Here is what our tour guide, Luis, advises us about packing for our Patagonia Adventure trip:
We know packing for this trip is challenging, since we go from Buenos Aires, that can be 80 to 100F, to Patagonia, where temperatures drop from 60 to 30F, and winds can easily speed up to 60 miles per hour.
Buenos Aires LATITUDE 34 S – Light t-shirts or shirts, light shorts, hat, light walking shoes.
South Patagonia LATITUDE 51-56 S (THE END of the WORLD) – The weather is UNPREDICTABLE, so expect heavy rains, snowfall and furious winds at any time.
And oh, by the way, the checked luggage limit on the flights to and from Patagonia is 33 pounds. So maybe this is going to be a bit more of an adventure than we originally thought!
You think we were surprised at this bit of advise? Think about poor Sharon Shaw, Judy’s cousin who we talked into joining us. But, hey, we gave her a solid two hours to weigh the pros and cons before placing the call and making her reservations. “Don’t worry, Sharon. It’s summer in South America when we’re there in January. Pack your swimming togs! After all, we were in Kirkenes, Norway last spring at almost 70 N, a lot closer to the North Pole than we will be to the South Pole (56 South) on this trip and the weather was fine.”
But then again Norway has the Gulf Stream keeping things toasty warm.
Here’s an overview of this trip:
- The three of us will spend three days on our own in Santiago, Chile. We’ll fly from Miami on January 5 and then fly from Santiago to Buenos Aires on January 9.
- We’ll join the Overseas Adventure Travel group in Buenos Aires, where we will spend two days.
- We’ll fly to Ushuia, Argentina on January 11.. There we will board the good ship (we hope) Ventus Australia, a 200-odd passenger excursion ship equipped with Zodiac boats for on-shore excursions. We’ll cruise Cape Horn, the Beagle Channel and various glaciers and fjords for four days. https://www.swoop-patagonia.com/travel/cruises/vessels/australis/ventus?utm_campaign=190522169&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_adgroup=56416493032&utm_term=ventus%20australis&gclid=Cj0KCQiAsJfhBRCaARIsAO68ZM43ksIweEimJW7eRT4qNiFjEhShIZmmAENIWZqsZCAKc7CuT2xwdmYaAqsREALw_wcB
- We disembark at Punta Arenas, Chile and travel by land for five days to El Calafate, Argentina, visiting three national parks and their glaciers along the way.
- Then it’s back to Miami from Buenos Aires, arriving the morning of January 23.
Here’s a map to give an idea of where we’ll be (click on it to make it bigger):
Here how Overseas Adventure Travel advertises the trip: https://www.oattravel.com/trips/small-ship-adventures/south-america/the-wilderness-beyond-patagonia-tierra-del-fuego-and-the-chilean-fjords/2019/itineraries
And no, we’re not doing an extension to Antarctica. Sure, it’s not that far away but it’s two days over and two days back, strapped in your bunk with a basin at your side while crossing the Drake Passage where the Atlantic and Pacific oceans fight it out. Call me chicken; maybe next time.
As usual, Judy and I will be doing daily blog postings on judyandjon.com. And while we’ll try to write every night, it’s likely we won’t be able to post every night. The boat, for sure, lacks Internet access. We’ll do our best and will send an email when we are able get on-line. If you’re on the list and don’t want to be, let us know and we’ll take you off. If you know someone who’d like to join the list send us their info and we’ll add them.
The other day at Eastern Mountain Sports Judy asked the young guy waiting on us, “Where do I find the long underwear?” “The BASE LAYER garments are right over here on this rack, Ma’am,” he replied with only a small eye roll.
Time to get packin’!