G Adventures Quest for the Antarctic Circle, from 21 Dec 2019 to 3 Jan 2020 - MS Expedition
drang2016 of Singapore has posted the first part of their trip report.
www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i12337-k13124421-o10-Why_choose_G_Adventures_Expedition-Antarctic_Adventures.html#104697071Why choose G Adventures Expedition ?
4 Jan. 2020, 12:41 pm
I have just disembarked from G Adventures Expedition ship after our 14 day Quest for the Antartic Circle. I will not rave about the incredible scenery and the wildlife we saw as that will be a topic for another time (though I must say that it was indescribable to have whales swimming all around & underneath us and and flapping their fins and seeing their blow-holes and smelling whale poo too...LOL, seeing penguins stealing rocks from one another...and camping and kayaking.....and katabatic winds, ok I better stop!)
I feel strongly that I must share my thoughts which I believe are quite representative of most of the 120 guests, most of whom are very well travelled & wealthy.
1. G Adventures Expedition far exceeds our already high expectations. Often what makes a good trip into an exceptional one is the bonding between the team members. And here they have nailed it. The Expedition team is tremendously experienced. Eg expedition leader Jonathan Greene is a veteran and very accomplished, charming and professional. He was even featured in a BBC documentary. Ira Meyer was BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year, Marcelo Flores (ornithologist and marine biologist Professor), Keith Mountain (our geology Professor), Scobie Pye (48 years of experience in the Antarctic), Eric Wong (mountaineer) , Scott MacPhail ( our historian & naturalist), Yvonne ( artist), Shawn Kerr are all brilliant in their own right. Very passionate, very funny , very warm. And very careful with our safety.
We made a record for the most southerly reach ever at this time of the year, we went right up to Red Rock Ridge. ( I think it was more than 68 degrees South ? ) anymore South and we would have fallen off the map. We landed in Horseshoe Island on Marguerite Bay, really south of the Antarctic Circle. And this is largely due to the great experience of the team plus the very skilful navigation of the Captain, plus some luck in the weather. Early on, they decided to make a run for the Antartic Circle when they noticed the winds and weather patterns. And it was funny to see the chart which showed our ship clearly in the far south away from the storms whilst there was a large cluster of other expedition ships still stuck at the South Shetland Islands. We all felt a bit sorry for the other ships.
2. The FOOD ! Oh boy, oh boy. It was not what we expected. Please do note that the guests are all fairly wealthy people, used to good food of a very high standard and yet everyone was just raving about the quality of the breakfasts, lunches, teas, dinners served. We had a whole (very big) lobster, king crabs, smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, crepe suzettes, creme brulee, freshly made waffles, freshly baked breads and pastries (baker starts at 2.30 am everyday) ice cream cakes, lots of fresh vegetables and tonnes of fruits. We even had a BBQ on the deck with a croquembouche amidst a backdrop of staggering Antartic mountains and ice. The variety of food everyday for 2 weeks, and the consistent quality is like that of any 5 star establishment. Every other dinner was a 4-course dinner beautifully served. The lamb or beef were always of a a very high quality, cooked perfectly to our specifications (in our case medium rare). And we tried cuisine from Senegal to Malaysia. At the end of the trip, all the guests gave the kitchen staff a standing ovation; that was how impressive the food was.
3. The hotel staff but especially Gabor the hotel manager truly livens up the place. Everyone loves Gabor with his wit, humor and his endless offerings of " hot soups " and drinks after every Zodiac landing. The waiters (mostly Filipinos) were so very attentive (eg, once I asked for a Mandarin orange and the next day, they remembered and served it without me asking and instead of a regular juice, they squeezed mandarin orange juice for me, again without me asking) , and it was obvious they love their jobs, are very good at it. In talking to them, we realised that they all have their own rooms and are treated by the manager and management with respect ; most importantly their salaries are paid on time. Happy staff translates into happy guests.
4. G Adventures support Planeterra a non- profit organisation that helps the local people of the places that they travel to. There was an auction at the end to raise funds for Planeterra. And hilariously, there was also an auction of a recording of Jonathan Greene's ultra sexy voice waking us up every morning. I can just listen to that voice forever....LOL. ( the winner of that auction can make that voice recording into his ring tone or alarm sound). I am really regretful that I didn't bid for that recording :-(
5. There was also 2 art classes, taught by Yvonne. These happened during the Drake Passage. And it was fun !!! We had never painted before and I did 2 watercolors (of a grumpy looking chinstrap and a gentoo with poo all over it) . So we planned to frame these 5 paintings; good mementos.
6. Our Historian Scott Macphail gave us 2 very interesting talks on Shackleton and Amundsen-Scott. And ozzie gave a talk on Women in Antarctica. I love these talks. There were also many talks on whales, geology, penguins, glaciers seals etc.
Choose G Adventures Expedition for Antartica. You will NOT regret it.
www.tripadvisor.com.au/ShowTopic-g1-i12337-k13129058-Interesting_facts_to_know_my_trip_report_for_G_Expedition-Antarctic_Adventures.html#1046971196 Jan. 2020, 8:49 am
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Hi, I'll write the first part of my trip report. I'll try to focus on interesting/ important facts and try not to describe the super amazing scenery or wildlife, as those have to be experienced to be believed.
22 Dec 2019:
Embark Expedition at 4 pm. Cabin is nice for the 3 of us (Hubby, Daughter & me). Took out everything and stowed luggage underneath. It's very clean. And it will be cleaned twice a day by Alex. And over the days I noticed Alex doing a very meticulous job; nothing slip-shod about his cleaning. Good & powerful hair dryer provided. Shampoo and conditioner all provided. (Tip #2: no need to bring them from home). Towels thick and fluffy.
Next is Safety Drill. We all peered into the lifeboats which are very big and well equipped. After that there was a very funny speech by our Captain and an introduction to the Expedition team members. Dinner was South American buffet. There was a LOT of King Crab (tip #2 : don't eat King Crab in Ushuaia; you will get lots of it on G Expedition). Yummy.
Took Cephadol for motion sickness. Took Stilnox ( a sleeping pill) to sleep;figured out that one way to fight motion sickness was to sleep through it :-). Daughter was snoring away fast:-). Sleeping pills worked well (tip #3); we all slept well through the rocky swells.
23 Dec 2019 Monday
Woke up 7.30 am. Slightly rocky night, but was told it was a Drake Lake ! ..but we are still a bit nauseous.Breakfast was so good ! Bran flakes (to help digestion), sausages, eggs the whole works. Lots of fresh fruits. Pancakes.
Lecture by Dr Marcelo Flores on Seabirds. After the lecture, on the deck I was able to recognise Black-Browed Albatross, Cape petrel, Northern Giant Petrel and even saw a Wandering Giant Albatross! (Tip #4: A pair of binoculars is ABSOLUTELY essential, as later on we saw so many whales, dolphins and penguins on icebergs; which would not be so enjoyable if we didn't have binoculars). Those people without binoculars had to borrow from others. (Tip #5, we got a good pair on Alibaba for only US$55 8x32mm; it was good enough).
Lecture on Citizen Science Program (hope we can send them photos) and Fjord Phytoplankton. Will try to sign up for the Zodiac with the Citizen Science research on Phytoplankton. Lunch was a buffet and very, very good with strawberries and a huge variety of other food. Getting fat.
Then lecture on photography by this famous photographer Ira Meyer who was BBC Wildlife Photographer of the year.
Lecture on Penguins by Dr Marcelo
(Pygoscelis adeliae (Adelie penguins): 3.5 million pairs, 60-80% pair fidelity
60-90% nest fidelity). Needs a lot of ice. True Antarctic penguin)
Pygoscelis papua (gentoo penguins ): 387,000 breeding pairs
49-89% fidelity, lower in larger colonies as can't find mate.
Pygoscelis antartica ( chinstrap)
7.5 million
Fidelity 82%.
Lecturer on Sea-Ice & Glaciers by Keith Mountain. Dinner was a 4 course Western set menu ! Saw air blows of whales in the far distance. Daughter still rather sea sick but I'm surprisingly fine after my good sleep the night before. Camp briefing after dinner. Warned of katibatic winds! Our Mud Room group must be Weddell group, as we are friends of the kayakers ! Hubby's back is still painful...:-(
We are making very good time and will arrive at the Peninsula earlier than expected tomorrow! Maybe we can make a landing tomorrow afternoon:-) . Apparently some fierce wind has blown away the sea ice which is good for us but not so good for the expeditions that are already at the Peninsula.
Had the hugest lobster for dinner ! One lobster each! Plus many other stuff .... I'm going to put on weight. The waiters were all very observant & attentive. Daughter went to the gym (in fact she was there everyday). (Tip #6 : you can exercise in the gym; there's treadmill machines and stationery bikes etc). The weighing scale is hilarious: my weight varies between 59kg to 64kg, due to the rocking motion of the ship. I shall believe it's 59kg :-)
