Thurs-Fri Feb 15-16, 2024
Hi Gang! Well ya know what they say “no pain, no gain”! So we had to endure the pain of about 34 hours of travel to enjoy the gain of the amazing world of ANTARCTICA!! Oh I was just being a drama queen, it really wasn’t that bad! But Kathy may feel differently! Lol.
So the whole last day(s) started out delayed. We docked in Ushuaia around 6 AM and were supposed to be off the ship and heading to the airport around 8:45 AM but they told us our flight was delayed 2 hours until 10:45 AM. So we took the opportunity to walk into the cute little town of Ushuaia (and get more gifts for the grandkids)!
We walked to a store where Kathy had wanted to get a gift the last time we were here but the store had closed so we went there first. The funny thing was, on our way to that store we saw two big black dogs that were so friendly. We did the obligatory “good boy” and petted them and they took a liking to us and followed us to the store. They sat outside the store the whole time we were in there and then followed us back to the ship even crossing two roads of heavy traffic to stay with us. We guess they thought we were going to feed them (or possibly they smelled the salami we’re normally carrying for snacks)!
One of the cool things about being in the Ushuaia port that day was that all 3 Atlas ships were in port (Traveller, Navigator and Voyager). As you may remember, we took the Traveller to the Arctic last summer and so several of the crew stopped over to see their friends on the Navigator. We got to see Simon our cruise director from the Arctic and took a picture with him. We also saw Malcolm and Selby from the Arctic expedition team. It felt like old home week. That’s one of the many things we like about Atlas, the crew feels like family!
Around 10:45 AM they took us by bus to the Ushuaia airport. We didn’t have much of a wait before our 4 hour flight to Buenos Aires. We arrived in Buenos Aires and had about a 5 hour layover before our 8 hour flight to Miami. (OK, what math nerds are out there trying to add up the hours to get to 34!).
When we got to Miami at 4 AM, we realized our two direct flight options to get to Charlotte (6 AM and 8 AM) did not have a lot of open standby seats but we thought we might make one of them. Well we didn’t make either and just missed the 8 AM by two people. The rest of the direct flights to Charlotte were oversold so we took a connecting flight thru Tampa and made it home by around 1:30 PM.
For those that have read this blog for awhile know we mostly travel standby on American Airlines since Kathy works for them. And what I always say is, ya gotta be flexible but you can’t beat the price. FREE!!
Like I said in my last update, this was an amazing trip and one of our favorites. It was at times spiritual and moving with its untouched beauty and stillness that you felt. And so crazy that a lot of the marine life, penguins, seals, whales, etc., don’t fear us since they see so few of us and of course no one harms them. So they come right up to us and seem just as curious about us as we are about them.
I would say this trip was almost life changing but I’m so blessed and have such a great life right now, I wouldn’t want to change anything. I pinch myself when I realize we crossed both the Arctic Circle and Antarctic Circle within the last 6 months and most people will never do that in their lifetimes. Now that is a blessed life!
I read a quote recently about traveling that said:
“It leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller.”
That could not be more true about Antarctica. The continent is so beautiful it renders you speechless but then you can’t wait to tell the world what you saw. I hope you enjoyed the stories I’ve told over the last few weeks.
That’s it for now. Believe it or not the Wandering Italian is taking a break from traveling for the next few months to enjoy his other favorite thing in life and that’s being a grandfather (Pap Pap in my vernacular!). I will have my third grandson coming into this world soon so I need time to love him, spoil him and assist my daughter and son-in-law in caring for him. And of course give him the gifts I got him from Antarctica! I am truly blessed.
Take care folks and thanks as always for traveling along. Stay safe all!
The Wandering Italian 