My Antarctica Adventure with HX Expeditions - Part 1
- Coleen Bolton
- Mar 30
- 8 min read
My Antarctica adventure started with a flight to Buenos Aires. It was an overnight flight but thanks to Daylight Saving Time I was only going ahead one hour from East Coast time. When I landed an HX rep was waiting to transfer me to my hotel. My package included a hotel night in Buenos Aires before the included flight to Ushuaia to meet the ship. I had set up a tour for myself that day since I really wanted to see a bit of Buenos Aires. I feel like it is best to have something already scheduled when you arrive after an overnight flight so it sort of forces you to get onto the time zone of your location and also so you don't end up just sleeping the day away after an overnight flight. I got to bed early since it was an early flight the next morning. I would probably recommend getting into Buenos Aires at least one more day early if possible but I made the best of it with just the 1 night.
When we arrived in Ushuaia we were met by HX reps and taken to the bus that would take us on the included day tour around Tierra del Fuego. As beautiful as it was I couldn't wait to get on the ship and start the voyage. I really still couldn't believe I was actually going to Antarctica.
Boarding the Ship in Ushuaia
The bus dropped us off right at the ship and we boarded and got checked in fairly quickly. Next stop was to pick up my expedition jacket, which is provided to each guest. While it is waterproof which is very important it wasn't what I would call a warm jacket so I am glad I brought my parka. I was sure to try on the HX jacket over top of my parka so that I knew I would be able to wear both.
After that I dropped my stuff in my room to really quickly run into town. This was the one time we would have to shop so I had to run and pick up penguins for my nephews. The tourist building was also right at the entrance to the port so I popped in to get my passport stamped. I wished that we had more time in town but I knew the best part of the trip was just about to begin so it was fine.
Once back on board we had the usual muster drill and then we set off into the Beagle Channel. It was getting dark so it was a good time to grab dinner and explore the ship more. I always like to use the first day to check out everything on the ship. Since this ship was smaller it was easy to see everything after dinner. Expedition ships are generally more focused on what you will see outside the ship so there isn't a lot of extras inside. HX has an excellent Science Center onboard all of their ships so that is really the main focus for onboard activities. The Explorers Lounge up top was also a popular spot for hanging out and some activities on sea days. Personally I love that but I know it isn't for everyone. If you are looking for shows and casinos an expedition isn't for you. I will do a more detailed ship report later.
We entered the Drake Passage overnight and if you haven't heard about the Drake Passage it is renowned for its rough seas. This is because the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which flows unimpeded by landmasses, is combined with strong, persistent winds, leading to large waves and unpredictable weather. The saying is you either get a "Drake Lake" or a "Drake Shake". We had a Drake Lake going down but even still it might have seemed rough to some people. The motion doesn't bother me but the sounds can sometimes wake me up. I did get up in the middle of the night to lock the safe since it was banging against the closet door.
Cruising Day 1 - Drake Passage
Our first sea day was filled with lectures and other important briefings for our upcoming adventure. I grabbed a quick breakfast in the dining room that is a buffet for breakfast and lunch. I liked that before you entered the dining room the host out front would check you in and give you a table number. This was great since you didn't have to wander around looking for an open table to try and claim. I especially like this as a solo traveler since I tend to find it hard to hold down a table alone.
There was a wildlife watch each morning where you could go out on the front of the ship and see if you could spot anything interesting and some of the guides were on hand to identify things too. The guides onboard are all very passionate about Antarctica and they all had some very interesting lectures throughout the cruise so today was just the beginning. The nice part was you had the option to attend the lectures in person or you could watch from your room's TV. There were a few things you had to show up for in person though. If you wanted to Kayak there was a mandatory meeting you had to attend and sign a waiver. Due to the amount of guests on our cruise that were interested in kayaking we had to enter a lottery for who would get to go. There were also a few other activities that required a lottery system. Camping was very limited so definitely required a lottery (yes I said camping - HX is the only company to offer tent camping in Antarctica). I was not crazy enough to want to give up my perfectly warm cozy suite and heated bathroom floor for a night to go curl up in a tent outside so I was not entering that lottery. I guess I can see the appeal of being able to say you camped on Antarctica but I knew that wasn't something I needed to do. Some of the other lottery activities were snowshoeing, science boat, and photography boat. I put my name in for the Science boat but wasn't really interested in the other 2 options. It turned out that everyone that put in for the snowshoeing lottery were all able to do that. I didn't get the science boat but that was OK as everything else was so great I didn't feel like I missed out.
There was a mandatory lecture that everyone had to watch which was about IAATO (International Association Antarctica Tour Operators) and the guidelines for visiting Antarctica. I was very happy to learn that there are some rules for tourists visiting and I hope that all companies follow these rules as well as HX did. We learned things like only the boots we are given by HX are allowed to touch the ground. That means you can't touch anything with your hands or other parts of your body so no sitting or even crouching. This is mainly to protect the wildlife since our boots were the only thing that were properly disinfected each time. We were also going to need to vacuum clean any of our outer layers to be sure were weren't accidentally bringing any seeds or other small items that might be stuck in parts of stuff like the Velcro or fur trim.
One of the fun things to do in the science center today was paint your water bottle. Every guest got a nice refillable bottle and there were refill stations all over the ship. Since everyone got the same bottle it could be easy to mix them up so the paint your bottle craft time was a great idea. One of the rooms in the science center was set up for arts and crafts which I was so glad to see! There were lots of different color paint pens available along with different stencils in case you were not feeling up to freehand drawing on your bottle. Most people chose to do something Antarctica related on their bottle. I opted for a whale fluke.
Each day ended with a what to expect tomorrow talk. We found out the the Drake would be even calmer so it would be another somewhat calm sea day as we make our way closer to our first landing spot.
Day 2 onboard - Drake Passage
Today was very similar to yesterday. We had lectures along with other important things like boot pick up and vacuuming. Everyone onboard was assigned to a certain animal group name and this is how you would do things like go on land and out on the zodiacs. We found out which group we were in via the HX app and then we had to go and pick up our boots at our group's assigned time today. The boots are yours to use for the cruise and then returned at the end. They are the big Muck Boots and they are important to have so it is nice that you don't have to bring your own. Like the jacket I knew I wanted to try on the boots with everything I would be wearing when I would go out on landings so I put my big socks on to go down and try them on.
After boot pick up I took my parka down to vacuum it. I had bought my waterproof pants just before traveling so there was no worries that they could have picked up any seeds or other tiny pests so my parka was the only thing I needed to vacuum. There were a few more lectures but then we started to see our first bits of icebergs and other floating ice. Having been to Alaska many times I have seen lots of floating ice but nothing really prepared me for what we ended up seeing on this cruise. I was very glad to have a balcony so I didn't have to leave my room all the time to see what was going on outside. Yes it was nice to go up front where the guides might be pointing things out but there were times I just wanted to relax and not be all bundled up since it was always pretty windy up front. This is one of those times where the extra cost for the balcony is totally worth it.
Tonight's briefing let us know where we should be getting to set our feet on Antarctica for the first time. I say should be because the itinerary on Expeditions, especially in Antarctica, are never really set in stone. There is Plan A along with Plan B, C, D, E....all the way to Z. You just never know where you might be when you wake up or what the exact plan will be but these talks at the end of the day give us the best estimate of what the Captain and the crew are aiming for as Plan A. Honestly I doubt there is ever a bad plan in Antarctica but you have be OK with going with the flow on an expedition. You can't have your heart set on seeing or doing anything in particular because there is always a chance you might not. I love that if there happens to be something cool along the way an expedition ship can stop or change course to not miss out on something. It is also nice that if the Plan A isn't going to be good they can change to whatever Plan will make the best day for us.
The Plan A for tomorrow is Pleneau Island. All I knew before going to bed is that I would be going to get off the ship tomorrow and will put my feet on my 6th continent and that was enough for me.
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