Momentary Awe | Travel photography blog

You will not believe it, but I have Internet access on the boat to Antarctica! It’s not cheap (think 1US$ per MB), but at least I will be able to post a few images while I’m here.

We are now into the second day of sailing and about half-way across the Drake Passage. The seas have been very kind to us so far, so fingers crossed, tomorrow afternoon (Sunday) we will make our first landing on Antarctic land. I cannot wait! The light is already getting very special, with dark, moody clouds that let the sun shine every now and then. Tonight’s event is that we are crossing the Antarctic Convergence (the place where the warmer water of the Atlantic meets with the colder water of the Southern Ocean).

Until my first dispatch from Antarctica, I will leave you with the picture below which was taken from our boat (Ocean Diamond) as we were leaving South America behind, setting a course through the Beagle Channel for the open seas.

Shot with NIKON D800 | 24mm | ƒ/4.5

Although the ship in this image will not be the ship I will be boarding this afternoon, it will be a very similar one. For now we are just waiting in an awesomely named cafe called Ramos Generals. Although if you translate the name it’s pretty boring, in Spanish it just sounds like Che Guevara should be here. Anyway, I digress…

So far, the time in Ushuaia has been very interesting, but a bit on the slow side as I’m saving most of the day trips for after I came back from Antarctica when I’ll be renting a car and drive around Tierra del Fuego looking for some cool landscapes. For now, the focus is on Antarctica and I cannot wait! By this time tomorrow, we should be half way there, hopefully not rocking and throwing up too much.

I hope I’ll be able to blog a couple of shots while on the boat, but that’s really not guaranteed so I’ll just have to see what happens.

Shot with NIKON D800 | 70mm | ƒ/4.5

…on a half-sunny day. No, I’m not talking about the end of the world that’s supposed to come later in December, but about the actual last town heading South. As you might have seen on Instagram, I arrived yesterday in Ushuaia the main hub for all the adventures in Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica. I will be staying here for a couple of days and then on the 30th board a boat, hope for good weather and head for Antarctica.

Ushuaia sits in an amazing location, nestled between the Martial mountains in the North and the Beagle Channel in the South and on a fairly sunny day like today the views across the Beagle Channel are spectacular.

I headed this morning on a hike towards the Marital Glacier, just 7km from downtown Ushuaia and by lunchtime I was standing at the base of the glacier, which unfortunately is not much to look at since everything is covered in snow. On the other hand, looking back towards the city, the view is breathtaking and I was happy to sit there for a while waiting for the right light to shine over the valley.

Shot with NIKON D800 | 32mm | ƒ/8