Antarctica

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Antarctic Cruise aboard Oosterdam 2 - 24 February 2023





Once aboard the Oosterdam, I switched into ‘Travel Lite’ mode so there is not a huge amount to blog about. Life aboard the ship is so easy, as long as the presence of other people doesn’t disturb you. Unexpectedly I was upgraded at the last minute from an Ocean view cabin on deck 1 to a Verandah cabin on deck 5. It is very comfortable.





We had a day in port in Buenos Aires before setting sail so I took an excursion organised by Holland America to a gaucho estancia. It was a lovely day despite not seeing any cattle. We were welcomed with wine and freshly made empanadas, one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted. They were wonderful. We could eat as many as we wished but I managed to limit myself to two as I knew lunch was coming later.







It was a horse estancia and we were shown how they train the horses. The animals are organised into colour groups, black, white, piebald etc then they follow a gaucho around the ring as he leads another horse with a bell. The group follow the bell so they stay in their colour group. If they stray, ‘horse dogs’ edge them back in line, just like sheepdogs. They built up into a fast gallop and follow each other in a figure of eight. After that the gauchos raced under a bar where they had to click a tiny ring off a hook at full speed.







I had been wise not to overeat the empanadas as lunch was huge and delicious with great plates of meat being delivered to the table by the gauchos. As we were eating we were treated to a display of tango and traditional dancing skills as well as gauchos spinning bolas at high speed. It was an interesting day despite being a touch touristy.









Then off we sailed to Montevideo where I went for a walk around the town with Barbara, who I had met when boarding the first day. The 2020 blog has more details of Montevideo if anyone would like more information.









When we returned to the ship the Captain informed us that our next port, Punta del Este had been cancelled as they were expecting high winds so the port authorities would not allow us to land. It was only slightly disappointing as P del Este is mainly a seaside resort with beaches so no one was too upset.







Our next stop was Puerto Madryn where I had arranged to visit the Estancia San Lorenzo on the Peninsula Valdés. The Peninsular is a bleak, windswept area but surrounded by sea and animals. It is not the whale season here but we saw the Magellanic penguin colony, lots of Guanacos, a relative of Alpacas, described by Magellan as a camel without a hump. I also spotted a hairy armadillo who was ambling along happily until a woman shouted out in a really loud voice, ‘ look Al, look at that armadillo!’ ) At which point the armadillo disappeared into the scrub never to be seen again!







So it was another good day to be followed by a sea day. Next day, halfway between Puerto Madryn and Stanley in the Falklands, our next port of call, the Captain made an announcement. Due to exceptionally high winds in the Falklands the port authority were not going to allow us into port. It is a tender port and with the height of the expected waves it was too dangerous. Everyone stopped as they heard this and the collapse in morale was palpable. For most people, me included, it was to be a highlight of the trip. There was not a face that looked anything but glum! The captain made a little video to show the weather, a huge low was about to cross the Falklands causing wind and rain, and it was going to be closely followed by another low. He decided to race through the gap between the lows and head straight for Antarctica. Statistically one in three cruises fail to land in the Falklands, the last two had made it so it was our turn to be disappointed. I knew the risk but many passengers had not really considered it and were very upset, some seemed to hold the captain personally responsible!







The ship headed to Antarctica and on the way we had some fascinating lectures. We had a couple aboard, originally from Latvia but now teaching at a Canadian university in Newfoundland. They are astronomers/physicists with slightly different but overlapping interests so lectures included, The Edge of the Universe, Dark Matter Hunters, Is there life in the Universe?, The Physics of Space, ( which I nodded off in a couple of times despite my keenness to understand!) etc. At the start and end of the cruise there was also star gazing from the ship but of course it wasn’t possible near Antarctica because the day was so long with little darkness.







There were also two experts from New Zealand, one who knew everything about the life in Antarctica, and the other was a historian, and I think, knowledgeable about geology. So we speeded off down to the Antarctic Peninsula.







The first morning of our 4 days there started misty. The captain announced that he was going iceberg hunting and sure enough half an hour later he explained there was a large berg in front of us and that he would creep forward very slowly to approach it. It was eerie and a little scary as the berg gradually appeared through the mist. Then, once we were closer and it came into view, I realised it was huge, much bigger than any Jim and I saw in 2020.







After that we spotted minke whales blowing. It was an amazing sight as the captain estimated there were between 150-200 whales, although we were too far away to see the whales themselves. Minke are small whales







We had three more days around the Antarctic Peninsula and saw colonies of Adelie, Chin Stripe, and Gentoo penguins as well as seals and Orcas ( called Killer whales but actually dolphins).







The wildlife was wonderful but I was shocked by the lack of instruction to passengers about protecting the environment. Last time we were warned to make sure that all hats, gloves etc were well attached and would not blow off on deck. No food or drink was allowed on deck and crew members checked everyone going outside. This time I didn’t hear any guidance or warnings to passengers and it seemed the norm to take food and drink outside. I saw tissues, coffee cup lids and even a hat blowing about outside with no one making any effort to recover them. One Intrepid exploration ship spent a whole morning pouring out think black smoke into the atmosphere. Supposedly ships have to use special fuel to minimise pollution. That certainly didn’t seem to be the case with that ship. In addition there were more vessels around than three years ago. All these changes make me worry that Antarctica is no longer being protected from the impact of tourism.









After four days around the Peninsular we were due to sail slowly back across Drake’s Passage and around Cape Horn but the plan changed. A passenger aboard suffered a medical emergency and needed to be taken to the nearest hospital in Ushuaia as soon as possible. So the captain announced that he would use all engines and travel as quickly as possible. We arrived in the port at 3am and the patient was rushed off.









Then we had to wait for port clearance to go off again around the islands surrounding Cape Horn in Tierra del Fuego.









From then onwards everything went smoothly and we visited Ushuaia for a day as planned, then sailed along the Chilean coast to visit Punta Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco and Puert Montt. I took excursions into the National Parks as well as to two museums in Puerto Arenas, including the Nao Victoria replica ship museum which I visited in 2020.









On reaching Valparaiso I had a transfer booked from the ship to the airport in Santiago. Time was short as we disembarked at 7.45am and I needed to be at the airport by 10am for the 1pm flight. Despite my concern it all went to plan and it was an easy, if long flight. ( flight time 14 1/2 hours but we made it in about 13 hours).







When queueing to get through Immigration I chatted to the man standing next to me. Unbelievably it turned out we were both returning to Worcester and he had a taxi booked to collect him so he invited me to join him. A taxi door to door made the last stage of the journey wonderfully easy. What were the chances of that happening?









I was disappointed with the evening entertainment provided by Holland America. The standard seems to have fallen since Covid. It has become repetitive with the level of musical expertise falling in places to what you might expect in senior schools. Perhaps I am biased as, for example, I do not enjoy the dance shows which seemed to reappear far too often.









Despite that, it had been a good cruise with more wildlife than I had expected. Having other people to dine with, ( so thank you to Linda, Barbara and Jessica) and a trivia team, (Lyn, Gerry, Gail and Tom), to enjoy a daily quiz challenge with, made the whole experience very pleasant and for me it ended far too soon.









Now I am visiting friends in Eastbourne & Camberley before going to Lundy Island from 13-28 March. Having a couple of weeks of peace and isolation seemed a good idea when I set it up late in 2021, now I am not so sure. I will let you know how it goes in the next blog, bye for now.

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Photos

Gaucho belt
Knife and coins are traditional. The coins come from the various estancias where the gaucho has worked