Which flights to book?

Iguazu Falls at the Argentina-Brazil border.

My latest thinking is to buy a return ticket from Canberra to Santiago, combined with a one-way ticket from Santiago to Ushuaia with a stop-over in Buenos Aires. If I leave a week earlier, then I can have a few days in Buenos Aires, and then do the side trip up to Iguazu Falls before flying to Ushuaia to do the Antarctic cruise. I will then make my own way overland back up to Santiago, which will be a bit of an adventure!

Antarctic Cruise is booked!

Today I paid for my 12-day Antarctic cruise in full, so I am definitely going - yippee! On 25 February, the ship leaves Ushuaia at the bottom tip of Argentina, cruises down the Beagle Channel and crosses the Drake Passage to the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetland Islands, where weather permitting we will have two shore landings per day. It will be possible to see seals and penguins as well as orca, humpback and minke whales. We will then attempt to cross into the Polar Circle, passing giant icebergs and countless colonies of penguins before crossing back through the Drake Passage to Ushuaia. My next task is to book some flights!

Antarctica first

After weighing up all of the pros and cons, I have decided that I should do the Antarctic trip first. I will fly over to South America alone in February, and do the cruise right away. There are a couple of cruises leaving in February, and both have only one place left on them in a triple room for a male. I am going to visit the travel agent today and book one of them! They both have the option to do some sea kayaking, which I am looking forward to doing.

Time off work

I have been really inspired over the last couple of days by watching a DVD of Charley Boorman's adventure from Dublin to Sydney called 'By Any Means'.

Today was a step forward for me. I had a meeting with my boss and we agreed that I would finish working the day before Xmas Eve and then use up my outstanding two weeks of holiday, which should take me into early January. From that point on, we agreed that I would take one year of unpaid leave. This means that when my year of travel and adventure was over, I would still be employed by my company, and be able to return to my old job, or apply for internal vacancies elsewhere within the organisation. So it looks like this project is going to become a reality!

Which antarctic cruise?

The idea of taking a zodiac to the shore and camping overnight
on the ice sounds cool, and it is also possible do some kayaking!

One brochure I have been looking at has three antarctic cruises: a 10-day trip to the antarctic peninsula and back; a 20-day voyage to the antarctic peninsula and back, via the Falkland Islands and South Georgia; and the third (which would be my preferred option) is a 15-day cruise that goes to the antarctic peninsular and then continues into the antarctic circle before returning. There are a couple of the latter to choose from, both leaving mid-February. My travel agent is looking into availability as I type! In the meantime, I am going to check out the options that their competitors have to offer.

Holiday with an Antarctic cruise?

Ushuaia, Argentina

My research has found that there are lots of different antarctic cruises that leave in February. The prices are not too bad. That would be the best way to start the trip for sure. So fly to Buenos Aires for a day or so, maybe taking in a football match. The travel agent I spoke with highly recommended going up to spend several days at Iguazu Falls as a side trip. I missed out on doing this last time I visited Argentina and Brazil, so why not? I would then catch a flight down to Ushuaia, which is the capital city of Tierra del Fuego, and is from where most of the cruises depart.