Going to Cuba!

Looks like a movie set!

Visiting Habana is a reality! From Santiago, I am going to fly up to Panama City and spend a couple of days there. This will be my first time ever on the Central American mainland! Then I am going to fly across to Cuba for two whole weeks. For the first two nights in Havana, I am booked into a "casa particular", which is a private room staying with a local family. And then I will travel around the island enjoying the music, the cars, the pretty girls and the beaches!

Boca Juniors vs. Independiente

Boca Juniors' three-tiered Bombonera stadium
currently has a capacity of around 49,000

Now that my departure date has been put back two days, I will have to wait until after my cruise to go an Argentine football match. On Sunday 11 March, Boca Juniors, who were the undefeated champions in the Apertura last year, are playing at home against Independiente, who are also from the capital, so it should be a great atmosphere! I will have to buy a ticket before it sells out. I just found out that after Buenos Aires, I can spend the next two weeks in Cuba for about the same price as going to the Galapagos Islands. Spoilt for choice really!

Visiting Uruguay

In Montevideo, a long boulevard
stretches along miles of sandy beaches.

My latest news is that I have had to change my travel dates. I am now flying from Sydney to Buenos Aires on Monday 20 February, and I will be flying back out of Santiago de Chile about six weeks later on Saturday 31 March. After landing in Argentina, I have decided to take the ferry ride to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, because I missed out on this trip last time I was there. Now, all I have to do is decide where to travel for my last three weeks in South America after my Antarctic cruise. Life is a beach!

Visiting Paraguay

Itaipú Dam on the Upper Paraná River,
north of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.

I have just booked three nights at a hostel near Iguazu Falls that has the largest swimming pool in the region! They offer a one-day trip which includes visiting the Itaipu Hydroelectric Dam and the Ciudad del Este in Paraguay, and then lunch in a restaurant in Brazil, followed by a visit to the Brazilian side of the falls. It sounds good as I have never been to Paraguay, so will be able to tick off another country on my list! The hostel also offers five-a-side soccer, pool volleyball, tango lessons and a Brazilian show with dancers. It should be a fun three days!

Ushuaia

The port of Ushuaia, Argentina,
where my cruise will depart from.

I have booked and paid for my internal flights in Argentina. I have decided to fly down to Ushuaia a day earlier than planned. This means I will get one-and-a-half days there before the cruise starts - instead of just half a day. Ushuaia is the capital city of the Tierra del Fuego Province. I won't be short of activities to do there with hiking, sailing, skiing, kayaking and even scuba-diving available just minutes from town. And then of course I can visit the world’s southernmost microbrewery...

What do I take on an Antarctic cruise?

The Expedition is the ship I will be on.
She is currently in the harbour of
Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.

I spent yesterday buying clothing and equipment for the cruise: thermal underwear, a Gortex rain jacket, a beanie, several thick wool socks, sunnies, and also some reusable hand-warmers. I am planning on hiring a down jacket when there, as I do not want to carry this around for the rest of my trip. I am really looking forward to going now, and have been reading different blogs by travellers who have recently been there about what clothes to take and which cameras work best, etc.

Cheap Qantas flight

Qantas 747-400 'Jumbo Jet'

I was thinking of buying a one-way ticket to South America because I wasn't sure about whether at the end of my trip I would be flying back to Australia from Santiago, the United States, or coming back via Europe. The other problem is that when you enter a foreign country you often need to show that you have a ticket home. Then I found a return Qantas ticket to South America on special that was cheaper than a one-way ticket! The outbound flight leaves Sydney for Buenos Aires on Sat 18 February, and the return flight home departs from Santiago on 28 April. So, I can come home at the end of the Easter school holidays, or if I wish to continue travelling, I can change the return date to the end of the year, and therefore continue to enter other foreign countries without a problem. How perfect is that? It seems to all be coming together nicely!

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.