Well, we’ve been back for some time. We’re going to leave the blog up for a while, mostly because we really like revisiting the destinations from our trip. At least until we get new videos from the next trip. Yes, the next trip. We hope you enjoy our videos.

Words can’t adequately describe Antarctica. It is our favorite place of the whole trip (but New Zealand is not far behind). We had a really rough 2 days at sea after leaving South Georgia Island, but after that the weather was amazingly beautiful. The water was so calm that we made landings in spots where our expedition leader had not been able to go ashore in over 7 years. We spent New Year’s eve taking a dip in the 30 degree water and the ship’s tradition is that the youngest person on board (Frances) rings the ship’s bell at midnight to celebrate the New Year (she took a nap and woke up for that). It was a smooth ride back to Ushuaia through the dreaded Drake Passage, which is said to have the roughest seas in the world. While we were in the Drake Passage it looked more like Smith Mountain Lake. We had enough rough seas from South Georgia to Antarctica that we were happy to have the calm seas (except Thomas – he wanted more). We’re home now and it’s colder here than when we were in Antarctica – go figure.

After a smooth flight from Buenos Aires we boarded a boat in Ushuaia (Argentina) at the tip of South America, bound for Antarctica by way of the Falkland Islands and South Georgia Island (where we spent Christmas). We saw a few penguins on the Falklands while taking an off-road tour and had a couple of landings in the smaller Zodiac boats on South Georgia where we saw LOTS of penguins and seals. Also got to experience snow, hail, wind and rain. Santa saw us off in the Falklands and greeted us in South Georgia. He’s thinner down south and speaks with an accent. The boat was really nice but we couldn’t wait to get to Antarctica.

We’re sitting in the airport in Buenos Aires waiting for our flight to Panama City, then on to Dulles after a brief layover (then a drive home at midnight). Antarctica was awesome and it is now our favorite destination that we have visited. No video for now – the WiFi is really slow here. Hope to see everyone soon!

In just over two days we leave Buenos Aires for Ushuaia, where we will catch our boat for the Falklands, South Georgia Island and Antarctica. After leaving Buenos Aires, we do not expect to have internet access until January 4th. We hope everyone has a great holiday season and we’ll see you back in the U.S. soon!