Antarctica & Chile with Smithsonian
We took a magnificent 14-day tour of Antarctica and the Chilean fjords with Smithsonian Journeys (Box 23182, Washington, D.C. 20077-0843; 877/338-8687, www.smithsonianjourneys.org), Jan. 9-23, 2008.
The cost for two was $19,078 including airfare from New York’s JFK to Buenos Aires and Ushuaia, Argentina. We bought trip insurance, at $1,700 for the two of us, primarily because of JFK in January and having only one chance to meet the boat in Argentina.
All meals (and gourmet they were) were included. The wine was great.
There was no tipping aboard ship or on any other part of the tour! We have never been on such a trip with so few hassles. We have been nickeled-and-dimed so much on other so-called “adventure travel” tours that this turned out to be a real treat.
All cold-weather gear was supplied. In fact, we returned home with our warm red jackets and were allowed to take other gear if we desired. We packed some wine in one pair of boots and left the other pair and the waterproof pants.
The British ship Spirit of Adventure was home for our group of 21, whose nickname became “the Smithies.” The ship had about 300 passengers, comprising mostly Brits, our “Yankee” group and about 20 Aussies.
We boarded the ship in Ushuaia and, according to the crew, had the smoothest crossing possible of the Drake Passage.
Every day on board there were about three excellent lectures by experts in their fields, which included biology, botany, geology, glaciology, ornithology, marine biology and more. Our Study Leader was Dr. Don Wilson, Curator of Mammals at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. He proved to be an entertaining and informative guide, and his photography was super.
One of the many memorable presentations was that by Geoff Somers, who participated in the 1990 (first and only) transantarctic expedition of the 4,000-mile-long axis.
We went ashore five times on Zodiacs: at Half Moon Island, Port Lockroy (where we could mail letters), Jougla Point, Waterboat Point and Neko Harbour.
These shore trips gave us many opportunities to see the penguin rookeries, seals and birds. Of course, we saw whales as well. We saw five different species of penguins and explored the rocky shoreline with its wrecked boats, whalebones and tons of penguins.
We went through a rigorous washing of our provided wellies (rubber boots) each time we left land and again when we reboarded. This was good, as most of the rookeries were odiferous with droppings.
Limited numbers of people and boats were allowed at each place, so we couldn’t go ashore at Deception Island but sailed around in the bay, set in a collapsed volcano.
The morning of our last trip in the Zodiacs, we awoke with about a half foot of snow on everything. We enjoyed cruising through ice floes in the snowstorm and watching penguins diving about, icebergs turning over and glaciers calving into the bay. This experience can’t be duplicated anywhere!
The second week was spent cruising the magnificent Chilean fjords. The Inland Passage was calm, and our ship pulled up close to several glaciers. The towns of Punta Arenas and Puerto Montt provided us with some land time.
We disembarked at Valparaiso, Chile, and, after having a great farewell lunch at a winery about halfway to Santiago, boarded our flight for JFK.
We highly recommend Smithsonian Journeys for a travel experience! We loved our trip and are trying to make up our minds which one of theirs to sign up for next.
LARRY & JUDY EMMONS
Ten Sleep, WY