The journey home
Wednesday 26 December
At sea (Drake Passage) – woke up out of sight of land (on roughly the same latitude as Deception Island, but further West). Usual perambulation around the deck before breakfast. IIt was very noticeable at breakfast that a rash of anti-seasickness patches had broken out behind a lot of people’s ears! Cape petrels flying around the boat. Wind force 6, not a lot of swell (but enough to be careful when moving around the boat). Went to Stian’s lecture about his life in Nature – amazing photos of Norway and Svalbard.
Saw some whales from the cabin. By 18:00 the swell was getting bigger. Went to Helga’s lecture about life on Svalbard – fascinating, and also wonderful photos of dogsledding, sunrise and sunset (Svalbard is 78 degrees North, so has four months of darkness in winter, and four months of daylight in summer). There was a small interuption halfway through the lecture due to a whale sighting.
There was a seated dinner, with a Francis Drake theme (choice of roast beef, or fish and chips). There was a snow shower during dinner. Later there was a Q&A session with the Captain, Chef Karin, the hotel manager and Mario (the expedition leader) in the lounge. Fram takes only 200 passengers to Antarctica (although she has capacity for just over 300), to allow more freedom of movement under IAATO rules. We get through 300kg of food a day (or six tonnes over three weeks). A digester disposes of waste food. Water is purified from sea water (allow for 200 litres per passenger per day), waste is treated and discharged in the sea. Stabilisers deal with roll, but not pitch. About 250 tonnes of fuel used over three weeks. Fifty one ships licensed for Antarctica under IAATO rules.
Thursday 27 December
At sea – Drake Passage. Weather much the same as yesterday – wind force 5 (strong breeze), water and air approx 6 degrees. Grey and overcast. Went to Helga’s lecture on plastic, and the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean.
Ice-cream for lunch – last chance!
Visited the bridge after lunch, everything computer controlled – diagrams of the ship, charts etc. Shown pictures of the Fram in drydock, could see the propellor and the stabilisers (and the space for housing them when not in se). Camping meeting at 4pm, where we were presented with certificates.
Shortly before 5pm Cape Horn came into sight – the sun also came out so we had blue skies – and the temperature rose to 10 degrees. The Captain’s Farewell Cocktail was at 5pm, but we missed this because we were watching Cape Horn.
Another seated dinner, beef wellington this time. We spent some of the evening repacking, bags had to be left out by 22:30 for transfer to the airport.
Friday 28 December
Very smooth journey overnight along the Beagle Channel, docked at Ushuaia at 7am. Europa, Ocean Diamond (Quark) and National Geographic Explorer already docked. Breakfasted, then disembarked (one last ‘Goodbye’ scan of the cards), getting straight onto a bus for a little ‘Tierra del Fuego’ tour. Drove out of town past a police checkpoint (Ushuaia was founded as a penal colony), stopped after 20 minutes and had a short walk through a valley – very pleasant, and with several good viewpoints. Weather warm and sunny (around 10 degrees). Saw a blackfaced ibis and a Southern lapwing. Lots of dead trees in the valley floor – killed by beavers (which were introduced to try and start a fur trade), either chopping them down or because the trees can’t cope with the flooding caused by the dams. Tea/coffee and very good apple pie provided at the end of the walk. Drove on along the Pan-American Highway to the Garibaldi Pass, and a viewpoint (mirador) over some lakes, then returned to Ushuaia – straight to the airport. Plane was slightly late back into Buenos Aires, but there was a good view of Tigre as we came into land.
Took taxi from the (domestic) airport to Tigre (950 pesos – or approx £20). Being driven was a scary experience – when approaching red lights on the way out of the airport, the driver changed lanes to whichever had no cars. Later we were nearly sideswiped by other cars cutting in. It also took a long time (almost an hour), due to traffic lights at almost every intersection, and ‘mucho traffico’ as our driver said! Very warm in Buenos Aires – 28 degrees!
Saturday 29 December
Relatively early start to sort out bags (one for Carmelo, two to leave in Tigre). Saw a humming bird in the garden of the B&B. The weather was overcast and muggy – and a torrential downpour started a few minutes before we left to catch the ferry. We swam across the road to the terminal, went through immigration and boarded the ferry. It took almost 4 hours to reach Nueva Palmira as the boat wound its way through the narrow channels of the delta (including manoevering to push aside some reeds which were almost blocking the channel. On-board catering consisted of the all-important kettle for mate, tea, coffee and a few soft drinks. The ferry created a big wash which submerged the front lawns of a lot of the waterside houses. Nueva Palmira was surprisingly industrial looking, with huge cranes for loading cargo ships. On arrival, we navigated immigration and customs (our bag had travelled under a tarpaulin on the roof of the boat), to find nothing much outside the terminal. Since we couldn’t see a bus, and didn’t fancy wandering around town trying to find one, we got a taxi to Carmelo ($40 USD).
Sunday 30 December
Went for a little walk around Carmelo – bridge to Montevideo out of action (had apparently been hit by several semi-derelict boats, which had slipped their moorings in a flood while awaiting scrapping), resulting in a one-hour diversion for buses. Crossed the bridge (this is still possible on foot) and walked to the beach – Carmelo now has bike lanes! Cooked and ate lunch, then walked down to the ferry terminal. Ferry due to leave (or possibly start boarding) at 18:30. Ferry reasonably full when it did finally leave, just before 7pm. Smooth journey across the river and into the delta, with a beautiful sunset.
Query at immigration, which fortunately turned out to be ‘which hotel’, and nothing to do with the Falklands stamps in our passports! Think Alessandra (at the B&B) had been looking out for us, she opened the door as we came through the gate!
Monday 31 December
Leisurely(ish) start, wonderful breakfast (fresh orange juice, fresh fruit (including peaches), homemade orange cake and marmalade. Repacked bags (having retrieved the two we left in Tigre), left around 10am, walked to the station. Trains not running as frequently as normal, owing to the New Year’s Eve holiday, we had to wait 20-30 minutes for a train. Train reversed out of Victoria station, then went forward again, apparently on the other track. Also stopped with a bit of a thump at San Isidro, lost power then moved off again – still, we did eventually arrive at Retiro! Walked to the bus terminal, and caught the bus to the airport. Checked in bags, went through immigration, ushered to the business lounge – quiet and peaceful. Lots of food and drink available – empanadas, rolls, croissants, cakes, salads, gazpacho.
Plane left more or less on time for Amsterdam – business class most luxurious, with a tablecloth for the tray table, glass glasses, metal cutlery and better presented food. Glasses of champagne served at midnight Dutch time (20:00 Argentine time) somewhere over Brasil, this was convenient for the cabin crew as they had just finished serving dinner. Seat flattened completely, plus pillow and blanket provided, so a reasonable amount of sleep.
Tuesday 1 January
Arrived Amsterdam about 9:15 (local time), went through security then spent an hour or two in the business lounge (much busier than Buenos Aires). Last leg – flight to Edinburgh, met by taxi and home!
All photos taken with: Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ7 (Jane), Olympus Tough TG5 (Ian), Canon EOS-400D DSLR (Ian) – with Canon EFS 18-135mm zoom lens and Canon EF 70-300mm zoom lens.
