Antarctica Part 2 of my travel journal left off in King George Island as we were waiting for our plane to come in so we could start our journey home. Udo, our cruise director, had just called everyone up into the lounge for an important announcement. He was straight and to the point, the ceiling was too low for planes to land and it would be for the next 2 days. Our ship needed to be in Ushuaia, Argentina in 48 hours to pick up the next group of passengers. Therefore, we would be sailing the Drake Passage! It would take approximately 40 hours. And, they were unsure which port they would be dropping us off at. As Udo spoke our ship had already begun it's journey leaving King George.
By 9pm we entered the Drake and the National Geographic Explorer was starting to rock. Dave and I went up to the bridge where we saw two albatrosses, flocks of pintado petrels and a fur seal as we passed by a beautiful glacier.
Then it was off to the lounge which was directly above our room. As we got closer we could hear the band playing (the "band" consisted of the wait staff, housekeeping and the Swedish chef on the drums). Everyone was dancing, even Captain Pike. When the boat tipped left everyone danced to the left and when it tipped right we all shuffled right. At one point, the singer's music fell all over the floor when a large wave hit. I can't believe no one fell, it must have been the open bar that gave everyone agile legs. It was such a fun time, everyone making the best out of our unique situation.
When morning came our ship was really rocking. The waves were constant and at 12-18 feet I pretty much stayed in bed the whole day. Just sitting upright made me nauseous. Dave got worried and called the ship's doctor, Dr. Sandy, to see if she could give me something more than the meclizine I had already taken. She did. And it helped me get up and attend dinner in the bistro; however, I turned in early. One of the scientists did a presentation on seasickness which I watched from the TV in our room. I learned that women are 3-5 times more likely to get motion sickness than men.
That evening I heard that Dr. Sandy was saying that all of the men on the ship were coming to see her because their wives would not get out of bed. At least I wasn't the only one.
Come morning, our final morning on board, we had breakfast in the bistro. I can't believe they still had enough food for all of us. The chef did a great job with the meal planning and preparation. Our bags were packed and once again left outside our room to be picked up. This time though we had to be completely out of our rooms because housekeeping had only a few hours to turn them over for the next guests. The plan was to dock at Puerto Williams, Chile, the southernmost city in the world, and take a chartered flight to Puerto Arenas. We would refuel there and collect the belongings we left at the hotel in Puerto Natales. Some people took the shuttle back to Puerto Natales but we decided to take the option to be flown to Santiago, Chile. Dave and I booked a room at the airport hotel in Santiago and then rebooked our flight for the next night at 10:30pm.
On a positive note, we got a full day to explore Santiago. Once we settled into our hotel we took a cab to an area called, Bellavista for dinner. We woke up early the next morning and explored downtown having breakfast at Dos y Dos in the Plaza de Armas. Dave and I walked around for most of the day going in and out of churches, plazas and markets. I had to pass by the Simon Bolivar statue since I seem to find one everywhere I go.
Due to our unplanned trip extension I ran out of clean clothes. So I went to the local department store and picked up a few things. I found the modern architecture in Santiago to be very different than in the States. There was a beautiful shopping center with various bookstores, cafes, restaurants and boutiques that went down into the ground like a well. It appeared to go about 6 floors down and can be seen from the street.
For an extra $90 our hotel allowed us to check out at 6pm. Well worth it! That allowed us to leave our luggage in the room, take a quick nap and shower before walking over to the airport.
While waiting in line we met a couple from Arizona who shared our Antarctic experience and were also heading home. I felt bad that they had to first fly into Miami before taking another flight to Phoenix. This trip has been so long as it is. My pity for them was short lived when we boarded our plane and saw that they were in the 1st class pods. Although we had an amazing expedition to Antarctica we were glad to be home so that we could start sharing our experience.
I'll end this blog with another short video from our "dance party". By the way did I mention that we had a Luigi Mangione look-a-like on the boat?
Until the next trip!
Love the dance party videos!!! Kris