Barb's Travel Journal: Antarctica

I wanted to visit Antarctica since I was 9 years old. We read about the flight to the South Pole by Admiral Byrd in Miss Fleetwood's 3rd grade class at PS #53. That was when I decided to be an explorer instead of a race car driver.

Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina

Ushuaia is on the Beagle Channel and is the southern most city in the world. It is the primary embarkation port for ships heading to western Antarctica, including the Antarctic Peninsula and the Weddell Sea. Ushuaia is a city of 40,000 people and is a very active ski resort during the winter. There is snow on the mountains even in the middle of the summer (which is when I was there.) The airport is little more than an airstrip with a small hut containing an immigration desk, and there is no metal detector. Little English is spoken here, so be prepared with some basic Spanish phrases. I can recommend Quillenas Negra, it is a bock beer brewed in southern Argentina.

Drake Passage, South Atlantic Ocean


The Professor Khromov

The Drake Passage is approximately 600 miles in length and takes about two days to cross depending on weather conditions. The Drake Passage is considered among the most treacherous waters in the world. However, of the nearly four days I spent in crossing it round trip, three days were "smooth" or a force 2-3 on the Beaufort wind scale.

Captain Igor Kiselev

The captain of the Professor Khromov, Captain Igor Kiselev, has over 20 years of experience sailing these waters and he said he had never seen it this calm two days in a row. The fourth day, which was the last day on the return crossing, was a force 9. There's a good deal of wildlife to see in the passage, particularly birds. Schools of penguins porpoised by and several albatross were flying off the stern in the wake of the ship's exhaust. Whales can also be seen, but you really need to watch for them. I mostly saw humpbacks, but we also saw a few of the toothed variety.

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A WildThings.com Destination

'Seal & Penguin Coasts' is an exciting new development planned for Bristol Zoo Gardens. The seals and the penguins are amongst the most-loved animals in the Zoo; unfortunately the present conditions that they live in were built almost seventy years ago and need replacing.