February 21, 2006

Antarctica- The Last Frontier: Panama and Buenos Aires along the way

by Robert Painter

I'm a bit of a skeptic so I don't usually pay much attention to claims like Fin del Mundo or The Last Frontier. Ushuaia, the jumping off port for the Antarctic ships cruising south claims to be the southernmost city in the world or as Fin del Mundo translates - End of the World! As for the Antarctic being the last frontier I guess there are a number of arguments about that title, too.

So, forget the hype and let's just deal with reality. It is a long way to the Antarctic from just about anywhere in North America. If you try to use frequent flyer miles it can be even further. Sometimes I think the airlines try to make it a bit difficult to use those miles, but in this case it worked in my favor. Instead of giving me a direct flight from Houston to Buenos Aires, where you have to fly first to catch a connection to Ushuaia, they booked me through Panama City. I like Panama City, but who wants to sit around for 24 hours waiting for a connecting flight when you're on a long journey from one end of the globe to another? And what are you going to do with your luggage and personal belongings - drag it around behind you for 24 very long hours in an airport?

Well, this time the long layover worked wonderfully to my advantage. After looking long and hard at this ridiculous layover I tried to figure out how to make the most of a bad situation and did I ever get lucky! After a bit of research I discovered the Gamboa Rainforest Resort and made plans to spend my day there instead of at the airport or walking around the city proper. Upon arrival in Panama City, the Gamboa shuttle delivered me to my beautiful room overlooking the Charges River. The river flows directly into the Panama Canal and my guide for the day took me into the canal and I can tell you first hand that it is an exciting experience to be out among the giant ships and barges traversing this amazing man made engineering marvel. My guide insisted on taking me fishing and I caught a parrot fish. This was catch and release for me, but coincidentally, I had parrot fish for dinner that night in the resort dining room - it was delicious and especially fun since I had caught one myself that very day.

The Gamboa Rainforest Resort has excellent spa facilities and is the perfect spot for bird watching and other eco-tours. They even have a sort of chair lift that transports you at tree top level, but I didn't have time for that. I did visit the butterfly exhibit and you don't want to miss it. I wish I had room to tell you more but this is a story about Antarctica! You'll need to go and visit on your own. It seems a perfect destination for a week long holiday - I just had one day!

On to Buenos Aires

Arriving in Buenos Aires almost 36 hours after leaving my home in New Mexico was a real treat. I fell in love with B.A. almost immediately. The broad streets and delightful neighborhoods make it a perfect walking city. Public transportation is cheap and plentiful, but if you walk you will have the opportunity to meet the cheerful people and to observe and participate in the joy of living found in this beautiful city. Luckily I had a room at the Crowne Plaza which is situated perfectly for walking tours of the city. Just a few blocks from the hotel is a street leading to Florida Boulevard. Here you will find no vehicles - just strollers. People out to enjoy the sights and sounds of an active and very social Buenos Aires. Street performers on every corner - and in between! I love the ones that dress in costume and remain silently and completely still until someone offers a few coins. And then the act begins and it can be anything. One of my favorites was a young lady dressed as an angel. But my photo here is of the young girl completely entranced waiting for some sign of movement by the angel. And, as you might expect in B.A. there are frequent groups of tango dancers. You can go to a tango show, but why bother? There are performances all over for the price of a free walk down the avenue! I have heard that the shows are very good, though and may try to catch one on my next visit - if I can pull myself away from the excitement of the street. With restaurants displaying famous Argentine beef in the windows and ice cream shops offering delectable treats in large containers - most customers seem to get about three flavors in their cups - about a half litre I would guess. My favorite was dulce de leche - fabulous!! There is much to see and do in Buenos Aires and I will write another story just about my now favorite city in South America.

Antarctica

But we're headed for the Antarctic and it's time to get moving. After an expensive flight on Aerolineas Argentina from B.A. to Ushuaia I boarded my ship for the Antarctic.

There are a number of ships departing from El Fin del Mundo to the Antarctic and you may prefer a smaller ship that can get closer to the ice. I traveled on the Marco Polo and, while it is much larger than many of the ships that explore the Antarctic, we seemed to be able to get very close to shore and to the ice. The islands all called for zodiac landings and we were equipped with large, bright red expedition parkas which were quite warm and comfortable. I somehow missed the notice that we should bring waterproof, high topped boots, but luckily they had extras in my size. It seems that a lot of people buy boots for the trip, then leave them on board when they depart. And for good reason - they don't smell great after walking around in penguin poop for 4 or 5 days. This may not be a favorite stop for the crew since one of their tasks is to help clean the boots before we step back into the zodiacs.

Passing Cape Horn and crossing the Drake Passage to get to the Antarctic can be an adventure in itself. This area is known to have some of the roughest seas in the world. Fortunately for our journey it was relatively calm - enough rolling and tossing to provoke some motion sickness for at least a few of the passengers, but not nearly as rough as it could have been.

Our first ventures among the penguins brought us to Cuverville Island covered with the cute little Gentoo penguins. Because they are protected they have no particular fear of humans and we are advised to give them some distance. They, however, may walk right past you within inches. They seemed to love to pose for photos and, when not squawking or pooping, make great subjects for the camera buffs. The Gentoo seem to have a great time swimming, diving and playing on the rocks in and out of the water. Their main concern would seem to be avoiding lunch with Orcas. Killer whales view penguins pretty much the way I viewed the fabulous steaks in Buenos Aires - a treat not to be missed!

Deception Island found us walking amongst the Chinstrap penguins, so named because of the little black line that runs from one side to the other under their "chins." They appear to be wearing little black helmets. Deception is a volcanically active island with hot springs and fumeroles, most recent eruptions in 1969 and 1970.

If you've seen the March of the Penguins movie then I can attest to you that they actually do nest the eggs on their feet. My guide told me that if the egg were allowed to rest on the ground (ice) for just a few minutes it would freeze and kill the chick inside. I did have the opportunity of watching an exchange of an egg from one parent to another. And, it did not touch the ground for even an instant.

The penguin rookeries can be very noisy. Each of these fascinating creatures has it's own distinctive call and that is used for identification. It's hard to imagine being able to distinguish one call out of the thousands that are crying out at once, but somehow they manage. When the parent leaves the chicks to dive into the water for food and returns amid all the ruckus, she may wander about crying out until she and the chick are finally reunited. Oh, and if you're wondering if these cute little birds are edible I'll just say that when Francis Drake sailed through on his circumnavigation of the world he stopped to kill about a thousand of the little critters to restock his larder!

Penguins aside, the Antarctic is still an amazing destination. The ice is almost unimaginable. While in the area there were news reports of a one hundred mile long iceberg that had broken off and was floating in a direction that threatened some passages for penguins. This would have meant enormous difficulties and tremendous extension of distances to reach open water to feed and bring food back for chicks. As it turned out the icebergs were swept off by ocean waters into an area of less concern for the penguins.

There were other large icebergs that could be seen in the distance. Many of them dwarfed even a ship as large as the Marco Polo. I have seen and heard the "calving" of glaciers in Alaska and this occurrence in Antarctica was equally spectacular although somewhat different. I didn't experience the sharp rifle like retorts here. The sounds seemed more of a low rumble followed by enormous portions of ice falling into the sea. I'm sure that smaller ships could actually feel the movement of the water with each succeeding fall of ice (calving) into the sea.

Life on board a ship in the Antarctic is a bit different than in other locations. It appeared to me that almost everyone was here not so much for the cruise, but for the destination. Much of the daytime hours were filled with shore visits, destination lectures and people just hanging out on the bow looking to see whatever was visible, be it icebergs, whales or sea lions and seals floating on small bergs in the water. Of course, there were a few destination collectors who were there to garner another continent for their list of conquests, but I think even they had to be awed by the spectacular grandeur of the last frontier.

WHEN YOU GO:

Gamboa Rainforest Resort: www.gamboaresort.com

Crowne Plaza - Buenos Aires: www.crowneplaza.com

Buenos Aires - History, Culture, Tango, etc.: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buenos_Aires

Lots of Interesting Facts about Antarctica: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctica

Penguin facts: http://www.seaworld.org/infobooks/Penguins/home.html

For Orient Line cruise on the Marco Polo: http://www.orientlines.com/destinations/antarctica/index.htm

For more cruise info Google: Antarctic cruises