We invite you to journey along with us through this blog as we travel to Antarctica via Patagonia, Chile, and Argentina. We are not the fearless warriors who are going to brave the elements of the Great White Continent. No, we are going to travel in style on a Seabourn Quest cruise.
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We are 4 days from departure. We have traveled so much, often on the Harley, that we have our pre-trip planning pretty well established. Mark determines routes and scouts out places to stay; Margo packs. Thanks to Mark’s friend, Dan, both the route and places to stay were easy – Antarctica on board the Seabourn Quest.
Now Margo is trying to decide what to pack for the month. It is summer down there with temperatures in the 80s in Santiago and Buenos Aires, and a blistering 30s in Antarctica. We have to pack carefully so we leave room in the suitcases to bring back the promised pet penguin for each grandkid! And of course the lingering question is, “how much underwear should we take?”
Other activities we are doing to prepare include learning how to use our new camera. Margo thought the camera was defective but after a week of online searching (and fretting) she realized it was operator error. We have had a bit of a disagreement about what is needed to take pictures. Mark says to put it on automatic and shoot. Margo says if she was going to do that, we would not have bought a new camera (Sony a6500 with 18-130 zoom), she would just use her cell phone. Margo’s stubbornness prevailed and she knows how to use the settings.
Mark has been tracking the sea conditions along Drake’s Passage. Currently, there’s only 15 – 20 foot seas. Hope the seasick patches work!
Margo has begun reading the book, Lost Antarctica by James McClintock. Antarctica is such a mystery to us. We think that the more we know about it the more we can appreciate it. Thankfully, Seabourn has an amazing expedition team that gives lectures on board. We are really looking forward to those sessions and talking with the team members.
Our next post should be Friday from Santiago, Chile.