I’ve been dreaming of traveling to Antarctica for years – I’m a total whale nerd and the prospect of seeing my beloved humpback whales in some of the most remote waters on the planet… it’s the stuff dreams are made of. Back in 2018, Steve and I started discussing the prospect of making this dream trip a reality. I did a ton of research into different options – expedition providers, itineraries, best times to see our top priority wildlife, all of it – and settled on a trip with the highly rated polar travel experts, Quark Expeditions, in February 2022. That trip ended up being postponed a year due to COVID-related itinerary changes (don’t feel too sorry for Steve and me, though, because we consoled ourselves with an incredible adventure in Costa Rica). We waited patiently for another year and in February 2023, found ourselves en route to the ends of the earth, ready for our grand Antarctic adventure to finally begin.

Our ship was scheduled to sail from the port of Ushuaia, Argentina – a small city on the very tip of South America, popularly known as fin del mundo – the end of the world. It was certainly remote! Getting there was an expedition in and of itself – three flights (DC to Miami, Miami to Buenos Aires, and Buenos Aires to Ushuaia) plus an eight hour layover in between the second and third flights. We were traveling for two days straight, just to get to our embarkation point. But as our Aerolineas Argentina flight descended over the Beagle Channel into Ushuaia on the final leg, and I pressed my nose against the plane window to take in the absolutely spectacular mountains, it was all worth it.

We rolled into our hotel late in the evening on Valentine’s Day and set off looking for food (neither one of us had eaten more than a yogurt for the entirety of our layover or the final flight). Turns out, it’s just as hard to find a restaurant table in Ushuaia as it is anywhere else on Valentine’s. We eventually found a pizza joint that was able to seat us and dug into dinner at 10:00 p.m.

The next day was Embarkation Day. We slept in and headed down to the hotel dining room for a leisurely breakfast, and I nearly jumped out of my skin when I looked out the window and saw our ship, the Ocean Diamond, docked right across the street. I’m not sure I really believed that we were actually going to Antarctica until that moment.

Seeing all of the trip luggage piled up in the hotel lobby, ready to be transported to the ship, helped make it feel real, too.

The actual embarkation wasn’t scheduled until later in the evening. So after we signed our final paperwork and medical attestations, we were free to explore Ushuaia. Steve and I took the opportunity to walk around the cute downtown area (I mused that “it’s like South America, but make it Switzerland”) and grab food. We’d tried to eat dinner at a highly rated restaurant the prior day and there was no availability, so we popped in for lunch instead. I wasn’t very hungry, so I just had an empanada appetizer and coffee. Steve enjoyed perfectly cooked salmon on a bed of delicious-looking vegetables; I had some order envy and regretted my choice a tiny bit (even though my food was delicious too).

Spectacular mountains!

I was obsessed with this cute little town square and the adorable blue double-decker bus. And seriously, can’t get enough of these mountains in the background.

When in Ushuaia, it’s practically required to stop by the “fin del mundo” sign and take a picture. Until we started talking seriously about traveling to Antarctica, I can’t say that I ever imagined myself traveling here. What a cool adventure!

With a little time to spare, we even found space for an afternoon stop at an adorable cafe for some of Ushuaia’s famous hot chocolate. I can confirm that it lived up to the hype – yum.

Finally, legs agreeably tired from wandering the downtown and harbor areas and tummies happily treated to delicious Patagonian hot chocolate, we headed back to the hotel, where we jumped onto coach buses with our fellow passengers for the ride to the secured area of the port – and our long anticipated walk up the gangway on the Ocean Diamond.

Next week – exploring the ship, and embarking for Antarctica at last!