#TBT - Visiting the Antarctic Peninsula

We spent March 2006 in Tierra del Fuego at the bottom of the world. We were anchored in Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city on the planet, and met up with old cruising friends on Fifth Season and Asylum. Both couples were heading off to Antarctica for excursions, having just booked their tickets with a local travel agent. We visited the booking office and found that if we waited till the last minute, there were deep discounts (50+%) for unsold cabins. Still, the price was steep … $2,750/pp for 10 days. We wrestled with the idea of going. It was a big hit to the budget, but it was also a once in a lifetime opportunity to visit Antarctica. If you've followed us for awhile, you'll know that we love to explore, but usually on the cheap. The budget took second place for a change. We traveled aboard the MS Explorer aka The Little Red Ship and our itinerary took us from Ushuaia across the Drake Passage to the Antarctic peninsula with several land excursions along the way. There were less than 100 passengers aboard and the crew included an ornithologist, a marine mammal expert, a geologist and an Antarctic historian.

map of route