hold music for 20 more grueling minutes* I connect to a new guy and explain my situation (even more forcefully and panicky this time). “My department can’t handle cancellations; let me transfer you to a different department” “WHAT – I JUST SPOKE TO THE OTHER GUY AND HE—-” *call hold music*.

F*ck. Me.

As you can tell, my patience was wearing thin. I was desperate. The 4-hour cancellation window was quickly closing. I texted my sister while I was on hold for the 50-billionth-time this morning. “Haidee, I’m desperate – Can you please help me cancel my CheapOair flight?”

Haidee, bless her heart, goes: “Sure, send me the details.”

……… And in 5 easy minutes, she gets everything canceled and confirmed.

WHAT IN THE WORLD????????

Reflecting on this, I was likely not talking to the CheapOair guys in the nicest tone, you see. I was so hyper-focused on stressing the f*ck out that I forgot to have common courtesy. Those call center guys probably didn’t want to deal with yet another high-strung customer. Haidee, on the other hand, was extremely calm and collected as she asked courteously for a cancellation. ASK (NICELY) AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE??? Apparently that’s a thing???

Lesson #2: Being a nice person, even under duress – ESPECIALLY UNDER DURESS – always pays off.

This is a rainbow that showed up while I was at the airport. How it mocked me so.

Fast forward to Houston for a 3-hour layover.

By this point, the initial adrenaline/stress had adequately wore me out, so I decided I would, without any expectations, ask United if I could upgrade my ticket for the flight from Houston to Buenos Aires (a 10-hour flight).

With Lesson #2 in mind, I approached the counter and asked the man nicely what it would take to upgrade my flight.

“Sure thing, let me check that for you. *typetypetype* For you?…… $650 or 15,000 points.”

*Me doing mental calculations in my mind* Isn’t that a ridiculously low number of points?! YES. INDEED IT IS.

“I have the points; can I please upgrade?”

“Absolutely!”

I could barely contain my excitement. I squealed… and he definitely looked at me weird. GUYS, I HADN’T SAT ON A BUSINESS CLASS SEAT SINCE I WAS LIKE…. 5 YEARS OLD. I DON’T EVEN THINK I WAS MAKING MEMORIES THE LAST TIME I SAT IN BUSINESS CLASS.

It was heaven. SEATS THAT WOULD LAY FLAT – WHO DESERVES THIS KIND OF LUXURY?!?!?!

IT IS TRUE: Ask nicely (& spend some Star Alliance points) and you shall receive!!!

I SLEPT A FULL SEVEN HOURS FLAT ON MY BACK ON THIS FLIGHT WITHOUT HAVING TO WAKE UP AND TEND TO MY ACHING NECK. *TEARS OF JOY*

Champagne (duh) to celebrate, in a NEAT vessel that was “turbulent proof”.

The 3 hours not-sleeping was spent stuffing my face. (I was too full after the appetizer/main course that I skipped dessert. Woe is me.)

“Can I take a picture of the dessert/sundae cart?” “SURE! *POSE*”

The man sitting next to me kept talking to me and mentioning that sexting and “sexy-Facetiming” kept his relationship alive while he was away on extended work trips to Buenos Aires. Uhhhhhh that’s nice…….

Anyways.

*YAWN* Breakfast is served.

… The flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, my final destination, was less eventful and unworthy of recap. SKIP.

T-7 days before Touchdown

Locations: Ushuaia, Argentina; Martillo Island

The travel agency that helped me book my cruise to Antarctica told me I had to arrive a full day before the boat left, in case of flight delays (haaaaa) or lost luggage (*shudder* – can you imagine, before a trip to freaking Antarctica).

I decided to book a day-tour for my free day, recommended by a friend who had come to Ushuaia before, to see some penguins.

…. In retrospect, this tour seems a bit silly and redundant, since I didn’t actually expect to see that many penguins in Antartica (lulz what a joke). So I booked this tour as “Penguin insurance”.

WELL GOOD THING IT DID NOT DISAPPOINT. PENGUINS EVERWHERE ON MARTILLO ISLAND. I definitely squealed a few (hundred) times.

We expected two types of penguins on the island: Magellanic and Gentoo. But we also saw some seals on the way. Weather was BEAUTIFUL that day; the tour guide said we were extremely lucky because the entire week before rained cats and dogs. #blessed

(Click to zoom)

Let’s quickly talk about those last three photos above. Just a couple of casual King Penguins, no big deal.

…….. WRONG, VERY BIG DEAL. Nearing the end of our time on the island, as we were wandering around, frequently China-Man-Squatting to get all the photos we could of the penguins, our tour guide suddenly ran over, her voice raised – “KING PENGUINS! THERE ARE TWO KING PENGUINS ON THE ISLAND!”

We all got up from our respective CM squats and ran over to where she was pointing. Lo and behold, those two King Penguins were just sitting there, looking regal AF. Without another word, we all started paparazzing them like it was Lady Gaga in her meat-suit. Our tour guide explained that even though this island was not their habitat, these two guys were occasionally spotted here – and nobody knows why.

With the gorgeous weather and the King Penguin spotting – I was definitely a lucky gal. Couldn’t have had a better day pre-Cruise.

T-6 days before Touchdown

Locations: Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina; Beagle Channel

I couldn’t sleep the night before. But for good reason.

WHO IN THEIR RIGHT MIND WOULD SLEEP WITH THE PROSPECT OF ANTARCTICA????

We couldn’t embark on the ship until 4PM that day, so I spent the morning at the Tierra del Fuego National Park, being a tourist.

I don’t actually know why… and honestly still a bit baffled…. but our tour guide randomly pulled out this local Argentinian liquor and poured us shots. Probably not my best life decision ever, but I shrugged and threw it back. It’s fiiiiine, people – I haven’t died. Yet.

… And then 4PM rolled around.

I may or may not have sprinted on the ship. THE BEAUTIFUL M/V USHUAIA.

I was in a triple with my two roomies and new friends – Georgie from Boston and Carolyn from Melbourne. LOL, the rails are to keep you from falling out of bed. We were in for a wild ride….

The view as we left Ushuaia.

Welcome toast!! (This is also when they told us to pop ALL da seasick pills. All of them. “Do it now or suffer the dire consequences”, basically.)

I started meeting my fellow passengers, including the CUTEST OF FAMILIES – the Marques Family from Sao Paulo, Brazil. Mom and Dad were Carla and Elandro, respectively, and they brought their 8-year-old son, Victor! (The trip was actually Victor’s idea/dream; I can’t fathom being able to go to Antarctica that young!!!)

Victor was the only child under high-school age on this trip, but he quickly became a ship-favorite/ladies’ man, of course :). He’s the absolute cutest, and so were his parents.

AMAGAD EN ROUTE TO ANTARCTICA CANNOT CONTAIN EXCITEMENT.

I’m just going to knock this one out in one go: I BET YOU’RE WONDERING WHAT WE ATE ON THE BOAT. You gluttons. Can I just say… the food on the ship was pretty incredible, in my opinion. I know there were many people who didn’t LOVE a lot of the dishes… But one thing I learned about myself on this trip is that I have the taste buds of a pleb. Very easily satisfied. I eat anything and everything edible that is placed in front of me. I honestly thought everything tasted pretty fantastic and looked really beautiful. Admittedly, it’s been tough returning to my reality of McDonald’s 3 times a week.

(… Btw, I did get a lot of flak for taking food photos every meal. I’m that ONE PERSON who never fails to take a food photo. LEAVE ME ALONE I HAVE NO SHAME.)

As you can see, there was zero chance I wasn’t going to gain weight on this trip. We had buffet breakfast, frequent snacks, and THREE COURSE LUNCHES AND DINNERS. That’s freaking dessert TWO TIMES A DAY. WE HAD A DEDICATED PASTRY CHEF ON BOARD. THIS IS ALL WORTHY OF CAPSLOCK.

Sleep. Eat. Nap. Eat. Nap again. Eat more. Sleep. Repeat.

… A foolproof recipe for morbid obesity.

T-5 days before Touchdown

Locations: The Beagle Channel and literally nowhere else

As a little background for this trip, we were on the Weddell Sea Journey. What this meant was that we would navigate from the port in Ushuaia, Argentina, sail through the infamous Drake Passage – the turbulent waters where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans meet –  and then get to the Antarctic Peninsula, while making a pit stop to see the beautiful tabular icebergs of the Weddell Sea.

People, the Drake Passage is no joke. It’s supposed to take about 36 hours to clear with “favorable conditions”. The original intended schedule was that the first night and that next day we would be navigating through these crazy waters.

I remember going to bed that night thinking: “Good thing I took those seasickness pills. This is roughhhh.” Earlier, I had to even clutch the handrail while showering to keep me from tripping and potentially dying (Worst fear: dying naked).

The entire night I felt like I was on a swing going back and forth relentlessly.

But the worst thing was when our Expedition Leader Julieta made her “wake up call” at 7:30AM.

“Good morning, good morning, my dear passengers. Today is the 11th of January, 2017……. we have been stationary all night because the conditions of the Drake Passage are not so good. The captain has decided to wait for better conditions to cross. We will give you updates once we receive them.”

I wanted to die. Here I thought we were braving the Drake Passage the entire night… and WE HAVEN’T EVEN MOVED. Definitely very frustrated, since this meant I WAS NO CLOSER TO BEING IN ANTARCTICA, DAMN IT.

Later on, I found out that there were 10 meter waves in the Drake Passage. Suddenly I wasn’t so mad. YEP, I’M GOOD WITH NOT DEALING WITH THOSE THANKS.

The thing about seasickness pills are that they make you drowsy. Not-a-functional-member-of-society-drowsy.

Our entire ship was drugged up and sluggish – it was a funny sight. ….. Not that I actually “saw” anything since I was too busy being passed out in the public lounge all day.

At about 4PM that day, the captain FINALLY decided we could move into the Drake Passage.

This above photo was indicative of the entire rest of the day. Probably one of the more “interactive” dinners I’ve experienced in my lifetime. I even had to clutch a rail to sit on the freaking toilet.

My poor roommate Georgie, though. She suffered terrible seasickness and was bedridden, forced to subsist on “stolen” bread and fruit that Carolyn and I had to go on covert missions to obtain. All the while I stuffed myself with ALL the three-course meals.

The Drake Passage certainly lived up to the hype. That night was no different. I heard several crashing noises (ICEBERG?!?!), the unsecured items in our room were flyin’ all over the place, our bathroom door forced open, swung a few times and slammed shut all by itself… basically anything and everything that would happen in a bonafide haunted house.

T-4 days before Touchdown

Location: Still stuck on the freaking Drake Passage

We did nothing all day but eat, sleep, and doze off in lectures about (I don’t actually remember but I just referred to the itinerary) the “Southern Ocean” and “Ice”. Real gripping stuff.

T-3 days before Touchdown

Location: Half Moon Island; Robert Point, South Shetland Islands

Super mature, but I can’t say I didn’t giggle every time Julieta said “South Shetland Islands”…. I kept hearing “South Shitland Islands”. I’m 26 years old, guys.

But yes, we had FINALLY cleared the Drake Passage, so I stopped taking my seasickness meds and could finally become a non-drugged-up functioning member of society.

We were going to do our first landings today! But since they were “islands” off the coast of the Peninsula, this didn’t necessarily count as an “Antarctica Continental Landing”.

I COULD CARE LESS WE WOULD FINALLY GET OFF THIS GODFORSAKEN BOAT AFTER DOING NOTHING BUT EAT AND SLEEP FOR 2.5 DAYS YEEESSSS.

It was snowing that day, which only added to the beauty.

(click to enlarge)

(Dork alert: I was catching snowflakes for “memories”.)

AND LOOK AT THIS LITTLE GUY GO!

T-2 days before Touchdown

Locations: NOT Brown Bluff or Paulet Island 😦

The original itinerary said we were to make two more landings on this day: one on Brown Bluff of the Tabarin Peninsula (ON THE CONTINENT OF ANTARCTICA) and the other on Paulet Island…..

This is Brown Bluff……….. as you can clearly see.

…… But what you quickly learn is that the only thing certain in Antarctica is that everything is uncertain.

The weather conditions were unfavorable (a.k.a. heavy winds) for us to do a landing… so we were forced to stay on the boat (again) THE ENTIRE DAY. It was very saddening and slightly frustrating, for sure, though everyone tried to stay positive – after all it was no one’s fault (except Mother Nature – whyyyyy).

Hey, the icebergs nearing the Weddell Sea were pretty??? (click to enlarge)

Also, this following series of photos probably made my day, despite the circumstances. The ship approached this iceberg full of penguins…

First they were just minding their own business, doing what penguins do…..Herpderp.

Then as the ship gets closer, you can see them all go *in unison* “… Oh f*ck what is that.”

ABORT.

ABORT.

ABORT.

ABORT.

ABORT.

ABORT.

ABORT.

ABORT.

ABORT.

ABORT. (LOL keep watching that one straggler on the right.)

ABORT. (He slipped and couldn’t get back on his feet, and the iceberg was rocking so he couldn’t get any closer to the edge.)

ABORT. (Poor guy watching as all his friends hop off while he’s still stuck.)

ABORT. (“GUYS WAIT FOR ME. GUYS. PLEASE. GUYS.”)

ABORT. (“GUYS.”)

Sadly I didn’t capture the ending, but don’t worry – he did eventually make it off the iceberg. Freaking hilarious to behold. Penguins are magical; just like that, I was a-okay with being stuck on the boat all day.

(….. But also this could mean I’m just easily amused.)

T-1 days before Touchdown

Locations: Hydrurga Rocks, Palmer Archipelago; Foyn Harbor

Yay! Conditions were perfect for a landing on Hyrdrurga Rocks and a Zodiac cruise at Foyn Harbor.

You’ll notice the locations never actually indicate we were doing a landing on the CONTINENT of Antarctica, and my roommates Carolyn and Georgie, and I were getting a bit worried we may never actually step foot on our 7th continent.

Carolyn: “If we don’t make it to Antarctica, I’LL LIE TO ALL MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY THAT I DID. I’ll die a little on the inside every time I do it, BUT I’LL DO IT.”

Same, Carolyn, same.

Anyhow, Hydrurga Rocks was GORGEOUS, with sweeping panoramic views, beautifully shaped icebergs, and WILDLIFE GALORE. (click to enlarge)

The funniest things about penguins are that they ACTUALLY don’t give a f*ck. They waddle around, stumble and fall all the time, but they just get back up and keep going. It’s the funniest thing and I just found myself chuckling constantly like a maniac.

After this landing, we got back to the ship and ate our lunch. Then I did what I always do – take a siesta post-food-coma. The most regrettable nap of my life.

LITTLE DO I KNOW I LITERALLY MISS AN ENTIRE HOUR AND A HALF WHERE ORCAS (KILLER WHALES) WERE DOING DANCES AROUND OUR BOAT.

I only found out about this “Orca Party” when I hear Julieta announce on the P.A. System while I’m still in bed: “I hope everyone enjoyed the Orca Party – THIS WAS TRULY A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME SHOW – and are ready for our next activity…..”

Me, slightly groggy, thinking: WAIT WHAT ORCA PARTY?!?!?!?!

Then, Carolyn walks into the room and I mutter, “Carolyn, what did I miss…?”

I kid you not, she immediately LAUGHS IN MY FACE. THE GIRL HONESTLY THOUGHT I WAS KIDDING. “YOU MISSED THE ORCA PARTY?! THEY WERE AROUND OUR SHIP FOR LIKE 2 HOURS. I THOUGHT YOU WERE OUTSIDE THE ENTIRE TIME.”

I was so distraught, since I’d never seen an Orca out in the wild (freaking SeaWorld). Now I had missed my chance. When I later told anyone on the ship “I missed the Orca show”, guaranteed, they would go through this cycle of (1) thinking I’m kidding; (2) laughing in my face; (3) feeling slightly sorry for my misfortune; (4) laughing in my face again.

Sad times.

Luckily, I later found out there were also a few people who siesta’d through said Orca party. Worst party to not get invited to.

ANYWAYS MOVING ON: The next activity of that day was a Zodiac cruise around Foyn Harbor. Zodiacs were the small boats that we used to make landings.

Foyn Harbor was named after the man who invented the harpoon; this harbor was used when whaling activities weren’t banned yet. Gross.

(click to enlarge)

Karma’s a bitch for that ship over there……..

Okay so I mentioned the Orca Party that I missed – which I will forever be bitter about – but as if the gods heard my distress…. they sent over a HUMPBACK PARTY OUR WAY THAT EVENING.

There were AT LEAST 8 humpbacks around our boat – I didn’t even know where to look, honestly! (click to enlarge)

It was a good whale-day, I guess.

………… Still bitter about the damn Orca Party, though. Forever bitter.

But not for long.

We met after dinner for our regular briefing to discuss the next day’s activities.

Julieta said something that made me gasp: “If conditions are good tomorrow, we will do our first CONTINENTAL LANDING in the morning!!!!”

Spoiler alert: Conditions were excellent.

Part 2 in a separate post! (I need a rest, and so do you.)

Part 2: https://mendiventures.com/2017/01/26/faq-what-did-you-do-in-antarctica-part-2-of-2/

Ineffable: https://mendiventures.com/2017/01/22/ineffable-antarctica-2017/

24 Jan This entry was published on January 24, 2017 at 9:33 pm. It’s filed under Antarctica and tagged Antarctica, argentina, solo travel, South America, Travel Blog. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.