Saturday Feb 3, 2024
Hi All! The Wandering Italian and his co-pilot Kathy are doing an expedition cruise to Antarctica (also known as White Continent, the 7th continent, the South Pole, etc.)!
For those that have followed along in the past you’ll remember that we did an expedition cruise to the Arctic (North Pole, Svalbard, etc.) last summer so after this trip we can truly saw we’re bipolar (without the medication)!
We also did what I’d call the “drive by cruise” to Antarctica last year around this time where we floated by Antarctica on a cruise ship for four days but never stepped foot on the continent. This time the Wandering Italian will finally reach his goal of going to all 7 continents in his very short lifetime (remember, I’m still young!! Lol).
So we’ll be channeling the curiosity of the initial explorers of this region like Roald Amundsen, Sir Ernest Shackleton and Sir James Clark Ross to uncover the mysteries of this amazing land. As well as see lots of whales, penguins, walruses, seals and icebergs! We’ll be traveling on the Atlas Ocean Voyages World Navigator cruise ship.
For a little history, it was actually the ancient Greeks who first thought of Antarctica back in 350 BC. Although discovering Antarctica and the age of famous explorers didn’t take place until centuries later, the Greeks knew of the Arctic, named “Arkos” (The Bear) for the great bear constellation, and guessed there should be a southern land mass to balance the world, dubbed “Ant-Arkos” (Opposite the Bear). Pretty interesting!
As for our first day travels, all went well but it was long! We flew standby from CLT to JFK to Buenos Aires. Pretty much about 19 hours of flying and just a smidgeon of sleep. Got to our hotel and hung out in the lobby until about 2 PM when our room was ready and chilled there until dinner.
We did an early dinner with our friends Dan and Carol from Mooresville, NC who joined us on our Arctic cruise last summer. They have actually been in Buenos Aires enjoying this beautiful city for two weeks. How fun!
We got to bed early since we had to put our luggage outside our room at 8 PM so they can take it to the ship tomorrow.
Tomorrow will be another long day since we board the bus to the airport at 5 AM! Have a 3 hour flight to Ushuaia (southern most city in the world!), do a 3 hour tour thru Tierra Del Fuego National Park, then board the ship to leave by 7 PM. Whew, I’m getting tired just writing about it!
I only have one picture to post and it’s from the huge lobby of our hotel (Hilton Buenos Aires) which was very nice.
Hold on to your hats folks, this trip is going to be amazing! Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
The Wandering Italian 