Hugh’s Tips on Susan’s Story about Our S. America & Antarctic Adventure, January 2006

Tango Club Carlos Gardel in Buenos Aires. We had dinner there before the show and loved every minute. It cost much less than the one our hotel concierge recommended. The Radisson staff helped us find it.

In Buenos Aires we couldn’t have been more pleased with the Sheraton Park Tower. The location was close to Recoletto , Florida Ave shopping, and the waterfront restaraunts. Nearby was Dora , our favorite restaurant in Buenos Aires for steak and seafood. Find out what to do in Buenos Aires on the web.

Almost everyone on our adventure was well prepared. Radisson gave us our red parkas and the water/wind proof properties were very appreciated. Although we had good weather, most weeks the Zodiac landings are in waves and are wet and rough. We had read in several places to have waterproof pants that fit over our knee high rubber boots. We were well prepared. They also provided us with a back pack to wear on shore but plastic bags were necessary to hold cameras in the back packs while landing. We have friends who tell of waves going completely over the zodiacs. We did some our shopping at Articconnection.com and were pleased. You can check on the weather also on the site also.

We loved the ship. Hats off to Abercormbie and Kent, the owners and to Radisson Seven Seas, who hosted the adventure!

We highly recommend the Professional Education Society, 231-B Flamingo Rd, Mill Valley, CA 94941, phone 415-435-3596 who put together to trip package and Continuing Medical Education program. We had spoken with Nancy McCray who owns the company many times over the years trying to get us on a trip and we were disappointed she didn’t get to make the trip. We hope to travel with her in the future. Special thanks to Frank Pien MD of Honolulu who lectured often in infectious disease and travel medicine.

We were advised by the Center for Disease Control to take prophylaxis for malaria and we took Larium as we often do in nonresistant areas. We never saw a mosquito in all of South America. Don’t forget that your weekly Larium has to be started one week before the trip.

Exchange rates were very favorable to the dollar. We ate in great restaurants for what we thought was a steal!

I mostly took digital photos using a circular polarizer. These have more affect the farther you are from the equator and it’s best to take important shots with the polarizer in several different positions. There is frequent cloud cover and you need all the contrast you can get. I used a Nikon D70 and really appreciated my Sigma 70-300 lens and used at full zoom a lot. I did take some wide angle film shots with my Nikon D70 and 20mm lens but wished I had used a lens hood. Contrary to my experience on tropical adventures, I had little trouble with fogging and it was only on the outer lens surface, never internal. I carry a small piece of travel towel tied around my camera strap for this and learned from kayak trips that this works best. A Wolverine or similar portable hard drive (or a laptop) to download compact flash cards is worth it’s weight in gold.

We found 220 volts only, both in South America and on the Explorer II. Since all of my battery chargers, etc can use 220 volts, I just use an adapter on the plug of a regular power strip and plug in the chargers as usual. Worked great!

The Sheraton Iguazu is the very best choice as it is at the foot of all of the walkways and the only hotel in the park at present ( a Hilton is being built ). If you are just making a side trip from Buenos Aires, leave most of your luggage at your BA hotel. You will need rain gear to see the falls (pants too)! Visit the Argentine Government site on the web.

The Falklands always are windy and you will appreciate wind proof clothes on most days. Visit the government site on the web. Do visit a farm and if possible take a Rover trip to see Emperor Penguins. You won’t go deep enough into Antarctica to see them.

In Ushuaia, take time to see the National Park of Terre del Fuego. You may find Magellan Penguins if you are lucky. You can charter vessels to take you to out islands or the Beagle Channel or Strait of Magellan. Learn what is happening at their official website.

In Santiago, definitely eat at coco Loco and at Isla Negra! The travel guides were wrong. Dining in Santiago is world class!

/Hugh

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