Journey to Antarctica
January 2022
By Kelly Graham
I retired in July 2019, and I planned to take a World Cruise on Silversea in January 2021. Unfortunately, the world stopped, and the cruise was postponed until January 2022. As I was preparing to make the final payment in October 2021, Silversea decided to completely cancel the cruise. Naturally, I was heartbroken, but I remembered that everything happens for a reason, so I took some time (about 5 minutes) to think about my options.
The first destination on the World Cruise was Antarctica, so once I got Antarctica in my head, it was impossible to remove. I had to go to Antarctica in 2022! On top of searching the internet for hours at a time, I made numerous calls and sent way too many emails to my travel agent. I wrote list upon list of cruises, costs, and itineraries. I soon pulled the trigger and booked the “Journey to Antarctica” on Lindblad Expeditions’ National Geographic Resolution for January 28, 2022. Penguins! I was going to see the penguins!
From October until the end of January, all I could focus on was Antarctica, what gear I would need, and the fact that I would have to get that damn shot. Lists. More lists. A clothing list. A camera gear list. A shoe list. Socks. Thermals. Mittens. Gloves. Hats. Which were the best for photography? Which would keep my little toes and fingers the warmest? What would fit in my suitcases? My brain was filled with questions, lists, and information!
About a week before the cruise, I started to get nervous because of the required PCR testing. What if I turned up positive and didn’t have symptoms? What if I got to Miami and tested positive by Lindblad? It was seriously stressful. I got my negative test results Tuesday morning and flew to Miami in the afternoon. I stayed at the Hilton Blue Lagoon in Miami, which was where Lindblad was to set themselves up on Thursday, The hotel was a bit dated, not very clean and there was a roach – not a palmetto bug - in my room, so I won’t be staying there again any time soon On Wednesday, I had a fantastic lunch with my mom and stepdad at Versailles, which I was told is the most popular Cuban restaurant in the world. Really? Who gathers those facts?
I met with the Lindblad representatives on Thursday and tested negative again. Whew. Everyone hung out around the hotel and pool all day. At 10:30 pm, we headed to Miami International Airport, and, at 2:30 am, it was wheels up. My stress evaporated as we ascended into the night sky towards Ushuaia, Argentina, a mere 12 hours away.
I spent the last hour of the flight, slack-jawed, looking out the window. The clear skies gave way to the spectacular frozen landscape of Patagonia. Once we got through customs, we boarded coach busses and, on our way to the docks, got a mini tour of Ushuaia. The newly launched NG Resolution was next to its sister ship, The Endurance, that’s only a couple of years old. Both are PC5, Category A ice class vessels with X-Bows and the latest maritime technology. At this point, I wasn’t aware of what all this meant. But by the end of the cruise, I was obsessed with The Resolution.
Normally, it takes close to two days to sail to Antarctica but because of the exceptional weather conditions and the speed of The Resolution, we bypassed The South Shetland Islands and headed straight to The Lemaire Passage. Ahead of us we watched Mon Coeur, a 66-foot, sailboat, carefully navigate through the ice-covered water. This was our first look at penguin highways, calving icebergs, and sunbathing seals. The sights and sounds were mind-numbing. We thought this was going to be difficult to top but I was wrong. Each new day brought an experience that was incredible in its own way. At 3 pm, we got into zodiacs and cruised around icebergs near Pleneau and Booth Islands. As if that wasn’t enough for one day, we made our first continental landing at Petermann Island after dinner, at 9:00 pm, when the sun was still shining. Penguins!!
On Monday, January 31, we discovered why this is called an expedition and not just a cruise. Due to fair weather and the Bellinghausen Sea’s calmness, our captain and expedition leader agreed to head towards The Antarctic Circle. Our excitement built as we got closer and, at about noon, we crossed over Latitude 66 degrees 33’ 44” South. Everyone cheered, hugged, and drank champagne as the bell tolled and the ship’s horn blared, declaring “Victory!”. But this amazing day wasn’t over by a long shot. The captain headed back north and, eventually, nosed the ship onto fast ice in Lallemand Fjord, where we spent the day exploring the ocean ice and witnessed the captain preside over a wedding in the evening. Leaving after that glorious day felt supernatural. It was close to midnight and the sun was low on the horizon. We weaved our way through the miles of floating ice that came up behind us during the day. I felt so safe on The Resolution, and I knew the captain was 100% confident because this vessel was made for these conditions. This sounds like an ad but it’s not - if you want to learn more about fast ice, check out this video from that very day by an undersea specialist, Shaylyn Potter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1poX5245Qf8. It’s pretty interesting.
The rest of the expedition consisted of visiting various penguin rookeries, hiking on rarely visited islands, watching seals lounge about, and kayaking in-between enormous icebergs. We found ourselves in Port Charcot Hidden Bay, Neko Harbour, Gerlache Strait, Mikkelsen Harbour, and Devil’s Island. Along the way, naturalists told us about lesser-known explorers, undersea life, and Antarctica’s geology. I can now tell the difference between Gentoo, Adelie, and chinstrap penguins. And let’s not forget about the Polar Plunge into 32-degree water (which I made more interesting by creating a fundraiser that raised over $1,000.00 for St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital)! By the time we left Antarctica, my senses were overloaded, and my cameras were bursting at seams with photos and videos of penguin chicks, yawning seals, whales feeding, and tropical blue ice. Over 2300, to be not-so exact. And the food… OMG! The meals and the people I shared them with should get their own essays!
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. My journey to reality commenced as we headed back through the Drake Passage and encountered some high seas while we slept. Fortunately, The NG Resolution has a state-of-the-art stabilization system, so we didn’t get tossed all over the place or get too sea sick. Back in Ushuaia, we were treated to another mini tour and made a couple of stops inside Tierra del Fuego National Park. We sat at the airport for a couple of hours before boarding the charter flight back to Miami, via Nassau, the Bahamas for a transit stop. We landed at 4:30am. I was able to reschedule my flight to JFK and was home by 11:00am! Home. It was nice to be home with my dog, TJ Hooker. I missed him so much and I think he missed me, too.
I could (obviously) ramble on for days about Antarctica and my experience on The NG Resolution but I don’t want to bore you any further. I want to show you the difference between an expedition and a cruise, especially if you’re planning on visiting the White Continent or some other cool destination. A cruise ship doesn’t stop when humpback whales are feeding in front of the ship and passengers won’t be getting into the zodiacs to witness these gigantic beasts up close and personal. But you might get that opportunity, and more, on an expedition ship. Also, size does matter. Smaller is better in this case, as visitors to Antarctica must follow IAATO guidelines. Ships with over 500 passengers do not stop and some islands don’t allow ships with more than 200 passengers to access their shores. If you want to learn more, there’s an app called IAATO Polar Guide: Antarctica. Do your research before committing.
Adventures continue! A few weeks after I returned home from Antarctica, I got an email from Lindblad that two early spring expeditions were added to The Resolution’s schedule. They hooked me!! On April 13, 2022, I’m heading to Norway where I’ll spend 6 days on my own In Oslo and Flam, and, on April 20, 2022, I’ll be flying to Svalbard and exploring The Arctic Circle!
Stay tuned!
