Travel adventures
As the launching station for so many Antarctica cruises, it’s not surprising that the port city of Ushuaia is packed full of penguin themed souvenirs. Sure, you can get your t-shirts and plush penguin chicks, but you can also get hats, fridge magnets, shot glasses, carved bric-a-brac, coffee mugs, pitchers in the shape of a …
The airport is a zoo. I stand in the wrong line for five, maybe ten minutes until I figure out what’s happening. Then I see it – the web check-in counter. I checked in online last night, I’m good to go. That line, it’s got two people in it, rather than the crowd of humans …
It is a long way from my house in Seattle to Ushuaia, at the southern tip of Argentina. It is longer if you go via New York, which I did, but I was not even the least bit sorry for the extra time and distance. In New York I found coffee and a laughing Puerto …
Shackleton titled the memoir about his epic journey to the ice and back “South.” It’s an understated title for an historic adventure, as though his trip was just a little meander towards the pole, an idea, really, nothing special. South. I’ve been reading his book in bits and pieces over the past month. It’s not …
Here’s some promotional footage by the folks who operate the Plancius, my new ship for Antarctica. I sail on February 22nd.
Meet the M/V Plancius. She’s a refurbished scientific research vessel, given a full once over about three years ago. She holds 110 passengers along with about 40 crew (including the expedition leaders — the science and nature guides). She’s not a huge ship, but she’s not the littlest cruise ship you can take to Antarctica …