Here are some nice HD videos from my trip to the Antarctica. READ the description of my trip below, too!
https://youtu.be/9HiWKAEvbWQ (Part 2)
https://youtu.be/WmM5LAKg1Rg (Short Film)
https://youtu.be/u2df2YHh3Ik (Part 1)
https://youtu.be/k4N0p0HzqdM (Part 3)
Here is a visual of the evolution of our earth’s continents.
It was the longest plane ride I ever took in my whole life, from Manila all the way to Brazil via Dubai, then towards Ushuaia, Argentina. Ushuaia is the southern most tip of Argentina where we all embark and take the 12 day-cruise going to Antarctica and back to Ushuaia. I was 3 days earlier in Ushuaia and explored the city and hiked a little bit. It is a nice hill-range coast area, a touristy port for cruising to Antarctica, too. I went to Tierra del Fuego National Park.
The first 2-3 days of the cruise was very rough waters as we passed through DRAKE CHANNEL. Prepare for a vomit bag. What is nice though is we had lectures every day in the cruise ship with experts on the flora and fauna, wildlife, and the terrain of what we will see in the trip. For the succeeding 6 days, we were able to anchor to different islands in Antarctic and enjoy the excursion. Excursions I picked were kayaking, and sleeping overnight in the ice (camping by the ice) with 24 hour sunlight!
I booked for a solo kayak that I rowed myself. I had prior experience to kayaking, so no sweat. The group of guests kayakers have 2 guides to protect us from our ignorance. One guide in the front, and one guide at the back. The guides can also communicate with a Zodiac.
Zodiacs are used for transferring guests ashore, and for taking ocean-level cruising among icebergs, whales and seabirds. During the expedition, visit to remote and isolated sites are accessible only by Zodiac.
Kayaking was exhilarating as I have never heard sound so clearly. I could hear the cracking of the ice amidst the vastness of the ocean. Kayaking afforded us to get as close to the icebergs, safely, and as close to the penguin colonies, sea lions, and birds. I also learned about “penguin highway” where since that is their territory, they always pass first before humans, and they travel in a line.
The overnight sleep in the ice was also a great experience. We set up our tent and made sure we pick up all our things and garbage, leaving the island as it is before we arrived.
Two more grueling days of rough sea via Drake Channel, and I was back to Ushuaia. What a wonderful, once in a lifetime experience, to the 7th continent of earth. By the way, the continent of Antarctica is not included in the rings of the Olympic symbol. They also put South America together with North America as one continent. Trivia…
