Post Antarctic Blues

What do you do when you've crossed one of your big to-do's off the "before I die" list?

In my case I moped around Ushuaia for 3 days trying to imagine how to continue around the rest of South America when all I wanted to do was get back on a southbound ship. I never imagined I would run into this mental block after only 2 months on the road. It didn't help matters when most of my fellow passengers seemed to be dusting themselves off and hitting the road for the next adventure without a backward glance at the South Pole.

But as usual, my buddies came through for me J. After a good solid Facebook session where I talked to a few different people who are also meandering around Argentina/Chile – I've made tentative plans to bump into 'em and that's cheered me right up – and got me out of Ushuaia and back on the road – Chilean Patagonia: Here I come!

The End of the World - almost

12 hours after arriving in Ushuaia – I had a horrible hangover and a ticket aboard the M/V Ushuaia for a classic Antarctica 11 day expedition. The ticket had been semi-planned (in that I knew I wanted to go but didn't know when that would happen), the hangover was not.

The hangover arose as a result of arriving in Ushuaia extremely late & then becoming extremely ticked off to discover that my thermo rest mattress had "disappeared" from the luggage hold of the bus since I had last seen my bag at the Argentinean/Chilean border, some 12 hours earlier. At least my baggage is becoming less (see earlier post – Luggage Issues). When one of my fellow passengers who was staying in the same hostel as me (Free Style Hostel) suggested we go for a drink at the Irish pub around the corner (Dublin pub, Ushuaia) I had to agree. Got home in time for breakfast...sobered up in time to go to travel agency...hangover kicked in shortly afterwards but I was already set.

Anyone planning to head to Antartica – in my opinion – should definitely wait until you get to Ushuaia to book a trip – unless you are tied for time and really need to leave on a certain date. The week before I arrived in Ushuaia, I contacted a number of tour operators online and they were all still charging full price for the trip, and tried to convince me that if I didn't book with them in the next 24 hours I would not be able to depart. That was a complete lie, there were people on my trip that booked & paid 3 hours before departure – and I booked just the day before.

Day 1

We boarded around 4pm, had welcome drinks and dinner and were all generally in good form. Our briefing that evening, we were introduced to the crew, went through some safety stuff and were then warned about the journey through the Drake Passage which would begin about midnight. The worst storm of the last 4 years was passing through the passage that day, we would miss it – just, but the swell would still be quite large. I woke sometime in the middle of the night, disturbed by the tossing & turning...and it was not pleasant...

Day 2

....it took 3 attempts & until lunch time to get dressed, get out of the cabin & up 2 decks to the dining room – and that was WITH sea sickness tablets. The ship was silent today....everyone was suffering. I'm proud to say I didn't actually get sick, but the nausea & dizziness was quite debilitating.

Day 3

We got out of the Drake Passage earlier than expected and arrived at the South Shetland Islands around 4pm. Everyone was feeling much better today, people were laughing, joking & chatting – in place of yesterday's silence. We got to disembark on Aitcho Island where we saw Gentoo & Chinstrap penguins and Fur Seals. It was not too cold (+4C) but very windy.

Day 4

This morning we visited Robert Island. It was colder (0C) so I wrapped up with 3 hats J. We visited Chilean & Russian research stations, got to post our postcards from the Chilean post office and then visited the Russian Orthodox Church on the island.

Day 5

There was one landing this morning & then the ship had to travel for 7 hours to reach our next destination. The island is mostly protected as an area of special interest so most of it was off limits, and as a result I decided to take a break and not disembark. Everyone said it was the best landing so far...the penguins there were really friendly and came quite close. The 7 hours spent travelling to our next destination were quite rough and I was back on the sea sickness tablets again. When we got there the wind was too high (35/40 knots) which made the sea too rough for a landing. But the ship entered the bay of Deception Island so that we could take photos. The sunset here was really pretty.

Day 6

Today was a long one. We started early in the morning with an invitation to come up out onto the deck to see the first sight of the Antarctic peninsula (proper) and take photos of the beautiful strait we were navigating through. Then we made a landing on the Antarctic peninsula – very exciting! It was here I got pecked by a penguin – another exciting first :D. During this landing we also got to see some beautiful glaciers and to hear & see them calving – very impressive.

In the afternoon we took a zodiac cruise around Paradise Bay – which is surrounded by glaciers and has beautiful icebergs. Here we got to see Weddell & Crabeater seals, penguins & cormorants – and even a rather vicious looking leopard seal which didn't exactly chase us...but followed our boat for a bit – enough to make our zodiac driver nervous & tell us we couldn't go any closer – that the seal would try to eat our boat! We were quite proud of that one and made sure to brag to the other groups (eh, well I did anyway ;)).

Day 6 finished with the excellent news that we had been granted permission to visit the Ukrainian research station Verdansky the following morning – Verdansky has the world's most southern bar – with homemade vodka :D.

Day 7

Day 7 was legend! In the morning after breakfast, we were greeted by the sight of the barbeque onboard our ship being fired up and asado being prepared. We took off on our zodiac boats to visit Wordie House, which is an historic Antarctic site. It used to be one of the British research posts but has been preserved to show how research life in the Antarctic looked in the 1940's and 50's. After Wordie House we had a tour of the Ukrainian station and finally got taken to the world's most southern bar. Our group was not the last to arrive at the bar – but we were certainly the last to leave! The Ukrainian's have a tradition of giving the generators that power their station women's names & of giving free drinks to women who leave their bras behind the bar. Check out the photos to see what little piece of me is still at Verdansky! ;)

Back on board the Ushuaia, we had an asado lunch which was perfect soakage for the 6 vodka shots at the station...and then after trying to sober up a bit, we had another landing & zodiac cruise in the afternoon. If I wasn't sober when I left the ship, it didn't take long for the cold to sober me up! There were lots more penguins & leopard seals to see that afternoon and a rather bumpy zodiac cruise to see some really beautiful icebergs – awesome. I was totally soaked when I got back to the ship, so after a hot shower and some food I went to bed early to try to stave off the hangover J.

I awoke at 11.30pm and wandered upstairs to the bar/lounge to find a singing session in full swing. One of our lecturers had brought a guitar on board with him, and a couple of the guys on board could play and sing so we were singing until 2 in the morning. Good times.

Day 8

Our last landing & zodiac cruise of the week was today. Lots more penguins, seals & icebergs to see. It was really sad afterwards when we had to give back our lifejackets & rubber boots. The ship got underway to start heading back to Ushuaia and in the afternoon slowed down for whale watching. – of which there was plenty!

Days 9 & 10

Back in the Drake Passage: stormy outside and silence inside the boat. The highest rumoured waves were 12 metres! At one point I was clinging to the mattress of my bed with my foot braced against the neighbouring twin bed in order not to fall out. Even the crew were feeling ill on the way back to Ushuaia. Nearer to the Beagle Channel the sea calmed down and the ship was able to pick up speed again. Last night on board, the ship dropped anchor in the Beagle Channel outside Ushuaia and there was a captain's dinner & we partied with the crew.

Day 11

We got up early for breakfast & to be ready to leave the ship L. Plenty of sore heads this morning. I really enjoyed the 11 days and if there was room on the boat I would have gone back again immediately (yes, I did check, and no, there wasn't any room, it was sold out). I can only recommend Antarpply and the Ushuaia – if anyone is thinking of going to Antarctica – go on this boat!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=165114&id=693536230&l=37e490dc1e

The Ceiling of the Andes

My words cannot do justice to the amazing 5 days on horseback I spent in the Andes in Mendoza province. I will give the bare details and let the pictures do the rest.

Company: Pioneros Cabalgatas http://www.pioneros.com/
Personnel: 2 Pioneros guides, 2 vaqueros (local guides who know the mountains very well & who owned the horses we were using)
Tack: traditional Argentinean; 3 blankets on the horses back, followed by a saddle tree of wood/metal, followed by 2 sheep skin rugs. The blankets and sheep skins are also used as your bed underneath your sleeping bag.

Clientele: As previously related, I was lucky enough to meet Lisa in a hostel in Mendoza where she told me of her plans to join this ride. When I said that I was interested she contacted the Buenos Aires office to see if there was still room and if it wasn't too late for another addition to the group. I was able to join (obviously). Another different aspect to this particular ride was that it was marketed internally (not internationally) to the Argentinean market – so we were the only 2 tourists. The rest of the group was made up of 10 Argentineans & 1 Spanish guy living in Argentina. Pioneros does also market internationally through horse riding travel agencies, but those rides have more personnel and as a result are more expensive.

• Day 1: Meet our horses, load up with our saddle bags and take off into the desert. 3-4 hours flat riding to a valley river where we set up camp. That night it was mild enough to sleep in the open (even though we had already put up our tents).
  
  
• Day 2: After breakfast we mount up and begin to ride out of the valley. Today is a hard 3 hours riding again. We are going up and down rocky mountain sides, gravel & stones moving under the horses' feet and making them slide. There are some scary moments but as my horse has decided he is still hungry and tries to grab mouthfuls of grass whenever possible – even if that's while balancing on a surface hardly large enough to hold his four feet – I realise if he's not worried, then neither should I be. The horses here are amazing – they live out when not working and as a result are hardy, working animals that are incredibly obedient and sure-footed like goats! (The sure-footed bit, not the obedient bit). Today is an active day in the saddle, spent either leaning backwards to help the horse balance as he goes downhill, or leaning forwards & standing a bit out of the saddle as the horse carries us both uphill. Tonight we make camp high in the mountains, again beside a stream, with a couple of caves used for cooking (and to sleep in if the weather turns bad). Again we are lucky enough with the weather to be able to sleep outdoors and after a campfire singsong, we turn in for the night.
  
• Day 3: is a long and dusty day. We ride for 6 hours+. 2 hours in the morning, break for lunch, then 4 hours to get back to base. Today, once out of the mountains, we are riding through dusty scrub. When we get back to base, Pioneros transport us back to our hostel where running warm water is much appreciated & long overdue. I don't get out of the shower until I'm wrinklyJ.
  

• Day 4: Today we are riding again into the mountains, this time to a lookout point to see Aconcagua. Riding for about 6 hours. Unfortunately the weather closes in and we don't have a good view at the summit. We camp in an abandoned mining village, and use the old houses' chimneys for cooking.

• Day 5: We ride back to base, say goodbye to our horses and have a farewell meal with our guides & vaqueros.

Pictures available at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=160128&id=693536230&l=35b7552fb7

Random reflections while hopped up on sugar & white flour products

7.15am – I was shook (gently) awake by the bus steward this morning to have my breakfast. Lisa (girl I went horse-riding with) & I joked about the long haul bus rides and how you would only get served white food – so before the inevitable post breakfast crash, while the sugar & refined white flour is buzzing round my system here are a few random reflections:

1. It does seem to be the case that Argentinean bus companies prefer to serve their customers white food – not sure why that is. As an example I will relate the menu of Que Bus (who I am travelling with right now); Dinner last night: white bread sticks, white bread roll, mayonnaise, breaded chicken with smash (powdered potatoes), potato salad with 1 olive & slice of ham and a Madeleine (like granny's homemade queen cakes). Breakfast this morning: crackers (main ingredient white flour), 2 biscuits (like Danish butter cookies) and a Madeleine. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining – in fairness when listed out like that it IS a substantial amount of food - it's just also a substantial amount of white floor & sugar.
   

   
    

2. Whatever you think of him – Michael Jackson had a prolific music career, and even if it is before 8am, listening to his greatest hits at full blast while eating my white breakfast is not as bad as you would imagine.
   

   
    

3. Am on my way to Patagonia with a decision to make. I will arrive in Ushuaia on Friday night. One of the last ships (that I can find) is leaving for the Antarctic on Monday morning – the Canadian tour operator has quoted me WAY more than I would prefer to pay. What to do, what to do? I know there is room on the ship – do I hold out & try to find an open tour operator on Saturday in Ushuaia or do I just pay it & secure my place on the ship? Decisions, decisions...
   

   
    

4. And with that...the sugar crash sets in....

Luggage Issues

I am unable to pack lightly. For a while I was living in Switzerland I kidded myself that I had become a capsule packer – when going home to Ireland for the weekend and I would "only" take 10kg hand luggage with me.

Packing for South America was an ordeal that took 8 hours alone to make the stuff I wanted to take go into the bags (yes, bags, plural). But there's a lot to do here (and I want to do it all) & in a lot of different climates: I had to take into account summer weather/Patagonia/polar weather/amazon weather and horse riding gear lists. I have lost count of the amount time that planning and agonizing over what to bring took me. People laugh at me when they see the amount of stuff I haul around. Then the amusement turns to horror as they contemplate lugging it around themselves, and then incredulity when I tell them it all weighs 27kg and takes up an 85l rucksack and a 35l day pack.

Or at least it used to weigh 27kg. I haven't had the opportunity to weigh the bags recently but everything is fitting much more neatly and the bags don't seem as strained or difficult to close. I'm not holding my breath and praying that the zip doesn't burst each time I close the bag anymore. Either: 1) the bag has stretched, 2) I've gotten really good at packing, or 3) I'm lugging so much crap around with me that I can't possibly remember it all; and I'm slowly but surely leaving stuff behind all over the place that I didn't really need in the first place and now I don't even notice when it's gone. I'm hoping it's a combination of 1 & 2, but there is more than a sneaking suspicion that it's number 3 L.

Here's what I know I have lost/forgotten/misplaced so far: 1 pair of converse trainers, new bottles of shampoo/conditioner/shower gel (1 each) – these all went missing in Cordoba – but I was moving hostels a lot there, and usually hung-over at the time. 1 pair of riding gloves – I managed to lose these on the last day of the ride between and after taking my saddle bags off my horse and unpacking the same saddle bags a couple of hours later at the hostel. Silly me – I was annoyed about that one even though they were really old gloves but I specifically brought the old woolly ones so that I could use them in cold weather as well.

Yesterday I realised I couldn't find my phone. The last time I remember having it/using it as an alarm clock was in Uspallata – which is over a week ago – so I must have left it there. Again I don't mind too much – it was useful for receiving texts but I wasn't able to send any – the only real problem is that I have lost all my numbers. So if you are reading this & I had your number before, please email it to me, thanks J.

I have also ditched a sum total of 4 items of clothes so far: a skirt and 3 t-shirts. At the beginning I couldn't bear to do it but the novelty is starting to wear off. I don't mind the weight or lugging it around – that's not the issue – it's the worrying about whether my bag will break/burst that I can't handle. I've also bought a pair of shorts, ¾ length trousers & a sun hat, and got a really nice top from my mate Grainne who was purging her bag – so I guess all that negates the stuff I did toss. Woops – watch this space to see if I end up living in my bags cos there's enough room in there for me...

Serendipity!

I had booked into my hostel in Cordoba until today...but on Thursday night I made a split second decision to leave on a Friday night bus to Mendoza despite the invitation to go to Salta. I was tired of the humidity in Cordoba and wanted to get on with some physical activities after 2 weeks of sitting in a classroom.
I got to my hostel in Mendoza this morning and about an hour after I arrived a south african girl who is also travelling by herself arrived and we got chatting as the hostel receptionist explained the various excursions available to us. Turns out this girl is going on a 5 day horse-riding tour in the Andes and I was able to join the group...so excited about it! We're going to be camping out on the mountains..it's exactly what I wanted to do!

Serendipity! :)

http://www.pioneros.com.ar/english/horseback/cielingofamerica.htm

Buses, Bibles & Spanish lessons

Taking spanish lessons in Cordoba for 2 weeks. Took an overnight bus from Buenos Aires to Cordoba. It was my first overnight bus so I dont have anything to compare it to - but it seemed a bit odd that there were bibles on each seat wrapped up in the blanket & pillow they give to you...it got even odder when the bus hostess handed to everyone a comment sheet, a welcome note & a copy of some verses from Romans 2!