hx expeditions – Scribbles and Snapshots

Final days of Antarctica

February 11, 2025Posted in Antarctica CruiseTagged adventure, antarctica, argentina, cruise, hx expeditions, Maps, travel, Travel Day, ushuaiaLeave a comment

January 6/7/8, 2025

We woke up on our final day of the cruise to much smoother waters. We were relieved that we had survived the Drake Shake and that we could relax a bit more on the final day. We spent the morning getting our suitcases organized and watching some of the different crews science talks from our room.

There was one session we wanted to attend in-person, and that was the talk about where we all stopped on the cruise. It was really fun to be able to look back on the different stops and see the names and locations all in one map.

The lecture hall is right by the Science Center, so on our way out we were also able to take a look at all of the animals that had been spotted throughout the trip. It was pretty cool to see what animals and what days they were spotted on. Antarctica – and the surrounding area are just incredible. I’m writing this about a month after we left the ship – and it feels like a fever dream to know that we got to be in these animals’ natural (almost undisturbed) habitat.

I hope that for years to come other explorers get to see the pristine wilderness of Antarctica. We only scratched the surface! I know many people view Antarctica as a once in a lifetime trip, but I sure hope that I can go back again one day. I LOVED it.

The evening of our last day, the officers hosted a toast to all of us and previewed a video that the professional photographer put together with his pictures. It was really beautiful to see – and also, even though we were on the exact ship – see some of the pictures (and videos!) of wildlife that we missed! If you’re interested, it’s actually hosted on YouTube and you can view it here. It is long – but I swear, it’s worth it!

After dinner, our group of new friends made our way up to the lounge one last time. Davon, the professional pianist gave me a proper send off with some of my favorite 90s music. I really hope he has the most wonderful life in front of him, he definitely made our experience more enjoyable throughout the trip!

Sure hope he has been practicing his Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys!

We all toasted our friends good night before heading off to bed before an early wakeup the next day.

We woke up in Ushuaia the next morning and had breakfast with Craig and Kim one last time. They were on an earlier flight and we wanted to have a proper send off with them before they made their way to the bus.

We were the last group to be called to get loaded on the buses, but what we didn’t realize was that we were getting a proper tour of the city before getting dropped at the airport! We had about an hour to walk around and pick up some souvenirs. (Which was great, considering the only place we could even get postcards was from Port Lockroy and the Penguin Post Office!)

Ushuaia really is a charming little town – and I wish we could have had a bit more time there. But we were glad that we got to see a bit of it before heading to the airport.

This was going to be the longest travel day ever. We were set to fly from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, which was a 3.5 hour flight. Once we landed in BA, we had an 8-hour layover. We had toyed with the idea of getting a hotel, even if to just take a nap and freshen up before our next flight, but the hotels were more expensive than we had thought and would take about an hour roundtrip to get to/from.

We opted to stay in the airport for those 8 hours. We were flying AeroMexico, and their check-in counter didn’t open until closer to 8pm. That meant we had to sit on the other side of security for a few hours. Our new friend Dena was in a similar position, so we looked around at the only restaurants that were outside of security. And we landed on Outback Steakhouse. (This one was for you, Ash!)

Dena parted ways with us and we made our way to Starbucks to sit for a bit longer. We finally had a check in counter, and now we just needed it to be staffed. I don’t think we’ve ever been so relieved to see the gate agents making their way to the counter!

After dropping our bags we made our way through the longest security line and made our way to a lounge to relax before our flight. Our next stop was Mexico City – just a short 9.5 hour flight. 🙈 We aren’t sure how, but we somehow got upgraded to “extra room” seats. It was nice to have the extra space on that long flight!

Shortly into the flight is when I started to have the “sickening” aka when I started to feel like I was getting a chest cold. I started to get full body aches – and I knew this wasn’t going to be good. Something similar had happened to me on the way back from Australia and I wanted to be anywhere but on a plane.

After landing in Mexico City, we cleared customs and tried to find somewhere to hole up for a few hours so we could stretch out. One perk about having travel credit cards is lounge access – can’t stress this enough – it makes a layover that much more enjoyable with free food and comfier chairs, in addition to quieter environments.

Our final flight was from Mexico City to Tijuana – another 3.5 hour flight. We finally made it home on Wednesday, January 8! It was a long journey from the end of the world, but it was an absolutely incredible trip!

Next trip:
– Panama for Andy’s 40th!

The Drake Shake

February 2, 2025Posted in Antarctica CruiseTagged adventure, antarctica, cruise, drake passage, hx expeditions, Maps, travel, Travel DayLeave a comment

January 5, 2025

After all of the excitement from the previous days, we were ready for a day to relax. However, Drake had other plans for us. I woke up in the middle of the night to rolling waves and a deep shuddering. The shuddering was so intense I thought I was going to vibrate right out of the bed. I don’t normally get sea sick and I had taken Meclizine tablets in preparation the night before, but despite my best efforts I woke up feeling like I was going to be sick.

For about an hour I had bounced back and forth between thinking that I was going to throw up and then reminding myself that I was going to be fine. After that hour, I finally decided to wake Andy up to get one of his motion sickness patches. Once I had that, I started to feel better pretty quickly and was able to fall back asleep.

The expedition team had some activities planned for us – and a lot of different lectures that we could attend during the day. We watched a few from our room and then went to the buffet for lunch since it was on a lower floor. (We were hoping it would make the motion sickness better). But as we sat near the window, we saw just how big the swells were – we later found out that they were about 25-28 feet. It’s really hard to do these waves justice in pictures/videos, but I assure you they were bad!

We were grateful that we didn’t have the Drake Shake both ways, because it really put a damper on the morale of the ship because so many people were sick.

We made the best of it though, and we attended a Bridge tour. We’ve done a handful of cruises in the past, and this was our first time being able to see what it looked like. The crew were incredible – they actually allowed me to pretend to be the captain and use their binoculars. It was really cool and a lot different than I thought it would be.

After that, we attended the Officer Q&A, which was pretty fun to hear the different questions and answers. I naturally wanted to understand how the restocking process works since we don’t stop at any ports. Come to find out that they only restock once a month for non-perishable items, and then restock each time they dock in Ushuaia with the perishable items. The hospitality manager said that we had let her down when it came to the amount of beer and wine we had drank during that cruise, and we had more left than she thought we would have. (We all saw this as a challenge, naturally! 😂)

Most people weren’t feeling their best, and so most of the sessions were pretty quiet. The crew let us know to expect similar conditions the next day, which none of us were thrilled to hear.

Up Next:
– Another day on the Drake

Walking in a winter wonderland

January 16, 2025Posted in Antarctica CruiseTagged adventure, antarctica, cruise, hx expeditions, seventh continent, travelLeave a comment

January 2, 2025

On our expedition, we were unsure of how many continental landings we would have throughout it due to the changing ice and weather conditions, the team has to be incredibly agile when planning out itineraries. There are many islands that make up the Antarctica archipelago, but I think all of us on the ship were extremely excited to actually touch “mainland” Antarctica.

Our stop for the day was Neko Harbor. Neko Harbor has a resident glacier in its midst, and our landing site was near that. We had to quickly get off of the zodiacs and climb up the beach in case the glacier “calved” any icebergs that would cause a wave to send tourists running for higher ground. They even had someone from the Expedition Team on glacier duty – watching for any activity to walkie the others in case they needed to pause operations.

That particular day, we were some of the first groups to get outside for our landing. It was a steep climb up to a rocky outcropping that faced the glacier and provided a beautiful view of the surrounding harbor. We grabbed our trekking poles and started to make our way to the top. There was a penguin rookery halfway up, but we kept moving and decided to stop to see it on the way down. That way we would have more time with fewer people at the “top.”

The snow and wind picked up – and it truly felt like we were walking in a winter wonderland. For a few moments, it felt like we were climbing Mount Everest with how windy it got! We had the disadvantage of not having more people ahead of us creating a clear path, so it was pretty slippery and I had some trouble trying to find my footing.

Our friend Dena had beat us up there, but she graciously offered to take some pictures of us (and vice versa of course!). After that, we wanted to make our way down to get out of the windy zone. Part of the way down, we stopped to look at the Gentoo penguins. We could see a bunch of nests, and the parents fiercely defended their chicks from Skuas (predatory seabirds). One of the talks we sat in on explained that it took the parents getting distracted for one second and that would be the end of the chick. Unfortunately, we had a front row seat of watching one of the baby chicks being taken away by a lucky Skua. (Cue the “Circle of Life”)

We made our way back to the ship and warmed up for a few hours before venturing out again for our zodiac cruise. We bundled back up and made our way out for our cruise. From the zodiac’s vantage point, all of the people climbing the hill looked like ants. (And it looked as steep as it felt!)

Andy saw a minke whale:

There was a group of 30 people that signed up for camping, they were able to camp on this stop, sounded fun! (But cold!)

We joked this was a ghost ship – sorry Emily!

Up Next:
– Melchior Islands

From Sunshine to Rain: A Day in the Lemaire Channel and Petermann Island

January 13, 2025Posted in Antarctica CruiseTagged 7th continent, antarctica, cruise, hx expeditions, penguin, penguins, seal, south-america, travel, whales, wildlifeLeave a comment

January 1, 2025

The HX team was incredibly kind to us and made sure that we got to sleep in on New Year’s Day. The first activity that we had was cruising through the Lemaire Channel, which is known as one of Antarctica’s most stunning and iconic waterways. The channel is a popular spot for expedition cruises, because it offers visitors a glimpse into the untouched wilderness of Antarctica. We were able to take in the views from our balcony, which was great to watch (and hear!) the icebergs float on by.

I was just about to comment on how nice it was to have a slow morning after such a late night when an overhead announcement was made that they were moving our landing time up in the day. So we had to quickly get ready, eat lunch, and then bundle up to get outside.

It was pretty cold and rainy – which was a stark contrast from the day before. I was expecting snow and didn’t anticipate how much the rain would really put a damper on the day. However, every day in Antarctica is a good day!

Andy got some of the best wildlife photos on the trip there – including a momma penguin feeding her chick. We saw some whales and seals – it truly was incredible just being there and witnessing the animals in their environment. It’s penguin country!

Earlier this year, Andy and I realized that each of us had a pair of shoes that had almost been to every continent. When we had this discovery, we put them into retirement until this trip so they could still be functional – but have stepped “foot” on each continent. We followed the treaty protocol and made sure that we vacuumed out any foreign debris from the soles, and packed them up in our backpack.

A little rough around the edges, but they’ve seen some things!

We had a little shoe photoshoot, and then touched them down in the snow. We’re going to try to figure out how we can put them on display in our house, but we were so excited to have made it work. Those shoes really have seen the world!

In order to warm back up we took another dip in the hot tub, and the sauna for Andy.

Up Next:
– Our first continental landing!

The 7th and final stop! Antarctica, here we are!

January 7, 2025Posted in Antarctica CruiseTagged 7 continents, adventure, antarctica, damoy point, hx expeditions, penguin post office, port lockroy1 Comment

December 31, 2024

We were filled with excitement as we pulled into Damoy Point – our first landing in Antarctica! The day before we had sat in on an expedition briefing for the different excursions they offer on the cruise. They offer: snowshoeing, kayaking, science boats, and camping. They had explained that they want each passenger to at least get one of these optional excursions, but the system doesn’t understand prioritization.

So if you wanted to do kayaking and snowshoeing – you might only get one – and it could be your second choice. I had never done snowshoeing (I know – being from Minnesota you would think I would have done it at least once, but alas, never!) so we chose that as our excursion. Hoping that we would be selected for that since we hadn’t registered for anything else.

We were chosen – and actually got to snowshoe on our first landing! I don’t want to complain, but the weather was almost too nice and we quickly began sweating from climbing up the hill. It was a great time to take a brief pause to look at all of the wildlife! There were so many penguins, and it’s just so incredible to see them in real life… in their natural environment!

Their penguin highways show their frequent paths in their different rookeries, where you could see their nests. On this landing, we saw Gentoo penguins with their trademark orange “lipstick” and humpback whales in the distance.

It truly was magical! This particular landing also had forts that we could go into, one of them was built by the British. Before we could enter, we had to wait for a wandering penguin to make its way to its nest. By the looks of it, a few penguins actually liked to make their nests below the fort. This fort had recently been restored to its original condition, which included the bright orange exterior.

We returned to the ship and had lunch. Afterwards, we had a celebratory glass of champagne and lots of laughs while trying to do a photoshoot with our balloon number “7” to celebrate our seventh continent. HX had organized a presentation with the staff that were living in Port Lockroy, the Penguin Post Office aka the southernmost post office in the world. Our presenter was the Post Master himself, which was pretty cool to hear about how things operate there. You can read more about Port Lockroy here if you’re interested in learning more about the mission and history of it!

Following the presentation, they had set up some tables where we could buy our very own Antarctica souvenirs! We didn’t know we would have this opportunity, so we were pretty excited to buy some and mail them out of Port Lockroy. (They said on average it would take 1-2 months to deliver!)

This stop also allowed for a zodiac tour to Port Lockroy. We were able to see the different structures that make up the area, including the post office and museum. The tour lasted about 35 minutes before bringing us back to the ship for dinner.

This was the only night that the ship would be putting on entertainment. There is a traditional “sketch” called Dinner for One that is watched or performed on New Year’s Eve. Our expedition director and another two individuals from the team performed this for us, many of us were laughing at how absurd it was. You can read more here if you’re interested!

The crew pulled together a rather impressive house band, called Rolling Waves. It was pretty incredible that they had that many talented individuals that they could put on a show for the guests on NYE!

It was incredible to ring in 2025 from Antarctica!

Up Next:
– Petermann Island