Crossing the Drake Passage: Two Days at Sea Before Antarctica
Ask anyone who hasn't done an Antarctic crossing what the days on the Drake Passage are actually like, and you'll usually hear some version of restful. Sea days, nothing to do, maybe a book and a nap. That is not even close to what actually happens.
By the time I woke up that first morning on board, we were already well underway.
The first order of business was the mudroom. Seabourn provides boots and parkas - boots stay in the mudroom for the entire trip, but the parkas were ours to keep. So day one meant getting properly fitted for both, and swapping out anything that didn't fit right. For the curious - Seabourn also gave us a dry bag and warm beanie, all in our room when we first boarded.
From there it was straight into briefings, starting with the one every single person heading to Antarctica has to sit through - the IAATO briefing, covering the international rules that actually govern tourism on the continent. I understand, as I hope everyone does, how lucky I am to get to be going somewhere as special as Antarctica. I want my impact on the environment to be as minimal as possible to allow for other people to experience it.
Look, don't touch, leave no trace. No cuddling the cute penguins, as much as we might want to.
We also went to a kayaking briefing, where they showed us the kayaks and went over how we would have to transfer from the zodiac into the kayak. Maybe something we’d be willing to do in the Mediterranean, but over the Southern Ocean? No thanks.
We did, however, decide to splurge on the submarine expedition, which ended up being the very first thing we did in Antarctica the following day.
The Kayak presentation en route to Antarctica
Once the logistics were out of the way, it was time to get down to serious cruise business. To me and my husband, that means trivia. We get a big kick out of putting together the most diverse team we possibly can on day one, including as many different backgrounds and nationalities as we can find (because the best trivia teams are never the ones that all think the same way). On a three week sailing, trivia becomes serious business, and only became more entertaining over time as teams changed and absorbed each other until we really only had 5 groups going at the end. Our team name of Grumpy Penguins was what we ended up with after multiple team names smushed together.
Alongside trivia, there were lectures each day from the expedition team about Argentina, Antarctica, wildlife, the politics of the region, and more. The expedition team was extraordinary, and their backgrounds ensured a wide variety of presentations over the course of the three week voyage.
There was entertainment too, appropriately downscaled to expedition ship size. There was our fabulous pianist Craig, Opa Lira - a Argentinian guitar/singer duo , and a flautist who I later caught on camera playing to penguins in South Georgia. That footage is coming in a future post, and it's worth the wait! Oh and I can’t forget our Cruise Director Olivia, who’s Instagram is still filled with pictures of her in Antarctica on Seabourn every winter.
As for the crossing itself, we got neither Drake Lake nor Drake Shake, just something solidly in the middle. The captain’s plan to leave later for find us better weather absolutely worked. We ended up reaching Antarctica earlier than expected anyway, which I've since learned is pretty common. Because weather is so unpredictable in that part of the world, ships typically plan for a full forty eight hours to make the crossing, when in actuality it takes more like 24-36.
Drake Passage to Antarctica
Before I knew it, I was looking out the window, seeing chunks of ice floating in the water for the first time, with penguins porpoising alongside them. Two days of boots, briefings, trivia, and lectures, two years of anticipation, and it would all begin for real the following morning.
