It is time for our return voyage back to Ushuaia, Argentina, back to land and away from the Antarctic Waters. That means crossing the Drake passage again and its potentially wild, inhospitable waters. We were lucky on the way out with incredibly calm, glassy seas, so smooth that we made the Drake crossing in one and a half days instead of the customary two days. This evening, the swells are higher, which send some people straight to their state room, where they lay low.
I pop a Dramamine which helps enormously and today there are some options both from the Insider Expeditions team like breath work, a navy seal workout and yoga meditation. I’ve slept in until 11:30am so I’ve missed all of these along with breakfast and lunch and managed to get out of my room for the 2pm talk by the expedition guides and Atlas team about the Antarctic treaty, which is designed to protect the Antarctic and a panel from the Atlas team and expedition guides.
Half of the cruise are there for the wildlife and expeditions so they attend the Atlas talks while the other half are there for the Insider Expeditions talks. If wildlife is more your thing you can book directly with Atlas but if you do want the motivational speaker aspect you would book with Insider Expeditions.
Cruises like this break up into cliques and I’ve found my people. There’s Desiree from Germany who shares an interest in photography, and there’s also a group of American women like Kiran, Ayana, Jacqueline, Tessa, Esther, Gloria, Kerrissa and Natalie from Washington DC, Phoenix and New York who I quickly share a bond with. There’s also an Australian couple that I’ve gotten to know well as I've been helping them with their Chilean visa as well as a range of other people that I have chats with.
Desiree and I sit having afternoon tea in the Atlas lounge before Canadian expedition guide Janel is to have an upcoming talk on birds. Today’s talk is about penguins and what makes these emblems of the Antarctic so special. Each expedition guide has their own area of specialty whether it be birds, whales or seals. He tells us that penguin's feathers are hydrophobic and as stiff as bristles and feel as rough as the surface of a shark with a dense shaft of down on top. These feathers trap air within the feathers and then this heats up with body heat.
Penguins are also built for their conditions. For example they don’t see red which can help as the guano (penguin poo) is red. Red light also disappears the fastest when diving underwater. They also have a nictitating membrane that covers their eyeballs to let them blink while underwater. They also have dense bones and are one of the heaviest birds for their size which helps with buoyancy in water.
The last two days across the Drake Passage pass by in a dream state with everyone catching up on lost sleep and trying to fight seasickness. The Drake Passage return has been relatively merciful with 3 metre or 10 foot waves - still considered "Drake Lake" conditions although it does seem to have taken out quite a few people and walking on the boat you really do have to use the hand rails. I cannot imagine what it would be like if you had "Drake Shake" conditions. Anecdotally from speaking to the girls, people who used the seasickness patches behind their ears seemed to fare less well than people who took Dramamine pills. I also manage one injury when my thumb is slammed into the auditorium door when the ship lurches from side to side during the Drake Passage but that is all. The captain and his team have negotiated the winds and waves perfectly so that we miss a lot of rough seas and we are scheduled to arrive in Ushuaia by 10pm the night before we are scheduled to disembark the next morning.
Some days I miss breakfast and lunch entirely as I sleep in and work out only satisfying my appetite with afternoon tea in the lounge and pastries from Paula’s pantry. I will miss Paula's Pantry as I would sometimes visit there 3 or 4 times a day.
On the second last day lunch features terrine with caviar and eel tartare on pumpernickel with dill cream. I also follow this up with tafelspitz with creamed spinach for my main but skip dessert as I've eaten a lot during this cruise and there is no shortage of food.
Every day there are cocktails and we've made our way through the mocktail menu quite nicely and help ourselves to the canapes that are served every evening.
Dinner on the penultimate night starts with the Captain's farewell reception. Dinner is a la carte this evening and features house made browned butter half moon cheese truffle ravioli. I think back to Half Moon Island which we visited on our first expedition day.
For my main I choose the Black Angus chateaubriand steak with fondant potato, asparagus and cepes sauce that is perfectly cooked and tender.
And dessert is a dark chocolate souffle made with 64%Valrhona Manjari chocolate with a rich hazelnut chocolate sauce and crisp leaf detail on top. This is gloriously rich and everyone enjoys this dessert.
On the final night, everyone heads to the auditorium for a final presentation by the expedition crew. They share their favourite moments during the voyage and a slideshow with hundreds of amazing wildlife and scenery photos. They’re all talented photographers as well as guides. The Cruise Director Michael Shapiro holds a show at the dome late at night but I'm an early sleeper so I don't ever get to see these shows. Then the entire cruise takes a photo together.
Our last dinner is from the buffet where the whole group has dinner with Jonathan. I choose the Iberico pork ribs with pommes purée which is deliciously soft and one of my favourite items served at the buffet during the trip.
Dessert is a selection of desserts, a coffee cream roulade, carrot cake and a chocolate glazed mousse.
It's a bittersweet meal as everyone realises that it's time to pack up and get ready for a return to the real world.
So tell me Dear Reader, which destination was the most memorable for you? Have you ever been on an Antarctic cruise?
NQN travelled to Antarctica as a guest of Qantas and Insider Expeditions but all opinions remain her own.
Insider Expeditions
https://insiderexpeditions.com/
Qantas
https://www.qantas.com/au/
Atlas Ocean Voyages
https://atlasoceanvoyages.com/antarctica
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