Antarctic Photos -- OAT & M/S Andrea

Happy New Year to all of you. My wife and I took the Overseas Adventure Travel Antarctica's White Wilderness trip in late November. We started in Buenos Aires and flew to Ushuaia to board the M/S Andrea for the main event. We also tacked on the Iguassu/Iguazu Falls extension. The ship was chartered by Grand Circle (OAT's parent), with 29 in our OAT group and 25 in a separate Grand Circle group (only 54 pax on a ship that holds about 100). Each had their own guide from start to finish. Only 15 of us (all OAT) went on the the falls.

On New Year's Day, I finished processing and posting a significant chunk of the photos that I took (all digital) during the portion of the trip that basically began with our flight from BA to Ushuaia and ended with our return to BA. I have not begun BA yet, nor have I finished the falls (which were great). You can find my photos here organized chronologically in albums by the sites that we visited or transited; they should give you a good feel for the ship and the places we visited:

I used two Canon digital SLR bodies with three lenses (17-55mm, 70-200mm, and 10-22mm). I also used a Canon P&S for Zodiac travel and some shipboard shots. The SLR photos were all shot in RAW format and processed using Mac Photoshop Elements 4 with Adobe Camera RAW and Noiseware plug-ins. For many of the sunny outdoor shots, I used a circular polarizer to cut the glare and deepen the blue sky (which entailed somewhat higher ISO settings). The EXIF data are available for all my posted photos if you're curious about shooting parameters.

By and large, our weather was good. The second day of the four in the Peninsula area was absolutely spectacular. You'll agree when you check out my photos from that day -- it just doesn't get any better for taking photos.

Eventually I'll get more photos posted, but in the meantime these 850 or so will have to do.

Regards,

Dick

p.s. If you can, take the falls extension and, while there, take the helicopter trip (a whole $70).

Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos. We leave next Friday, but will spend a few days in BA and a few in the Ushuaia area before boarding the MS Andrea on the 18th.

Kirbyspal, We'll be on the Jan 18 Andrea ship also. Where are you coming from?

Your pictures were great! We are taking the same trip in February and were so excited to see your pictures. We are on the Andrea also. Do you have any advice on clothes you wish you had taken or some that you wish that you hadn't taken? Any input will be appreciated.

If you've seen my pictures, then you should be familiar with the Andrea before you ever get aboard. We were quite happy with our voyage. The crew and staff were very friendly, the food was good, and the expedition staff were competent and outgoing. Stefan, the expedition team leader, worked well with the captain to find as many landing spots as possible given weather and ice constraints. Stefan tried for three more landings (not counting our bad weather day in Deception Island), including Aitcho on our first night, a second landing near Palmer Station, and one more in the South Shetlands as we departed. Alas, conditions did not allow more landings. But during our best day, we actually landed at four different places.

The only downside that I can think of about the ship is that the public spaces for lectures and such are not large, so a full load of passengers (beyond the 58 or so for our trip) could get crowded. So get a seat early. But I doubt that you'll find too many ships that give engine room tours around moving parts.

I don't think that we failed to take anything that we really needed, and we probably brought home some unworn clothing. For our landings, I don't recall the temperature being below 30 degrees F., and it should be warmer now. Cuverville was chilly for us because it was somewhat windy with an overcast sky, but the other days were fine. I used four layers on top (counting the two for the lined red parkas that OAT sent us before we left) and three on the bottom with waterproof pants as the outer bottom layer. You do need weatherproof pants for some Zodiac landings. On sunny days, I was sweating while wading through snow. I used two pair of heavy socks inside my Wellingtons (which we were loaned on shore in Ushiaia before we boarded), and my feet sometimes got cold in the snow, so feet warmers might help. My wife used a pullover hat/hood for some face protection against the wind but I just used the woven cap that I bought at Terra Del Fuego Park.

Because I knew that I was going to take a lot of pictures (it's a disease), I brought along some "glittens," which are half-fingered gloves with mitten flaps, and they generally worked well, even though my hands still got chilly. We cut up pieces of ThermoCare wraps and put them in our gloves and boots. The ones in the boots didn't do much for me, but ones in the palms of my glittens helped. It sprinkled a little on us at Half Moon Island, but not enough to require rainwear (the parkas did fine). Bring along enough clothing for three or four layers but don't overdo it. The longest landing was less than 2 hours long -- I got more uncomfortable at my morning bus stop after I returned than I did in Antarctica.

Onboard, I usually wore jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, sometimes with another shirt as a quasi-jacket. While outside on the observation platform or bridge wings, the lined parka often was needed, mainly because of the wind. Although we had captain's welcome and farewell dinners, only a few passengers dressed beyond jeans or khakis, a couple in goofy penguin ties from Ushuaia. In my view, any ship that expects passengers to go formal on an Antarctic trip is the wrong one for that itinerary.

Whatever kind of camera you use, bring lots of film or cards. Especially when the weather is sunny, you can fire off a lot of photos. If you don't use rechargeable batteries, bring along plenty of spares. As I mentioned in another post, I used a good quality point & shoot digital camera for the Zodiac trips, with my two dSLRs stowed safely in waterproof freezer bags in a light backpack until I got ashore.

I hope that your trip goes as well as ours. We enjoyed the Antarctic expedition (not a cruise!) -- it really was a one-of-a-kind trip. Because of the changeable weather, there's no way that anyone can predict in advance where they will go and what they'll be able to see, so go with the flow and enjoy it. I wish that I were going back with you.

Dick

Thank you so much for your info - we really appreciate you taking the time to answer our questions. We are so excited about the trip and your pictures are fantastic - it must just be beautiful down there! We certainly will let you know how our trip was when we get back. (We leave Feb.10th) We are taking the post trip to the falls also.

Thanks again!

CalCharlie

Consider thin glove liners to wear under glittens (or as we call them, glo-mitts). They add a layer of insulation when you open the mitten flap, and are thin enough to still allow you to manipulate the controls of your camera.