Photos from Antarctic cruise

[Scott R Nelson]

By request by several people in the Covid thread when we got off topic on cruise ships, here are a few photos from the Antarctic cruise that I went on in February of 2017.

Viewing a glacier in the fjords of Chile.

https://i.imgur.com/uzcRYgO.jpg

Punta Arenas Chile.

https://i.imgur.com/Qj0hzn8.jpg

Another glacier further south in Chile.

https://i.imgur.com/hOn6lop.jpg

Ushuaia, the southernmost town on the earth.

https://i.imgur.com/XWgyxyY.jpg

Cape Horn, the furthest point south before Antarctica.

https://i.imgur.com/hi30Ixe.jpg

They wouldn't let us off of the ship, but these guys got to walk around among the penguins and seals.

https://i.imgur.com/IXxlv1B.jpg

A lot of the Antarctic Peninsula looked like this.
https://i.imgur.com/alJ1Q5b.jpg

Palmer Station - one of three American Antarctic stations.
https://i.imgur.com/TAxrute.jpg

Cruising through a narrow iceberg alley. The ship had to use side thrusters to work its way around the icebergs in there and to stay far enough away from the sides to not hit anything.
https://i.imgur.com/AjH5vGD.jpg

We kept seeing this other ship as we traveled. They were planning to go in as soon as we cleared the narrow part, but they decided against it.
https://i.imgur.com/kg2jakX.jpg

We saw lots of seals resting on the flatter icebergs.
https://i.imgur.com/FUgWGdO.jpg

We saw many penguin colonies too.
https://i.imgur.com/3c5v59h.jpg

And a few whales. This is about all we could see.
https://i.imgur.com/j9zLMQ3.jpg

I'll skip the other stops in South America.

[UVACoug]

That's really cool. Thanks for sharing. I'd love to do that someday.

[Scott R Nelson]

That's really cool. Thanks for sharing. I'd love to do that someday.

Cool? It's downright cold there! Brrrr.

We went at the "warmest" part of the year and it was awfully cold. I sort of feel sorry for the seals and penguins that spend their entire lives in the cold. They never get warm.

[Commando]

So you said this was a 2 week cruise-- what was the itinerary? How many stops? Was it mostly in Argentina/Chile?

[Scott R Nelson]

So you said this was a 2 week cruise-- what was the itinerary? How many stops? Was it mostly in Argentina/Chile?

Start in Santiago Chile, leave from the port at Valparaiso, day at sea, Puerto Montt, Isla Chiloe, Coyhaique, a day going through the fjords and seeing glaciers, another day through Canal Sarmiento and more fjords, then Punta Arenas. That's it for Chile. A day at Ushuaia Argentina, then six days out and back to the Antarctic Peninsula (one day at sea on either end). One day at the Falkland Islands, a day at sea, then Puerto Madryn Argentina, day at sea, Montevideo Uruguay, then finish up in Buenos Aires.

I was wrong, it was three weeks.

[Commando]

Start in Santiago Chile, leave from the port at Valparaiso, day at sea, Puerto Montt, Isla Chiloe, Coyhaique, a day going through the fjords and seeing glaciers, another day through Canal Sarmiento and more fjords, then Punta Arenas. That's it for Chile. A day at Ushuaia Argentina, then six days out and back to the Antarctic Peninsula (one day at sea on either end). One day at the Falkland Islands, a day at sea, then Puerto Madryn Argentina, day at sea, Montevideo Uruguay, then finish up in Buenos Aires.

I was wrong, it was three weeks.

That sounds incredible. I'm sure I don't know anybody who's been to Antarctica, either.

[Northwestcoug]

That looks pretty cool SRN. I would do that cruise.

[Non Sequitur]

That's fascinating. I could do that.

[smokymountainrain]

Start in Santiago Chile, leave from the port at Valparaiso, day at sea, Puerto Montt, Isla Chiloe, Coyhaique, a day going through the fjords and seeing glaciers, another day through Canal Sarmiento and more fjords, then Punta Arenas. That's it for Chile. A day at Ushuaia Argentina, then six days out and back to the Antarctic Peninsula (one day at sea on either end). One day at the Falkland Islands, a day at sea, then Puerto Madryn Argentina, day at sea, Montevideo Uruguay, then finish up in Buenos Aires.

I was wrong, it was three weeks.

wow. that sounds incredible. thanks for sharing.

[BigPiney]

A friend that I work with did this a few years ago. She said there was an option one day for swimming. She jumped off the boat and was able to swim in a small area in the freezing water for the experience.

Did that have that option for you and if so were you crazy enough to do it?

It looks awesome. I want to do that just to see the penguins.

[Scott R Nelson]

A friend that I work with did this a few years ago. She said there was an option one day for swimming. She jumped off the boat and was able to swim in a small area in the freezing water for the experience.

Did that have that option for you and if so were you crazy enough to do it?

Uh, no.

[swampfrog]

By request by several people in the Covid thread when we got off topic on cruise ships, here are a few photos from the Antarctic cruise that I went on in February of 2017.

Another glacier further south in Chile.

https://i.imgur.com/hOn6lop.jpg

I'll skip the other stops in South America.

Nice. This was my favorite. One more place to add to my list of places I'll likely never get to.

[Scott R Nelson]

Nice. This was my favorite. One more place to add to my list of places I'll likely never get to.

We saw a lot of glaciers. The cruise goes both directions, so you can catch it in Chile and loop around to Argentina, or start in Argentina and go the other way. I think it was better starting in Chile and getting colder as we went south. The fjords and glaciers probably would not have been as impressive after four days in Antarctica. It just kept getting better the further south we went.