Antarctic 南极
This Antarctic trip is long and exciting. We see more wildlife than I anticipated. The kayaking @ St. Andrew’s Bay & Cobblers Cove, and paddle boarding at Copacabana Beach are simply wonderful.
The duration is from Tuesday January 16 to Wednesday February 14, visiting Buenos Aires, Ushuaia, and Rio de Janeiro. The cruise to the Antarctic is on board Swan Hellenic‘s Diana for 18 days, Jan 21 to Feb 7: In Shackleton‘s Footsteps.
A few reading materials:
- Endurance Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (1959 by Lansing)
- Ernest Shackleton Going South (2016 by Benge)
- Edith Maslin “Jackie” Ronne – 1st woman @ Stonington
- Captain Nathaniel Palmer
My itinerary
- Buenos Aires
- Ushuaia↔Diana
- Falkland: West Point, Saunders Island – South Sandwich Islands wiki; Port Stanley
- South Georgia
- Antarctic Peninsula
- Rio de Janeiro
Because of the three round trips, we used the airport lounges a few times. At our last layover in Atlanta, we get to visit newly opened (that morning) Amex Centurion @ ATL.
- US↔Buenos Aires on Delta
- BA↔Ushuaia on chartered Aerolineas
- BA↔Rio on British Air
A few geographical terms (hope I got it right): Antarctic 南极, Antarctica 南极洲, Antarctic Peninsula 南极半岛 & Antarctic Circle 南极圈
- Antarctic is an area, includes Antarctica.
- Antarctica is one of 7 continents, sits almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle.
- Antarctic Peninsula, the continent Antarctica’s mainland.
- Antarctic Circle, is the most southerly of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of Earth, per wiki.
Unlike our Arctic trip where we saw more humans than animals, this trip we saw plenty animals and very few humans. Kayaking at St. Andrews Bay and Cove, paddle boarding at Copacabana Beach and polar plunge are some memorable activities.
The trip is wildlife overdose: goming to Antarctica is to see the penguins, seals and more wildlife. (Arctic, on the other hand, we saw more humans …)
The first circumnavigation of Antartica was done Nov 1996 to Jan 1997.
