Blog

The Journey of an Intrepid-ish Traveler

On board!

Please indulge my sharing of a more personal matter rather than a broadband update with this posting.

Last year was the year my husband celebrated his milestone birthday of 65-years young. Given some of the serious health issues he had nearly two decades ago, we look to find many reasons to celebrate in style. Frankly, it never takes much for me to find a cause to celebrate, but for this particular birthday, I wanted to get a bit more proactive on his bucket list. Maybe it was losing so many friends way too soon during the year or maybe it was realizing that great adventures are best enjoyed while we are more mobile. Whatever it was, I plucked his desire to visit Antarctica off the list and started planning the trip. Given that our trip was on the ship Endeavor (look up Edward Shackleton and his Endeavor misadventure), I had my fingers crossed for smooth sailing.

Antarctica can only be accessed by environmentally responsible tours during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer, so I moved quickly this past summer (in the Northern Hemisphere!) to pull an adventure together. And what an adventure it was.

Here were my thoughts as we made our way to the bottom of the world/the end of the Earth:

Getting Ready: Traveling anywhere in this age of pre/post/never-ending COVID-19 is a challenge.  Testing, vaccinations, and new variants have complicated travel that can already be quite complicated.  Add to that the petrifying fear that comes every time your throat feels scratchy, or that locations have quarantining requirements in place (and how those requirements seem to change weekly), and you have a lot to think about. For that and other reasons, I invested in travel insurance for this trip. The cost of the insurance alone could have been a nice vacation, but I was taking no chances with this trip of a lifetime.  

We decided to travel with a company that we have traveled with before, as familiarity felt good with so much unknown. SilverSea cruises have been one of the few expedition lines that have access to the seventh continent, but the deal for making this trip became more palatable when they started offering a “Bridge to Antarctica” tour which allowed travelers with a little bit less time and a lot less interest in crossing the sometimes violent and unpredictable Drake Passage between South America and Antarctica where the currents of the oceans collide without any land to mitigate rough waters.  

The trip entailed flying from Washington, D.C., to Miami and then overnight to Santiago, Chile, where you rest for a night and get to shower and replace your contact lenses. The journey then continues to Punte Arenas, Chile, at the edge of the Straits of Magellan with one more night to prepare, clean your gear of any invasive species, and get fitted for polar-worthy parkas and knee-high boots that allow you to get in and out of the Southern Ocean. 

The last of four flights prior to arriving at the ship for this journey involves a chartered plane that lands on a gravel landing strip on King George Island utilized by international researchers and the Chilean Air Force  to make their way to research camps on the western side of Antarctica. Interestingly enough, this continent has agreements with 54 countries who have signed a treaty to share it and some research on wildlife and climate change. It might be the most peaceful part of our planet these days!

The Journey Begins: After a ride to Reagan National Airport, a last-minute discovery that special forms were needed to make it through Chilean customs, a delayed first flight, and a long layover in Miami, we were on our way. Whew!

The delay and (what seemed like) a 5-mile hike though the Miami airport reminded me of why I loved international travel before everything was shut down a few years ago. The sounds, the voices, the dress, and the different family units of people from all over the world are all thrown into one big mixing bowl. It is exhilarating. A cacophony in the terminal and energy from people on the move or traveling home is always a wonderful reminder that the world is huge and, even as Americans, we are simply a small part of the whole. At this point of the trip, I was hoping to hold on to that sense of wonder and appreciation for the next 11 days.

Chile

Now in Chile: This is my first visit to South America, amazing enough given how truly close it is to us on the North American side of things. The land is lush, with a lot of agriculture (wine production!), mining, and other things common in an agrarian society. A great deal of Chile is rural, and I was very appreciative of the challenges they must have in bringing connectivity to the people across the country. Since Chile is one long, skinny country running down the coastline, it politically aligns itself with other island nations like New Zealand when it comes to policies, given that with the oceans on two sides and the intimidating Andes Mountains on the other, they are pretty isolated. As a side note, Chile is VERY competitive with Argentina about many things, including who has the best wine! But given that we had to fly the length of Chile to get to our Antarctica jumping off point, it is clear that while there are pockets of populations, like the major city of Santiago, there are more areas of isolation and rugged topography.

Landing in Punta Arenas gave me a throwback vibe and I realized that it was because landing there and driving in reminded me of being in Alaska again, just on the other side of the world. It’s the sense of a remote location that has a population base that knows how to survive off the water and rugged environment regardless of what weather extremes may bring. From the docks to the warehouses to the old fishing boats to the colorful storefronts, the similarities were apparent. We were visiting at the height of their summer, which, at the time of writing this, was 48 degrees. As the closest city to Antarctica, I am certain that temperature means it’s a wonderful summer day for these folks. Apparently, also during this time, the winds tend to settle in the gusts of 30-40 mph range.  

Downtown

As we were getting ready to leave, we had to stay near the hotel for internet access in case there was a quick change in plans. The weather shifts, which occur hourly, had the flight to King George Island on Antarctica on constant watch given that we would be flying with the support of the Chilean Air Force onto a gravel runway utilized by research teams. I had absolutely no interest in taking an extra four days and double doses of Dramamine to cross the Drake Passage. No way! While some accounts say the two-day journey can be peaceful, more often than not, the ride is about as rough as it gets given that it’s between Cape Horn in South America, Chile, and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet. That means a major convergence of waves, winds, and currents. It’s also a transitional zone between the cooler, more humid, and sub-polar conditions and the frigid air of Antarctica, hence the dynamic and subjectivity to cyclones and heavy winds. Again, nope! Just being in our hotel room that last night and listening to the wind howling around a 10-story building and through the air vents was enough for me to turn up my sound machine app and be grateful to be inside. But in the spirit of normalcy, I was waiting for our airport transfer notice while watching a police officer issuing parking tickets in front of our hotel. I guess it doesn’t matter where in the world you are, does it? 

Speaking of Internet Access: I was trying to figure out how communications connectivity happens down there and found my phone suddenly connected to the Movistar network. A search showed a special service established by expats that allowed those not speaking Spanish to connect and negotiate services. It is also the main national provider of communications services in Spain. While there are other providers, they all operate off the Movistar network, as they are the only company in Spain allowed to install landlines and have a new emphasis, not unlike the United States, on investing in fiber technology.

However, while every continent on Earth is now connected to the internet by a series of undersea fiber optic cables, Antarctica is the one continent unreachable by fiber. And no, it’s not about price.

Americans and Argentinians have both proposed connecting the continent to the fiber grid (what’s better to allow the numerous researchers on the continent to upload and share their data and research in real time), but the infrastructure would have to be able to withstand temperatures beyond 58-degrees below zero and deal with the constant shifting of Antarctica’s icy surface. Because of this, researchers use a series of satellite systems (some only available a few hours a day), latency is high, bandwidth is mediocre, and there is a need to schedule network access in advance to upload data to the outside world. No Netflix binging here. The fascinating thing is that while fiber cannot connect Antarctica to the rest of the world, many of the bases on the continent are connected by fiber. Researchers are even using fiber as a sensor to measure ice melt. 

Boat

Living up to our creed that “#FiberDelivers!”, internet on the boat itself was pretty spotty. I could typically receive text messages and even emails but it became clear two days in that while I was responding to emails, none of them were actually being received by anyone. The cruise line, SilverSea, recently announced a deal with StarLink to provide internet access starting in the near future. For those who know I am not a fan of Starlink as a sufficient solution for rural Americans, a boat with 150 people on it at the end of the Earth is actually the perfect application for this technology.  

A Super Quick Recap: As I sat in what felt like a tourist holding pen back in Chile with 100 of my fellow travelers with our first chance for relatively decent internet access for the first time in a week, I was able to log back into word on my iPad and complete some thoughts on what has been an amazing journey and what Don described as an 11-day journey for a six day cruise. Truly, just getting to Antarctica was half of the adventure.

As we flew our Antarctic Air flight into the gravel runway on King George Island, it was hard to believe that a jet could actually manage the runway. But now having made the journey both ways, I have deep appreciation for the former Chilean Air Force pilots who maneuver those planes over the windiest parts of the Earth to a direct runway with no navigation capabilities at the airport. Sight only. That was the reason we were all up at 4 a.m. given the forecast for heavy fog rolling in for two days that would have prevented the planes from landing and hence, our ability to leave. That could’ve been a problem, and no one really discussed Options B and C, so we were up bright and early to ensure we didn’t miss our wet landing in the zodiac to the shore. We would have no problem jumping in a zodiac raft at that hour given that the sun never fully sets in Antarctica this time of year.

The journey itself was fluid given that weather conditions, as well as the density of wildlife conditions, dictated nearly every day of the itinerary, including landing sites that were simply too tricky with 50-plus mph winds and where sheltered coves were sought out. One morning when we were leaving, the boat was not an option given the gale force winds, so we learned more about the history, science, and data surrounding climate change and all you ever wanted to know about whales. Not unlike other expedition-oriented trips we have done, the mornings started early with a mid-day break and a mid-afternoon outing again. And of course, a lot of hurrying and waiting. It’s the nature of the adventure.

Penguins

We journeyed to Neko Harbour, one of my favorites, with a hike through a penguin colony up the side of a mountain with spectacular view of the whales and wildlife below. We also saw Telefonic Crater (I loved the name the most but the slick hike up the side of an active volcanic crater the least.) We took trekking poles after that hike for the remainder of the trip, especially to Charlotte Bay, where we encountered seals, whales, and the most beautiful floating icebergs and some fleeting sunshine. Yankee Harbor and Hannah Point were our last stops with one of the largest penguin colonies – gentoo and chinstrap – and a slew of baby penguin chicks. It was the reason to book this trip for a January visit given the breeding season in full bloom. Seals also lined the shore and we literally had to pick our way carefully to avoid running into penguins at every turn. 

As a visitor to a place where preservation and elimination of any invasive species is so important, the precautions were plentiful, and I was delighted that everyone was so willing to comply. That included wearing our wading/hiking boots for all our adventures and ensuring they were cleaned prior to hitting the ground and certainly afterwards to avoid the penguin poop or guano, more scientifically, which has a particularly pungent odor and I swear you could start smelling long before you came ashore. We also needed to obey the penguin “highways” that the birds have carved out of snow for their path from their nests to the water. Penguins always have the right of way. Nothing you have is to touch the ground, so my mittens spent a fair amount of time in my mouth as I fumbled for my camera, but I worried more about my bottom touching the ground while sliding down some of the steeper climbs in wet conditions. There was a special recognition that being there was a treat and an honor, and everyone respected the sanctity of being on the seventh continent and the coldest and the windiest, composed of 98% ice.

Us on the boat!

A Few Final Thoughts:

  • While this trip was a huge shlep, with four flights in each direction before even hitting the water, it was important to keep in mind that the journey itself was part of the adventure.
  • Being in a new place with different cultures also gave me a renewed appreciation for what we have in the United States, but it also left me with more interest in how others live. I am always astounded by how many people on numerous continents speak English and how lazy I am to not be fluent in another language.
  • Traveling also renewed my interest in the history of where we are going and I hope to never lose that intellectual curiosity.
  • Edward Shackleton was a crazy but amazing leader who never lost a single man on his beyond-grueling expeditions. The idea of exploring the Antarctic and being iced in for a year, without a heat or shelter source, is somewhat horrifying.
  • Expedition trips are good to do while I am still mobile. I would have missed a lot without the ability to make these breathtaking hikes or at least ensure I could get myself in and out for wet landings given no piers or docks!
  • The politics of South America are also pretty fascinating and volatile in an area of the world I did not focus on much until listening to what seemed to be protests in a park in Punta Arenas. Also fascinating is the rivalry between Chile and Argentina on everything from borders to tourists to wine.
  • Chile has some pretty amazing wines.
  • Penguins will always make me smile.
  • If nations and scientists can come together like all 54 countries have to create the Antarctic Treaty that stipulates that Antarctica shall be used for peaceful purposes only, that the freedom of scientific investigation on the continent and cooperation toward that end shall continue and that scientific research done there will be shared by all, then maybe we really can find a way towards world peace on behalf of improving lives.