Antarctica was for me an extraordinary experience. The best part of the trip, the most beautiful trip, the best trip full stop. I was kind of worried that this continent would not be as good as I was expecting. I couldn't have been more wrong. Extraordinary is a word that has been created for places like this.
Before leaving last year, I had checked for last minute prices and what we should be expecting when we got to Ushuaia. We got there on the 5th of December, decided to find the best deal. The minimun t ime for a cruise is 8 days. I thought we would have to be very quiet about asking uncomfortable questions, but it is actually a thriving business at the moment. Every single agent has last minute deals and they are very open about it. Since a lot of people asked, yes it is very expensive, even with the discount we got, we ended up paying about a third of the price, it was still about 4,999 USD. Each. Saying that, it is the most well spent money in my life.
After researching we decided (it didn't happen that easily, considering the price, we had to convince one another that it was worth it.) to book an 8 day cruise with Quark expeditions. This was 2 days to embark and disembark, 2 days to cross the Drake passage and finally 4 days of expeditions. This one was also finishing by a flight from the South Shetlands islands to Punta Arenas in Chile, which allowed us to shave off a few hours on a bus.
Embarking was faultless, and I don't know how I can explain how excited I was at this point. it is a magical moment. The boat can welcome up to 119 passengers, but we are only 89. I was a bit scared that it would feel crowded but the boat is big so it was very easy to have your own space. We are travelling with a lot of Americans, Chinese, a few brits and Europeans in general. A few South Americans, but so few. Our crew onboard is great and very international, they all have their own specialty: ornithologist, marine biologist, glaciologist, historian, geologist, specialist of the Antarctic laws etc...During the first couple of days, we follow our progress along the Drake passage, and go to the conferences in the main lounge where we learn about the history of the white continent, and the specifics of the animals we will see. it is fascinating in between our promenades on the deck to discover more about this very unknown continent. We also get our itinerary which I included below: