Date: 31st Dec, 2010
Today is the day we are going to start our epic journey. We were waiting for this special day for so long and it was finally here.
Probably we were in Ushuaia in the peak of the summer and the day-time temperatures were around 25C with not a lot of winds compared to our visit 2 yrs ago. It was good to start the day early with a nice job/run along the Beagle channel. It was a great opportunity to discover some parts of Ushuaia that tourists like us normally don't go. The trick was just to follow a local Argentinian running along the channel.
After some good breakfast and dropping off the bags for our expedition, we had some time until late afternoon to explore more of what Ushuaia had to offer. We chose to head to the Martial Glacier which was just a 7km taxi ride to the chair lift station. The ride on the chairlift was quite scenic but the weather was not great for good pictures. The base of the Glacier is quite beautiful but we did not have enough time to hike up. Weather is so unpredictable in this part of the world and a testimony to this fact was waiting to reveal itself on our way back from the base of the Glacier. It was nice and warm when we started to descend down the chair lift but we picked up a lot of rain mid-way, having nowhere to seek shelter on the open chairlift we just had to sit and get wet on your descent. Fortunately we managed to save the camera from cold Ushuaia showers.
In preparation for the trip we stocked up on 4-5 bottles of wine and a bottle of local cognac from a local super market. Not to forget, we did get a bottle of champagne to celebrate the new year's on board the ship. The boarding started on time and we were greeted by the friendly staff members on board the Akademik Ioffe. It was a treat to see all the happy faces of the fellow passengers and I am quite sure this was a dream trip for many of them. The cabins were nice and warm with 2 bunk beds and 1 sofa bed. These were semi-private cabins which means you share the bathroom with the couple next door.
We quickly unpacked our bags and headed down to the dining room for the welcome snacks/drinks that notably included martinis and cherry cocktails. We talked to a whole bunch of co-passengers and it was great to listen to all their stories about the reason to visit Antarctica which they narrated with great excitement. For about 50% of them it was their 2nd or 3rd trip to the frozen continent. The menu for dinner was great which was very professionally selected/made/served. If this is the kind of food that we get to eat for the remaining 18 days then I will be sure to put on some good weight which is something I strive hard normally with meagre results. The crew members were introduced during the dinner and each of them seemed very passionate about what they do. We had some experts in marine biology, ornithology and history who seemed very approachable to answer all our questions about southern oceans. We were briefed about the program for the next day.
The ship set sail right on time. We had an Argentine pilot on board temporarily to accompany us until we cross the Beagle channel which almost took about 5hrs. We could see the pilot jumping on to a moving smaller boat at the end of the Beagle channel. The sun set at 22.35h and we had some light until 23.30h. The ship is quite sturdy and we could hardly feel the ship moving until well after midnight when we noticed our wine bottles rolling and hitting each other due to rough open seas. As always Andy had a nice solution to take care of the wine bottles which fortunately did not include throwing them off board or finishing them up.
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