Antarctica Voyage on Ocean Nova and Patagonia journey

I said yesterday that the sea was rough in the morning. I was not right. It was calm compared to the real gall that began at noon when we left Cape Horn. We went south across the Drake Passage. The currents of two oceans meeting here and there's always a strong wind blowing.

The height of the waves had grown, and their forms changed. Now they …

Today was a very long day. We were woken up by an unusual loud noise at 5am. It was an ice blocks gnashing onto the ship's hull. Our ship was passing through a field of ice floes. I put my jacket on and rushed from the cabin. The starboard door was closed, and I tried to open it. But my force was not enough. One big and strong man with a huge …

After breakfast we had to leave our lovely ship sadly. We all became friends here, both tourists and crew, and now already had to leave.

We were put ashore on King George Island, near the Chilean and Russian Antarctic stations. Spring was in the air. The streams were running, the sun shone and it was warm. Beautiful blue icebergs floated in …

Punta Arenas is not a very large town compared to European standards, but it is the biggest one in Chilean Patagonia. It is the capital of the southernmost region of Chile, Magallanes and Antartica Chilena. It sits on the Magellan Straight.

The weather was rather warm, but with cool gusts - may be from the Antarctic, or from any of the nearest …

We left Punta Arenas by bus in the afternoon. Our next stop was Puerto Natales and then onto Torres del Paine Park and the cave of Cueva del Milodon. Puerto Natales is about 250 km north, on the shore of a Pacific Ocean bay. After three hours of driving we arrived there and found our hotel. It was not very easy because of wrong GPS information on …

Our official departure time for the national park bus was 8 am, but we were told that is the time the bus actually leaves town. A bus would take us from the hotel before this and we needed to be ready at 7 am. We did exactly that and were waiting outside our hotel at 7 am. Several buses came and went through our street to stop at other hotels, but …

We left Puerto Natales by bus in the morning, and after half an hour reached the border between Chile and Argentina. We passed the Chilean checkpoint quickly, but the Argentinian side was not so easy. All our luggage was taken out and guards checked it with dogs. I thought they found drugs or explosives. The dog flagged one bag that was …

We were on the bus again going to El Chalten. This town is placed on the other side of the same Los Glaciers National Park we visited yesterday. However, the park is large and the bus ride was three hours to reach it. We were going there to see Fitz Roy Mountain. Our guidebook said that most of the time it is covered by clouds and invisible, but I …

Raging wind shakes our ship. Something is squeaking on a deck and the snowstorm knocks on the window. I woke up in the hotel room. No ship, no decks. It was a dream. But the gale-force wind was real, our roof thundered and our house was near to fly out in search for happiness. The rain beat against the windows. No, it wasn't rain. It was a …