Final Riffs & Reflections On A Magnificent Journey

There is no question in our minds that Antarctica is one of the great places on Earth.  It's expensive to go there, because it is not easy to get there.  But, if it is something you are considering, and can swing it, both Carol and I would highly, highly recommend it.

I'm not sure if we will go again.  They say "Go for the penguins, go back for the ice."  And it is a mystical land.  Steaming past hundreds of ice floes, and then seeing a few seals hanging out on one. Having something in the water catch your eye and realizing it is four or five porpoising penguins out to go from somewhere cold to somewhere else cold is vastly entertaining.

Walking amongst the rookeries of Chinstrap and Gentoo penguins as the occasional penguin, concentrating hard on the task at hand.  Watching skuas probe the rookeries for undefended eggs or chicks and be driven off by defense systems of watchful penguins.

Wondering at the majesty of the soaring tabular icebergs, or the ones sculpted into arches or scalloped shells.  Seeing the snow capped mountains right down along the coastline, and being blown away by the blue ice.  Or the rarely spotted green ice.

The sunset at 11:30pm that explodes in reds and yellows and pinks and oranges.  The 3am glow of sunrise.

The whales in a bubble net feeding frenzy, fluking as they dive down to turn around and do it all over again.

Everything we did was cool (or very cold, in the case of the polar plunge).  There was nothing we did on the trip that was a let down.  Instead, everything we did exceeded expectations, which is the most you can ask for in a trip.  I know -- if you read about past trips on the blog, you are thinking, "Glen, you rave about every trip you have ever taken."  It's true. . .we are a family of travelers -- if you don't believe me, read Julia's blog and Maddy's blog (and here's hoping Torie does one when she studies abroad!).

Was paying the Drake Tax worth it?  Yes -- one half day (in my case) or one full day (in Carol's case) was an annoying investment that later paid off in untold fortunes the next six days.

But, let me say this.  Even if we don't think we'll be going back to Antarctica, we now want to go two more places. . .the Arctic and South Georgia Island.  They are similar to Antarctica (both also polar), but also totally different -- different flora, different fauna.

The crossing back across the Drake Passage was easy.  We put the patches on prior to whale watching, so we didn't make the mistake of waiting too long.  We also had our sea legs, which helps immensely.  And finally, while the ship rocked, it wasn't quite as bad as the first day of the initial crossing.

We got into port in Ushusaia before dinner our last night on the boat, so after dinner Carol and I disembarked and walked around the town for a bit.  No stores were open, and we didn't feel much like going into a bar.

We then Facetimed with Torie and then Maddy, but couldn't reach Julia.  Pretty amazing to think of it -- I first started blogging in 2007, happy to get wireless occasionally to upload posts and photos.  Now, I had email down in Antarctica, could blog (although photo uploading was more miss than hit), and could Facetime from the self-proclaimed city at the bottom of the world.

The next day, we went to the maritime and prison museum in Ushuaia before walking around the town.  The most amazing part of Ushuaia are not the surrounding mountains, nor the Beagle Channel. Nope, it's that most of the streets don't have stoplights or stop signs, so as two cars race toward the intersection a crash is clearly imminent.  Except we saw no crashes.  It appears the car that is headed uphill or downhill has the right of way over those driving on the flat road.  That system seems to work, but I wouldn't want to see it in operation in the States or anywhere else I've driven (can you imagine driving in European cities with fewer road rules?  Me neither.)

Spending a day and a half flying is a long way to go (there were long layovers, especially in Santiago), but we had never imagined going to Antarctica.  The trip was much more than checking a box.  It was the experience of a lifetime.

Now we have to start planning our next big trip for 2017.  Hmmm. . .the Arctic?  Croatia?  The Galapagos and Machu Picchu?  Vietnam and Cambodia?  It's a big world out there, and we're just getting started.