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A Life Less Ordinary

Tag: penguins

Antarctica – A Taste of the Frozen Continent

February 25, 2025 / / 9 Comments

Some facts:

  • Antarctica is called the Frozen Continent or the White Continent, because it’s covered by a thick layer of ice that measures about 2,000m (6,500ft) and all the snow gives it a white appearance.
  • It is the coldest, driest, and windiest continent on earth.
  • Antarctica is the fifth-largest continent on earth at almost twice the size of Australia.
  • It’s the only continent without year-round inhabitants – While there are research stations on Antarctica, no permanent human population lives there due to the harsh climate and remote location.
  • The Antarctic Treaty, signed in 1959 by twelve nations, is a unique and unprecedented agreement to keep peace in Antarctica and act towards its best interests. It applies to the area south of latitude 60°S.
  • The Antarctic Peninsula makes up a small fraction of the continent, but is the area where tourism is concentrated, due to its unique landscape, abundant marine life, milder climate, and decent accessibility.

The continent of Antarctica with the Antarctic Peninsula

My fascination

I don’t like being cold, so I can’t say going to Antarctica has been a life-long dream, but my interest about it started when travel became my life (which it has been for 20+ years) and I discovered “the world was my oyster.” My curiosity about new experiences and places is insatiable. The few people who visited this continent a decade ago, raved about it and their photos were stunning.

Gentoo and Adelie penguins in front of the MV Ushuaia

In 2015, I discovered the UK had a post office on the continent that needed staff. After some research, I applied for a job as a Port Lockroy assistant to work in Antarctica for five months during the 2016-2017 season. I don’t know what I was thinking. The logistics would be quite difficult for us and only four candidates would make the cut. Needless to say, I didn’t even reach the second round, but my fascination to visit grew.

At some point (December 2019), my blogging friends Steven and Annie Berger posted about their journey to Antarctica (here, here, here, here, and here) and my heart jumped. They inspired me to keep the desire alive. I recently discovered they were actually on the same ship (Ushuaia) than me!

Returning to our ship, MV Ushuaia, through ice floes

And then, in November 2022, the three of us arrived in South America with the goal of driving all the way to “the end of the world,” namely Ushuaia, which is the gateway to Antarctica. I’d never come this close to the seventh continent and I would never be able to visit for less money than from there. Overlanding friends had enjoyed a cruise to Antarctica in the 2023-2024 season for the last-minute price of $5,000 or less, depending on the comfort level of the ship. I could swallow that; I had savings. The plan was hatched for austral summer 2024-2025. We only had to find a solution for Maya. Or so we thought.

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Wind and Wildlife in Patagonia – Heading South along the Argentinian Coast

January 3, 2025 / / 39 Comments

Happy New Year, everyone! Mark, Maya, and I wish you all a healthy, productive, inquisitive, comfortable, and adventurous 2025. Thank you for following Roaming About and appreciating that crazy lifestyle of ours.

I finally finished my Patagonia wildlife post, which contains lots of photos and videos. This footage hopefully gives you a better representation of our incredible encounters. Enjoy!

Route South to Ushuaia
Northern Part Route
Southern Part Route

After “killing” a month of time in and around Uruguay in anticipation of less cold weather in the south, Mark and I deemed November 1st a good time to cross the border into Argentina again and head to Patagonia along the Atlantic Coast. It was still spring in the Southern Hemisphere, but the goal was to reach Ushuaia, the bottom of the continent, by December 21st, the start of the austral summer.

(As always, hover over or click on the photos in the galleries to read their captions.)

Group of youngsters partying behind our camper, playing loud music and driving their motorcycles on the sidewalk.
Almost at our next destination to finally go to sleep!

We had a rough start of this 2,500-mile (3,750km) southbound journey in Gualeguaychú with lack of sleep due to a motorcycle event with revving engines until 2am and youth partying behind our camper at 4am. We packed up and moved in the dark to settle at a fuel station by 5:15am.

This park was quiet!

This was followed by hours of driving and eventually settling in a nice and free municipal campground for a few days to work. After that commitment, the three of us started to cover miles along a boring Ruta 3, stopping at a few points of interest and stocking up on groceries before reaching a more remote and expensive Patagonia.

Eerie camp spot

One of the interesting sites we picked for a visit was Laguna de Epecuén, which draws tourists because of its eerie appearance. On November 6th, 1985 (exactly 39 years prior to our visit), an unusual weather pattern destroyed the dam and dike protecting the village of Villa Epecuén, flooding the area. This resort destination was never rebuilt and became a ghost town. Skeletal trees stand guard day and night, enhancing the barren scenario.

Signs in Spanish and English offer information and sketches of what was before.
A glimpse into the past
Remaining bars
Stairs to nowhere
Old playground
Rumble and ruins

Most overlanders drive to Ushuaia via the Andes Mountains that straddle the Argentinian-Chilean border, which is a more scenic route than our choice near and along the Atlantic Coast. There are three reasons we picked this “faster” and “boring” side of the continent: we were already located in the east when starting the last stretch of our journey south, we hoped to spend most of the summer in the Andes on our drive back north, and this route offered wildlife encounters.

Flamingos on Epecuén Lake

Besides the random flamingoes, no interesting animals had crossed our path yet. That was about to change in Balneario El Condor, located at the northern edge of Patagonia. This, we learned after going through multiple agriculture checkpoints. We arrived in the province of Rio Negro on El Dia de la Tradicion (November 10th) and were greeted by cute children offering goodies and cheaper fuel!

Local treats for Dia de la Tradicion

El Condor might be located off the beaten track, but we really recommend a stop here if you have your own vehicle. This is where the biggest colony of burrowing parrots in the world is situated.

Homecoming
Flying parrots
The beach in El Condor

Miles of cliffs are inhabited by these pretty, squawking birds that are a delight to witness. Yes, they are loud! Luckily, they go to sleep at night, but the nights at this time of the year are short. They made sure we went to bed with them and woke up with the first sunrays!

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