Antarctic Ice to Polynesian Sun

February – March 2002

Intro

Antarctica! I went to so many other amazing places on this trip, but.. Antarctica! How am I going to peel myself away to talk about anywhere else? I will try. But first, Antarctica. So, funny story, back in 2001 I was in a bookstore (travel section, obviously), browsing around, and I came upon Lonely Planet’s ‘Antarctica’. My first thought: “You can go to Antarctica?!” My second thought: “Why is the book so thick?!” Apparently, not only could you go there, but there was a lot do in Antarctica!

Needless to say, I bought the book that day, and started planning. I found a company which led small group expeditions (only 50 people!) to the icy continent on a Russian icebreaker, departing from the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia, Argentina. So building an itinerary around this 10-day ‘cruise’ to Antarctica, I decided to tack on Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Easter Island, and French Polynesia. Seriously, what is wrong with me?

You’d think with all my planning, I would have thought, hey, maybe you shouldn’t combine one of the coldest places on earth with one of the warmest places on earth on the same trip! Packing all of a sudden became a problem. With all the gear I had to buy for Antarctica, including Wellington boots, a parka, and plenty of thermal underwear, I had little room left for shorts, T-shirts and sandals. I ended up having to lug around a huge

Journey Map

	Location	Arrival	Departure
1	Buenos Aires, Argentina	February 8, 2002	February 10, 2002
2	Montevideo, Uruguay	February 10, 2002	February 12, 2002
3	Colonia Del Sacramento, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
4	San José de Mayo, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
5	Santa Lucia, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
6	Canelones, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
7	Atlantida, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
8	Piriápolis, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
9	Punta Ballena, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
10	Maldonado, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
11	Punta del Este, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 12, 2002
12	Montevideo, Uruguay	February 12, 2002	February 13, 2002
13	Buenos Aires, Argentina	February 13, 2002	February 14, 2002
14	Río Grande, Argentina	February 14, 2002	February 14, 2002
15	Ushuaia, Argentina	February 14, 2002	February 14, 2002
16	Paulet Island, Antarctica	February 17, 2002	February 17, 2002
17	Brown Bluff, Antarctica	February 17, 2002	February 17, 2002
18	Antarctic Sound, Antarctica	February 17, 2002	February 18, 2002
19	Livingston Island, Antarctica	February 18, 2002	February 18, 2002
20	Deception Island, Antarctica	February 18, 2002	February 18, 2002
21	Neko Harbor, Antarctica	February 18, 2002	February 19, 2002
22	Paradise Bay, Antarctica	February 19, 2002	February 19, 2002
23	Lemaire Channel, Antarctica	February 19, 2002	February 20, 2002
24	Petermann Island, Antarctica	February 20, 2002	February 20, 2002
25	Pleneau Island, Antarctica	February 20, 2002	February 20, 2002
26	Port Lockroy, Antarctica	February 20, 2002	February 20, 2002
27	Neumayer Channel, Antarctica	February 20, 2002	February 21, 2002
28	Half Moon Island, Antarctica	February 21, 2002	February 21, 2002
29	Aitcho Islands, Antarctica	February 21, 2002	February 21, 2002
30	Ushuaia, Argentina	February 24, 2002	February 24, 2002
31	Buenos Aires, Argentina	February 24, 2002	February 24, 2002
32	São Paulo, Brazil	February 24, 2002	February 25, 2002
33	Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil	February 25, 2002	February 25, 2002
34	Puerto Iguazú, Argentina	February 25, 2002	February 26, 2002
35	Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil	February 26, 2002	February 26, 2002
36	Iguaçu Falls, Brazil	February 26, 2002	February 26, 2002
37	Iguazú Falls, Argentina	February 26, 2002	February 26, 2002
38	Puerto Iguazú, Argentina	February 26, 2002	February 27, 2002
39	Ciudad del Este, Paraguay	February 27, 2002	February 27, 2002
40	Asuncion, Paraguay	February 27, 2002	February 28, 2002
41	Santiago, Chile	February 28, 2002	March 2, 2002
42	Hanga Roa, Easter Island	March 2, 2002	March 3, 2002
43	Pape'ete, French Polynesia	March 3, 2002	March 5, 2002
44	Mo'orea, French Polynesia	March 5, 2002	March 5, 2002
45	Bora Bora, French Polynesia	March 5, 2002	March 7, 2002
46	Pape'ete, French Polynesia	March 7, 2002	March 7, 2002
47	Mo'orea, French Polynesia	March 7, 2002	March 9, 2002
48	Pape'ete, French Polynesia	March 9, 2002	March 9, 2002

Featured Image

Baily Head, Deception Island, Antarctica

Hundreds of thousands of Chinstrap Penguins make Baily Head their breeding ground each year. As most of them waddle around behind me, some very curious young’uns who haven’t seen us humans before, are very attracted to my very red boxer shorts. I was told it’s because of the color, but that’s nonsense. I firmly believe it’s because my shorts are actually covered with dozens of little penguins (really).