Final thoughts on Antarctica

On the Quark portion, there really isn’t anything we would have changed.  We couldn’t control the ice not melting for making it across the circle and since we got more landings and zodiac cruises, it was a great tradeoff. The Quark crew handily scrambled to get permissions and places set up for us to visit. South Georgia was well worth planning the trip around that. I'd say it's a "must see".

We were fortunate with the weather and feel we made good layering choices even if we had had more really cold and windy days. Another pair of liner gloves would have been nice. We both had spare “cheap” ones and they worked in a pinch, but another pair of well-fitting liners would have been nice.

Our hats were good, except that the Velcro easily got full of fluff and Greg’s didn’t attach well under the chin after just a few uses. Mine fared better, but it is close to not working. We both were glad we had “skull caps”. I had a fleece one and Greg had one made by SmartWool that he used to use when he cycled in cold weather to go under his helmet. The waterproof hats we had were warm and were waterproof, but they didn’t fasten tight enough not to let in some cold air, so the caps underneath made them perfect.  All the rest of our layers worked great in various combinations. I wouldn’t run out and buy a pair of fleece tights for the trip, but I had them so I took them. They didn’t keep me as warm as the looser fitting fleece pants. (it helps if the clothes can trap some air) Many people mentioned they wore 3 to 5 pairs of socks. As the expedition crew stressed…that does more harm than good. With just a pair of liner socks and your heavy hiking socks that was plenty and it allowed air to get trapped to make them warm. Too many layers and it defeats that purpose.  If you had a choice of a boot cut fleece pant and more of a straight leg; choose the straight leg as they have to tuck inside your sock and then inside your boot and the wider bottom made that difficult. However, they worked.

We did bring and use the chemical hand, body & toe warmers which came in handy.

It’s definitely a “no makeup, bad hair” kind of trip. Dress aboard ship was very casual. You never knew when you might hear a call of “whale” or “iceberg” and have to run out. Plus, there wasn’t always a lot of time between things going on and you just removed enough not to burn up on the ship and often it was a base layer top and fleece pants you’d be wearing to dinner. (so make sure your under layers are pretty. LOL) When there was time, some people tossed on a pair of jeans and a sweater or tee shirt. A couple of ladies had UGG type boots to wear on the ship which were probably easy to slip on or off, but tennis shoes or a sport sandal were seen the most. Some had some hiking type shoes, but they aren’t needed since you wear their boots on shore. However, if you had them with you because you wore them in Ushuaia or elsewhere for hiking then of course it makes sense to wear those. You needed a nonslip shoe pretty much at all times on board the ship especially in open waters.

Someone asked us after we got back if anyone would ask us to choose going to Africa or Antarctica what would you tell them? Interesting question; and of course impossible to answer for someone else. We said if you are doing both, do Antarctica sooner rather than later because it was a very physically demanding trip, while in Africa we spent most time in a vehicle. Both are wildlife intensive and beautiful in their own way as far as scenery goes. That said, there was nothing mandatory in Antarctica. You could choose to stay on the ship, or when ashore none of the hikes were mandatory with plenty of wildlife right close by. Just pulling up a rock or sitting on the ground observing the penguins/seals is maybe even more rewarding. Like with Africa, it's more important to really watch the behavior of the animals not just quickly tick the box and move on. Watching the penguins stealing rocks from another's nest, huge furry babies following their mother, the seals playing or fighting as well as just taking in the sheer beauty of it all. Who knew icebergs could be such works of art and the birds following the ship were like watching bird ballet!

We were glad we spent time in Buenos Aires and Ushuaia before and after the expedition. Seeing Iguazu Falls was the icing on the cake. There isn't much we would have done differently there either.

It definitely was a trip of a life time! Several people asked if we would do it again. We would in a heartbeat, however it was a pricey trip and we tend not to repeat destinations. (except stops on cruises where of course you go where they take you) Still lots of the world to see, but honestly there aren’t many if any places we would not like to return to.