19/12/2021
All 7 continents by 30. I made it to Antartica 🇦🇶. Antartica has been a dream of mine for the last 3 years, and I’m pleased to say that I have finally made it there. It is truly a land of snow and ice, with weather that changes in a matter of minutes, from unbearably bright sunshine, to a snow storm. We had smooth passage through the Drake Passage going there, but we had a true Drake shake returning, with waves as high as 45 feet (15 meters). Most of us on the ship were seasick beyond belief, and as I laid in my cabin, I felt my body raise up, almost lifting from the bed, with the rolls as the waves tossed our ship around. We stopped by a few islands in South Shetland before reaching the Antarctic peninsula. You can hear the glaciers and icebergs crackle in the Zodiac cruises. The air was so crisp, and if anyone was wondering, the icebergs were salty. It wasn’t as cold as I expected it to be, but it certainly was cold. Lots of penguin encounters, some Chinstrap penguins, and mostly Gentoo penguins. We aren’t allowed to touch them, or take them home sadly, but they are curious creatures and will come up to you to examine your boot or whatever. I spent a good deal of time observing them in their natural habitat, and they were mostly just stealing rocks from each other, for their mate. Although it is not mating season anymore, I did spot a few still doing their thing in the snow. They don’t have external reproductive organs, so they do a bit of a balancing act to mate, and still try to be romantic and kiss. The other wildlife were different types of whales, birds, and leopard seals. The scent of Antartica consists of very strong penguin p**p. Currently back in Ushuaia, headed to Buenos Aires and maybe Uruguay tomorrow.