I started early today. And you know what they say about the early bird? They get to fly to the end of the world! The day started at 3:45 am and we made it to the airport by 5:30 am. That’s where I was finally reunited with my roomie, Laura. She arrived after 3 days of trying to get here!
After a 3 1/2 hour flight, we landed in Ushuaia, on the Tierra del Fuego archipelago, the southern most tip of South America.
It was a rainy, cloudy start to the day, which made this resort town even more mysterious. While it was 80 degrees in Buenos Aires yesterday, Ushuaia was a chilly 46 degrees today.
After we explored this resort town, we enjoyed lunch with Laura, Sian and Hayley, plus got a stamp in the passport. We boarded the UltraMarine at 4:00 pm.
Our room is fantastic and a perfect place to sleep over the next 10 days. Lots of amenities and storage! We did the obligatory muster station drill and met our expedition crew. Laura and I explored the ship, tried on our yellow parkas and ensured our muck boots fit. We were able to leave our expedition clothes in the ready room. Btw—this ship is about 3/4 full—so around 150 passengers.
In addition, we are in for a rough ride through the Drake Passage where storms are a brewin’! We watched a colored coded weather map of Antartica and it showed the Drake passage in a very bright shade of magenta, which means waves around 6 meters. For you non-metric people, that’s 18+ feet. We all immediately loaded up on Dramamine as the ship pulled out of the harbor to the view of a rainbow 🌈 —that has to be some sort of luck, right?
We were a couple of hours late to leave due to high winds. Fact—you have to be flexible in an Antarctica expedition. Weather changes the itinerary and we have to roll with the waves (pun intended).
As I sit here and write this, it’s 10:30 pm and still light out and should be for another hour or so. Right now we’re in the Beagle Channel. Once we get to open water, watch out! I need these drugs to knock me out for the next 48 hours. Wake me up when we get there!
Fyi- pictures are not uploading. Wifi isn’t great so will try and post more later.
UPDATE:
It’s December 29th at 6:00 am:
Holy moly—last night we were rocking! Up to 7 meter waves (22 feet). And the Dramamine did the trick! We started to head out into the Drake Passage but had to turn back due to the rough seas so we remain in the Beagle Sound until the captain thinks we can make it through. 4-5 ships are sheltering here now. The sound of the waves were incredible—the moaning and the creaking other worldly. I couldn’t see anything—it was during the middle of the night and I stayed in bed, in and out of sleep due to the Dramamine.
Christina’s Journey Journal 