I’m about to embark on my next adventure. This one without the kids (or Anto)…… A bit exciting to do some kid-free travel, but I’m also going to miss them a lot as it’s the longest I would have been away from them, ever!

I’m off to Antarctica, a trip my mum was planning for 2020 – oh yes we all know what happened in 2020! It has been delayed every year ever since and now Zinnia is a little older I’m able to leave them in the capable hands of Anto for a few weeks. He would much rather be coming with me, but someone needs to keep them all alive 🙂

So, what’s on the itinerary?

First stop, South America, starting with Buenos Aires.

Buenos Aires, Argentina

We have to fly through both Santiago, Chile and then Buenos Aires, Argentina before getting to Patagonia, where the ship boards. This means we are having a 2 day stop in Buenos Aires for a little de-jet lagging and to see a few sights……. (and just in case there are delays, we don’t want to cut it too fine with timing).

The plan for Buenos Aires is to do plenty of walking around the city, checking out the buildings, squares, architecture, parks and the Recoleta cemetery (yes it’s meant to be amazing).

Patagonia – Ushuaia, Argentina

After 2 days we are heading South to Ushuaia in Patagonia. The most Southern city in the world.

This is the departure point for most Antarctic voyages but is also the home of the Tierra del Fuego National Park, and some amazing scenery.

If the weather cooperates (back to cold after the likely warm of Buenos Aires), we will do some hikes in the park, hopefully to the Laguna Esmerelda which is meant to be amazing. Plus whatever extra hiking I can convince Di she really needs to do, to work off all the extra food!

We are staying in a hotel just near the Glacier Martial so I’m going to drag her up to the top of the glacier for some views over the Beagle Channel.

Antarctica

We are off on an 11 days (well 10 really, the first day is in Ushuaia) voyage to Antarctica. We are onboard the Ocean Endeavour, a 199 passenger polar expedition ship.

The cruise we are doing is through Intrepid – the World Wildlife Fund, Giants of Antarctica. Scientists from the World Wildlife Fund – Australia (WWF-Australia) are onboard on the trip through the Drake passage to the South Shetland Islands and to the Antarctic Peninsula.

WWF-Australia scientists are on the tour to share insights into whale conservation as they conduct research on whales. We will also be exploring Antarctica on foot and by Zodiac. There should be plenty of penguin rookeries, leopard seals and towering glaciers.

I’m also booked on the photography program with top wildlife photographers and will be going out on dedicated photography zodiacs to explore different areas, that are more stable and have unobstructed views!

There are also plenty of workshops and lectures with the experts, so hopefully I’ll learn plenty too 🙂

We are hoping for fairly calm seas for our Drake passage crossings and plenty of wildlife…..

Santiago, Chile

Once we disembark our ship in Ushuaia, we may have a little time for some last minute Patagonian souvenirs and Argentinean food, and then we are heading back through Buenos Aires and then onto Santiago, Chile.

It’s most of a days travel to get to Santiago, but we’ll get part of the long trip home done and then have another city to explore.

Our first day in Chile we are actually heading out of the city to do some sightseeing in the Andes, via some wineries, an alpaca farm (yes, we really don’t need to but it could be amusing to share stories with our Inti the alpaca). Then off to the Laguna del Inca and some hopefully amazing Andes scenery.

The remaining day and a half in Santiago will be exploring the city via some more walking tours, and plenty of our own walking around the parks and up the Cerro San Cristobel and Cerra Santa Lucia hills.

There should be plenty of photo opportunities with interesting neighbourhoods to explore and hopefully some room in the luggage for some souvenirs for the kids.

Heading home….

After 18 days away we’ll be home and back to reality. Plenty of kids sport and activities will await me and hopefully not too much laundry! I’m fairly sure I’ll take plenty of photos (as usual) and will eventually get them all up here to share the adventure.