Hiking to an Adelie Penguin Colony In the afternoon, we traveled to the Yalour Islands, renowned for their Adelie penguin colonies. After a brief hike from the landing site to a nearby plateau, we observed numerous colonies. Each rocky patch appeared to host its own penguin neighborhood. We watched the penguins as they moved between […]
We woke up anchored at the southern end of the Argentine Islands, greeted by the sight of six humpback whales feeding as we enjoyed breakfast—a magical start to the day (even if we didn’t have our cameras with us!). A long zodiac ride brought us ashore, accompanied by a playful escort of cormorants (or shags, […]
Such Unbelievable Weather The afternoon excursion took us to Detaille Island, home to a historic British hut and an Adelie penguin colony perched high on a cliff. Due to the land regulations, we split into groups—half of us went ashore while the other half explored by zodiac. Only 50 people were allowed on land […]
A Stunning Start to the New Year We woke up to another stunning day in Antarctica—clear blue skies, no wind, and perfect stillness. It felt like the world was holding its breath as we floated well south of the Antarctic Circle. According to the radar, we were still the southernmost passenger ship on the entire […]
A Very Memorable New Year’s Eve December 31st marked a major milestone—we had finally reached the Antarctic Peninsula. Our first landing of the expedition was after lunch at Prospect Point. When our cabin numbers were announced, we gathered in the mudroom, slipping into our muckboots and prepping for the short journey ahead. Before boarding […]
How to get from Torres del Paine to Ushuaia With a week to spare before our expedition, I initially had the ambitious idea of driving from Torres del Paine to Ushuaia. We had five days and according to Google Maps, it was 12 hours of driving (not including a ferry crossing. Taking a rental car […]
Eco Camp Patagonia After our stay at Hotel Las Torres, we checked into EcoCamp Patagonia for four nights, ready for something a little different: puma trekking. EcoCamp has a unique vibe—think hippy chic with macramé, dream catchers, and geodesic domes offering jaw-dropping views of the towers. Our dome had a wood-burning fireplace, but it […]
Hotel las Torres Torres del Paine, located in southern Chilean Patagonia, is a breathtaking national park known for its dramatic landscapes. The park features towering granite peaks, vast glaciers, crystal-clear lakes, and sweeping grasslands. Its iconic centrepiece is the three jagged granite towers (“Torres”) rising above turquoise glacial lakes. Despite booking almost nine months in […]
Getting to Puerto Natales Flights from Santiago to Puerto Natales depart at either 5 a.m. or 9 a.m., with no rental cars available directly at the Puerto Natales airport. This means you have to make a detour downtown to pick up a car—unfortunately in the opposite direction of Torres del Paine National Park. In […]
Background Last year, Andy was sitting in the car ready to go at 11am (even though our flight didn’t depart until 5pm). This year was a little different. I had a last minute work trip to Tokyo. I’m not a frivolous work traveller. I really needed to be there. The only problem was that […]