ANTARCTIC CRUISE, Part 1: Ushuaia to the Falklands, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Beagle Channel

In January 2015, our friend Owen Floody went on a cruise to Antarctica, which also included stops at the Falklands and South Georgia Island.  Owen recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has always been an avid photographer and in his retirement has taken several trips that allow him to pursue his passion. Here is part 1 of a short reflection on his Antarctic trip and a few of his excellent photographs.

Black-browed albatross

In December of 2005 I went on an 11 day Antarctic cruise from Ushuaia, Argentina, to  the Antarctic Peninsula, returning to Ushuaia by way of the South Shetland Islands.  This trip was blessed by calm seas, beautiful scenery and great wildlife, including a multitude of penguins, many with small chicks. I enjoyed this trip so much that I resolved to return to Antarctica, but this time following the longer route (approximately 18 days) that visits the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island on its way to the Antarctic Peninsula.  It is this trip that occupied me for the second half of January, 2015. 

Mixed colony of seabirds--Black-browed albatrosses and Rockhopper penguins

On any trip of this type, you ultimately are at the mercy of the weather and bad weather can affect you in a variety of ways.  First, it can slow the ship, thereby limiting the time that you can spend at some destinations.  Second, it can increase the difficulty of leaving or returning to the ship, sometimes preventing these altogether.  Together, these can limit the land-oriented activities (landings and zodiac cruises) that are the primary goals on such cruises.  Third, heavy seas and high winds can "shrink" the ship (by making the outside decks impassable) and make it more difficult to move about the parts of the ship that remain open.

Rockhopper Penguin

As you may have guessed, the conditions of my recent trip were generally bad.  This became apparent immediately, as high winds pinned our ship to its pier for 12 hours beyond the scheduled time of departure which delayed our arrival in the Falkland Islands to the extent of excluding one of the two planned wildlife-oriented landings there. 

Blue-eyed Shags

The one completed landing, on Saunders Island, was great, bringing us to a mixed colony of seabirds, most notably including Rockhopper penguins, Black-browed albatrosses and Blue-eyed shags.  Of course, we're all greedy on trips of this sort so that this success did not completely suppress thoughts of what we might have seen on the intended second such landing.

Details: The ship was the m/v Plancius (capacity = 112), which is owned and operated by Oceanwide Expeditions (http://www.oceanwide-expeditions.com/).  This is a Dutch outfit with an office in Houston.  We booked our cabins directly, though it is possible to book through other travel agencies or tour operators, as is standard for such cruises.

We flew on Aerolineas Argentinas between JFK and Ushuaia, with stops of 3 (on the way down) or 1 (return) day(s) in Buenos Aires.

Next week, Part 2: Falklands to South Georgia

TREKKING IN PATAGONIA, Guest Post by Owen Floody

Cerro Torre, Las Glaciares Park, Argentina

Our friend Owen Floody did a trekking and photo tour of Patagonia in Chile and Argentina this spring.  Owen recently retired from a career of teaching and research at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania. He has always been an avid photographer and in his retirement has taken several trips that allow him to pursue his passion. Here is a short reflection on his Patagonia trip and some of his excellent photographs.

Andean Condor

I spent the first half of March in Patagonia, on a 14-day trek run by Mountain Travel Sobek which included Torres del Paine National Park (4 days), Perito Moreno Glacier (1 day), and Los Glaciares National Park (3 days). The other days were spent assembling in Punta Arenas (1 day), sightseeing in Buenos Aires (between 1 and 2 days) or traveling from one place to another. Most of the folks in my group arrived a day before me and did visit a penguin colony near Punta Arenas. During the first half of the trip, we were in southern Chile, having met and begun our travels in Punta Arenas. Later, we moved into Argentina, ultimately beginning our homeward flights in Buenos Aires. The group of eleven ranged in age from the mid-40s to -70s. But don't be fooled by the upper age boundary, as nearly all were impressively fit and experienced.  The hikes themselves didn't include huge elevation gains.  However, some were long (on the order of 15 miles) and there typically were a lot of ups-and-downs as we crossed valleys or glacier moraines.  The weather was good in the sense that we almost always had clear views at our hikes' destinations.  On the other hand, we ran into rain several times and frequently were buffeted by high winds, one of the things that Patagonia is famous for. The hiking was manageable but strenuous.

Torres del Paine, taken from a scenic lake near their base and at the end of our day hike in the Ascension Valley.

Our major activities in Torres del Paine park included four hikes--along the Ascension and French valleys and the shores of Lakes Nordenskjold and Grey (avid trekkers may recognize these as components of the well-known "W route"). We hoped to see as many of the famous mountains in this park as possible, including the Paine peaks (cumbres), towers (torres) and horns (cuernos). 

 

Cuernos del Paine, as viewed at sunrise from our lodging.

The photo above was taken from our lodging, a refuge tucked into the narrow strip of land between the base of the Cuernos and the shore of Lake Nordenskjold. Incidentally, maps suggest that a more distant view could be achieved elsewhere with little or no hiking. But a significant hike may be required for a good view of the Torres.

Chilean Hawk

We saw some nice birds in Torres del Paine but the group was moving so fast that it was nearly impossible to find the time to change lenses, take a shot, and hope to keep up. We had one nice sighting of condors alongside the road. And our best wildlife encounter was with a very calm juvenile Chilean hawk that forced me to change lenses and get the shot despite the fact that we were in the midst of a hike.

In Torres del Paine we stayed at Hosteria Las Torres (at the south end of the Ascension valley), Refugio Los Cuernos (right at the foot of the cuernos), and Refugio Paine Grande (at the northwest end of Lake Pehoe), all of which I think are pretty standard places for folks hiking the W route.

Glacier overview

Our visit to the Perito Moreno Glacier was brief but pleasant. All of us viewed one face of the glacier by boat and spent up to several hours taking in other views of it from a wonderful system of metal walkways where the views were spectacular. Optional tours, including glacier walks, were available, but strangely only to those under sixty, excluding me.

Glacier calving

It never hurts to be lucky when traveling, and we were in the right places at the right times to see two instances of glacier calving, with roughly seven-story slabs of ice tumbling down to cause an initial explosion of water followed by a long succession of large waves. 

 

El Chalten, Los Glaciares Park, Argentina

The last phase of our tour used the town of El Chaltén, within Los Glaciares Park in Argentina, as a base. As you approach this town, there is little doubt as to why you're there.  Our three hikes all were geared toward providing views of the most famous peaks in this park, Fitzroy and Cerro Torre. 

This trip was a good one, to what for me was a new part of the world.  It impressed upon me both the rigors and rewards of hiking in windy, changeable, Patagonia.  Though we hiked a lot, we left many trails untouched and possibly demanding exploration on some future trip.  More generally, though, I was impressed by all of the wonderful sights packed into southern South America, and will be on the lookout for treks, cruises, and other trips that will permit me to explore more of them.