Notes on January, 2024 Antarctica Tour
The excellent threads in this forum provide you with what you need to prepare for this tour. I’ll emphasize the following:
- Bring insect repellant. The mosquitos are unusually bad in Buenos Aires this year.
- Bring at least one trekking pole. They can be a huge help when you are walking on snow.
- Bring sun block, both for Buenos Aires and Antarctica.
- Antarctica is very dry so you may want moisturizing skin cream.
- Bring two pairs of heavy socks. After expeditions you remove your boots on deck and walk into the ship in your socks and they can get damp in the process. They will dry overnight, see below, but may not dry between morning and afternoon expeditions.
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Comments
Wayside, appreciate the info, next week it's our turn ! I checked on L'Aaustral, current location, and enlarged the area to find 35 ships between Antarctica, Usuaia, Falklands, and Drake Passage. Did you notice several ships in Antarctica ? Looks like only 21 Tauck guests on our trip - how large was your Tauck group ? Did you have a white / black dinner outfit night ? Please post more photos if you can. thx so much !
What I'd recommend, and what we did, have some shoes/slippers that you can get out of easily and wear those to the mud room. Then slip off those shoes and put your boots on. That way you can keep your socks dry. Reverse when you get back from an excursion.
For others, if you want to see our trip to Anarctica, click on https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2021-2Antarctica-01.htm We went when there were a lot of COVID restrictions so your trip will be easier.
I have some good information about the Endurance expedition at https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2021-2Antarctica-06.htm
Mike - enjoyed your extensive log / pix of a great trip. thx for sharing !
No, we were alone most of the time. We followed the Viking Octantis through the Lemaire Passage. It was bigger than Le Boreal and had to turn around and go back while we kept on further south. We also saw the following vessels. The first one is the Europa, I don't know the name of the second.
We had 46 in our Tauck group. There were 176 passengers on the ship with the others being mostly French and Australian.
There was a White Night. "For those who wish, the dress code for the evening is white."
Here are a few photos
I believe there is some control about which ships go where so that there aren't multiple ships in the same place that would overload that part of the continent. Only 100 people are allowed on shore at one time. If multiple ships went to the same place at the same time, there'd be some scheduling problems to stay within that 100 on shore regulation.
I was on a Lindblad ship in November. We saw one or two other ships (one being another Lindblad ship). Maybe so few because it was the beginning of the season.
Breathtaking continent. I was there in 2002, ages ago and over new years. I still have a large photo on my wall from the glaciers reflecting off the water.
Wayside and CSC - thanks for great photos ! and water shoes = dry socks on ship ! Glad to see parkas and boots outside room. We noticed 90 degrees and sunny for Buenos Aires coming up - should we expect mosquitoes just at night ? or entire day ? will take spray and Deet wipes. How was the Drake Passage, as far as swells ? Again, thx for all the info - fired up !
We are going in January next year and I'm curious about the Ushuaia portion. I don't see that Tauck offers a tour on that portion. Are you left to your own devices once you arrive until you embark?
We were there during the pandemic in 2022, so the schedule may be different. But, we flew to Ushuaia from BA in the morning, and went to lunch in Ushuaia as a group. We did tour the town a bit on arrival, and more at the end of the cruise. It is a small place. It was built as a penal colony … if you went to prison in Ushuaia, you literally had been sent to the end of the earth. It is a nice town now, and we wandered a bit, but since it was the pandemic we were admonished to not enter the stores. Some did. We arrived with everyone testing negative for covid, but ten tested positive during the cruise and were quarantined in Ushuaia when we returned. One of the other Ponant ships was used as a quarantine ship, and I think it was as good an experience as you can hope for in quarantine. They were all on deck six that had a restaurant and a lounge, and they were even provided entertainment.