From winter to Spring and back in a few days

My trip to Peninsular Antarctica - Introduction

 

November 2022

 

 by Ravi Chandra Gundakaram

 

“You went to Antarctica?”

“Yes!”

“Was it part of some research project?”

“No.”

“You are not kidding?”

“Yes!”

A few years ago, I too thought that you could go to Antarctica only for research. Or else, you were a porter or a cook or something like that, supporting serious-looking Scientists.

But there is tourist access to Antarctica – to the peninsular part at least. Now, if you were to stand high in the sky right over the South Pole and look downwards, Antarctica would look like a circle – well, kind of. However, there is a peninsular portion sticking out, and the closest landmass to this is the southernmost part of Argentina, and of Chile. It is to this ‘Peninsular Antarctica’ that many if not most tourists go to.

Most expedition ships start from Ushuaia in Argentina, or Punta Arenas in Chile and flights to Ushuaia usually start from Buenos Aires (BA).

Casa Rosada, that houses the Presidential Office in Buenos Aires.

 

To reach the tip of peninsular Antarctica, one needs to sail for about two days from Ushuaia, which is itself a nice city to explore. Please see my next post on this blog.

 

The name of the town, with the Beagle Channel in the background.

The Drake Passage separates the landmasses between the South American and Antarctic continents. Due to the nature of the open seas, the Drake Passage is considered to be among the roughest seas in the whole world. If you are lucky, it can be calm and you sail the Drake Lake. If it gets rough, it is the Drake Shake. But if you get caught in a storm, which happened on my trip, it can well be the Drake Quake. Good luck there!

Sailing the Drake Passage. Huge ships are nothing but dots in the vast ocean!

How much does an expedition to Antarctica from Ushuaia cost? It depends on your travel agency (I went with the Polar Travel Company), the duration of your trip and the class that you choose on the ship. The minimum duration is about 10-11 days, although you can add other destinations enroute such as the Falkland Islands and can spend double the time. On the ship, inner cabins (without a window or a porthole) are the least expensive. If you have the $$$, book the owner’s suite (or something like that) and spend a five-figure amount (in USD, of course!). I chose an inner cabin because of my limited budget, and also because I wanted to spend less time in the room and more on the decks. Furthermore, the expedition teams usually arrange many informative lectures and one can keep oneself occupied.

The inside cabin that I stayed in for the duration of the expedition. It had no porthole or window.

How about the weather on Antarctica? Can be summed up in one word: ‘Unpredictable’. It would be raining in the afternoon but by early evening, the sun would be up. On one of the zodiac outings (more on this later), we were just about to go on land when it started to snow kind of heavily, so we had to return to ship without stepping out of the zodiacs. How about the temperature? Well, as you would expect, there aren’t any beach umbrellas but the temperature, controlled by the surrounding waters, is between 1 and 5 degrees C. However, the windchill makes it feel much colder.

Snow during a zodiac ride.

That brings us to the next topic: clothing. It is essential to dress in layers, even if only to step on to the observation decks on the ship. The expedition company gave an outer parka on loan for the duration of the trip to everyone, and an inner insulated jacket to keep. I personally needed four layers: the first, thermal underwear preferably of merino wool. On this would be a jacket of polar fleece. Then the insulated jacket, all covered by the outer parka. For pants, thermals closest to the skin, water resistant pants on these, and the outermost pants need to be waterproof. Muck boots are also on loan, and I recommend thick socks. Polar grade gloves are indispensable. The gloves and the outermost waterproof pants can be rented in Ushuaia but I realized the hard way that the rental for the duration of the trip (11-12 days) is half the cost of new ones! I got the inner water-resistant pants from Decathlon; I recommend you get their ski pants too for the outermost layer.

Dressed for the outing! The straps on the shoulders are part of the life jacket.

What about money? On the ship, all payments will be in USD. In Argentina, they take the same currency in many establishments. Curiously for me, there was more than one exchange rate from US Dollar to Argentinian Peso. Banks don’t give you the best deals, so see if you can change your money using the ‘Blue Dollar’ (dolar blu, as it is also called locally). This could sometimes be nearly twice the bank rate, and is legal!

Food is aplenty on the expedition ship, although there is usually only one dish for vegetarians (without meat, fish or eggs). But in Argentina and Bolivia, I did find it difficult to get vegetarian food. But I am fine with eating just boiled potatoes when needed, with salt and pepper on the side. And this is something many restaurants will oblige you with, especially when they understand your needs.

As far as language is concerned, you will need to have a working knowledge of Spanish (although not on the expedition ship itself) in most places in South America. Even in Buenos Aires, I saw that most people do not speak English. So you need to be able to say more than ‘No Eshpanyol!’

If you hold an Indian passport, you need a visa to enter Argentina or Chile. Your application will be considered by the respective embassies in New Delhi and you need to attend the mandatory visa interview in person. But my experience was that it is easier to obtain an Argentinian visa. After the interview in the Chilean embassy, I was told by the friendly officials that they will pass on the information to Santiago, and that decisions about the visa will be taken there and not the embassy in New Delhi. This meant that it will take at least two months to know about the decision, after which the embassy will send a link for the payment of the visa fee. One will then receive an e-visa, and the embassy does not retain the applicant’s passport during the process.

To reach BA from India, you can fly through Europe and the United States, but that would mean two additional visas, which is not going to happen anytime soon under the present circumstances. So the more convenient route is to fly through the Middle East (Dubai or Doha), transit in São Paulo and reach BA, from where you can take the three and a half hour flight to Ushuaia. Simple!

Now, my original plan was to go to Antarctica first, visit Salta in the northern part of Argentina and then go to Bolivia via Chile overland. If you want to enter Bolivia by land, you need to obtain the visa in their embassy in New Delhi (free of cost). But when I reached the Embassy of the Plurinational State of Bolivia, I found out that it has remained closed for a year and a half, which meant there was no way I was going to be able to enter Bolivia by land. But then, Bolivia is one of those countries that issues a visa on arrival to Indian passport holders, but only if you fly into La Paz or Santa Cruz de la Sierra. I did not receive the Chilean visa until the day of my departure, and could not obtain a Bolivian visa in India. These factors forced me to make last minute changes to my itinerary, and I had to re-book flights and hotel rooms at a premium.

My journey from India started on 10^th November 2022, and it was getting closer to winter. But then, the seasons in the southern hemisphere are the opposite, so it was nearly spring in Antarctica. So, if you are staring from anywhere in the Northern hemisphere, you would be going from autumn/winter to spring and back, in just a few days!

This photo essay is on the trip to peninsular Antarctica, but I plan to have a few additional articles on travel in Argentina and Bolivia. Hope you get to make the trip too, and see more places than I had time or the money for. Bon Voyage!

Sincere thanks are due to my wife Uma for her support to my solo travels. Thanks are also due to my father, and to my son for their support!

And Thank You, dear reader!