Hurtigruten Fram Cruise to Antarctica Jan 13-22

[totisofia]

Signed up, looking for others also planning on this cruise or who have taken it. Will be spending 3 days before & 3 days after In BA, where we've been before. Currently in our winter house in the mountains of New Mexico (yesterday's high temp was 11F, so we're used to cold & fearing BA's highs).

Can anyone offer experience of fun things to do in BA?

[digitl]

Signed up, looking for others also planning on this cruise or who have taken it. Will be spending 3 days before & 3 days after In BA, where we've been before. Currently in our winter house in the mountains of New Mexico (yesterday's high temp was 11F, so we're used to cold & fearing BA's highs).

Can anyone offer experience of fun things to do in BA?

We board Fram as you disembark: please leave it in good condition!

 

In Buenos Aires try a tango show: really good fun. If you want a guide, Pedro Werberg (http://www.amigodebuenosaires.com/about-us.htm) is excellent.

[Turtles06]

We spent three days in BA in January before our expedition to Antarctica. We had a great guide, Virginia Panetta, for part of the time in BA. I summarized what we did and saw in BA (and where we ate) on my blog, at the links below. (I highly recommend seeing the inside of the Teatro Colon; it is amazing.)

 

Have a great trip!

 

http://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/lets-start-at-the-very-beginning-a-very-good-place-to-start/

 

 

http://antarcticjourney.wordpress.com/2013/07/06/lindblad-day-one-sunday-in-ba/

[totisofia]

I've skimmed thru the posts about your trip & it all excites me even more to experience the whole event. You make it even more the birthday present to self I'd been hoping for.

 

Especially helpful was your description of prepping for the zodiac rides. I'd hoped to get away w/out packing our mountain-travel-&-rescue gear but now I'm in conflict. (Fortunately, we live next to a XC ski area & can get more cold-weather stuff.)

 

Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[digitl]

I'd hoped to get away w/out packing our mountain-travel-&-rescue gear but now I'm in conflict. (Fortunately, we live next to a XC ski area & can get more cold-weather stuff.)

I'm not sure what is behind your 'conflict'. On our previous trip we found Antarctica to be not as cold as we had expected. As recommended, we usually wore layers: long johns, waterproof and lined trousers, thin turtle neck shirt, fleecy top, padded jacket, and then the Hurtigruten-supplied windproof and waterproof (though not warm!) long 'jacket'. We also wore a hat and gloves. We only needed the full ensemble on days when it was windy and we were out on deck or going ashore on the Polarcirkels. Quite often we would remove one or two of the top layers when on deck or ashore as we were too warm.

 

On board and inside, Fram is quite warm so jeans and a shirt are adequate, though it's a good idea to keep something warm at hand for the inevitable rush out onto deck when (not if) 'something of interest' turns up.

 

Hope that helps!

[totisofia]

Thanks for the info; I'm hoping that high summer will mean temps between 30-40F. (That's classicly the best range for developing hypothermia, but I know that & can prepare for it.)

[totisofia]

OK, next question... How warm is it in Buenos Aires in January? (Your responses to the Antarctica part were so helpful I'm hoping you can give me some insight to the other part.)

[digitl]

OK, next question... How warm is it in Buenos Aires in January?

 

It's warm. Nothing oppressive, just pleasantly warm: anywhere in the 20s °C so no need for heavy clothing, but not a good idea to start rushing around in the middle of the day. If you want details, try a search at http://www.wunderground.com as there's all you need and more!

[digitl]

Thanks for the info; I'm hoping that high summer will mean temps between 30-40F. (That's classicly the best range for developing hypothermia, but I know that & can prepare for it.)

It was a few degrees either side of 0°C when we were there last. Nothing that was outside our winter experience in the UK. Having said that, it was the wind that created the real feeling of cold, especially when we were in open water.

[totisofia]

Thanks especially for the info about weather in BA.

[corindli]

Hi there and lucky you! We were on Fram Christmas New Year 2012/2013 and would have stayed on board for the next cruise if we could have.

Basically I agree with what others have written for you, so here are a few added bits:

We were pretty warm in BA, so pleased we had some lighter clothing.

Regarding cold: Agree that layers are tops, as the temperature is not crazy cold, however essential is a warm hat. Really essential. We both have hats with fur inside that came over the ears and tied under the chin. Hurtigruten blue jacket hood over the top. Fashion? who cares. Warm is all.

Point 2 is feet. They have to be warm, and we bought 'sport' type impact protect innersoles to go into those muckboots. Plus thin and thick socks and we had happy feet.

Third is gloves. And that is a challenge. Cameras/video cameras need fingers, and fingers outside on cameras get very cold. Don't think you won't take many pictures. Ha ha good joke, no chance. With a baby fur seal looking up at you, you will take pictures even if your fingers are dropping off. We bought gloves where the ends folded off and back to leave fingers temporarily free, with a bit of velcro on the back of the hand so the folded bit stayed there. Sure there are several makes around, but ours were called Wind Stopper by a company called Roeckl. Find them easy on internet to see what I mean.

Actually the coldest for me was sailing through the Lemaire channel and into the iceberg 'graveyard' at the end. It was so special that I (and lots of others) stayed up there at the front Fram for 3 to 4 hours. Couldn't leave. I needed all of those layers/hat/gloves/socks for that.

Agree about Fram inside. Pleasantly warm and casual fairly light clothes will work. BUT as somebody else said.... when you hear over the oudspeakers 'Finn Whales on the port side' then either you rush outside and freeze, or quickly head for your cabin.

Do you look at the Fram expedition blog? and also the ship web cam?

 

http://www.webcam-4insiders.com/de/Wetter-Bergen/6113-Bergen-Wetter.php

 

Happy New Year to you and we are very envious. However (lucky us) we are on Fram again in September- Iceland, Greenland National Park and Spitzbergen. Polar bears, here we come...

[monas queen]

Enjoy Antarctica on Fram.

 

We were on in 2011, and regard this trip as one of those lifetime specials, that we will always remember with affection, even the hurricane that we went through on the way back to Buenos Aires! (we went on the final cruise of the season, so that we could visit South Georgia and the Falklands).

 

My "other half" doesn't normally "do" wildlife, but he was as snap happy as me, and we came back with about 1,900 photos! The wealth of human friendly wildlife is something that you simply cannot envisage unless you have experienced it.

 

A couple of hints -

 

Make sure that you carry at least one spare camera battery, as battery life is lower in the cold.

 

If you have some weather proofing for your camera, take it. If it rains, then it rains hard, and the rain gets into cameras (though using the hair dryer on them back on board might work - it did for some on our trip!) By the way, the blue jackets proved to be very wind and waterproof!

 

Make sure you have waterproof over-trousers.

 

As already suggested, take layers. One or two thin layers under a good fleece (with the blue jacket over the top) should be adequate - this is the Antarctic summer, after all, and temperatures should not fall too far into minus figures, if at all. (Buenos Aries should be quite a bit warmer, but can be very wet, as we found!).

 

Have a fleece with you when you are in the lounges, and throw it on when that announcement comes - your cabin is always a long way away when you are in a hurry!

 

A good hat with ear protector flaps is recommended. Keep it dry under the blue jacket's hood.

 

Take thick socks to wear inside the wellies. (You can take boots a size bigger than you normally wear if you need the extra room).

 

We thought that Fram was very well organised for getting everyone ashore with a decent amount of time, and their experts were good, too.

 

Above all, enjoy. I'm envious, and would love to go again, but really, really hate long haul flights.

[monas queen]

I forgot to mention.... in Buenos Aries, we found that our hotel was almost opposite a railway museum that is not in the guide books. We hadn't wanted to wander far because of the lashing rain, and as we are railway enthusiasts, we headed for that. It was next to the working railway, there was a steam engine parked outside, and entry was free. The museum was not so much railway vehicles, but infrastructure - electrical equipment, Victorian toilets (!), name and numberplates. Lots of evidence of the British origins of a lot of the equipment. They've saved a huge amount of stuff that most places would have chucked in the waste.

 

We found it absolutely fascinating.