Are the landing in Antartica physically demanding?

[SISer]

I know there will be wet landing and walks, are the walks strenuous? What equiptment (ie, ice picks, waking sticks, etc) is usually supplied by the expedition company?

 

Any information about shore excursions will be appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

[2552phxcrzr]

Who are you sailing with? Which ship? What itinerary.

 

We made over 20 landings between South Georgia and Antarctica; nothing that would require ice picks. Walking sticks were not supplied; some people brought their own, most people did not use walking sticks. (I'd suggest speaking with the company you're going with to see if they supply walking sticks as this can change from company to company, or even from one charter to another.)

 

None of the outings were what I would consider strenuous, although some of them did require walking up and down steep scree slopes where the loose rocks and pebbles made the going a bit more difficult. Most were easy walks on a pebble-beach or with easy, gradual elevation gain. There was no requirement for everyone to participate in the walks, unless it was a one way walk with the ship repositioning to pick you up elsewhere (only had this in SGI and the Falklands); even then, you could opt out and return to the ship before it pulled up anchor.

 

There are some sailings (at least there were in 2007) that includes a night of camping on land, kayaking, and more adventurous hikes and such, but I can't speak to the activitiy level on those itineraries.

[SISer]

h2so4, thanks for you reply.

 

At this time I am debating about visiting Antartica. I am kean on travelling on the Minerva. I definitely wouldn't camp. Which ship were you on?

[Coco Creek]

h2so4, thanks for you reply.

 

At this time I am debating about visiting Antartica. I am kean on travelling on the Minerva. I definitely wouldn't camp. Which ship were you on?

 

Just do it! No matter how active you want to be, it will be a life changing experience.

 

I am traveling on Lindblad's National Geographic Explorer to Antarctica. No matter which ship, it is about the expedition.

[diebroke]

We did Lindblad's National Geographic Endeavour. We had at least 2 landings a day. The most physically challenging parts were the ingress & egress from the zodiacs on land. However, even the most uncoordinated of us were not at risk because of the assistance of the crew. They gave very clear instructions, were there to physically assist on the most challenging landings. Sometimes a short walk up a steep bank was required after landing. In those cases, they either positioned crew or ropes to assist.

We never did any walks I would consider strenuous. Ice picks were neither required nor provided. A few people had walking sticks. I can't remember if Lindbald provided them or the passengers brought them. On one walk up a snow packed incline, it might have been nice to have a walking stick but for me would not have been worth carrying it. There were options on landings for longer hikes or no hikes & you could stay ashore for a short time or a maximum time. You could walk down some inclines or slide down on your butt. Even the kayaks required no significant physical effort & I recommend trying them.

We had one passenger who was fairly limited in his walking ability. To my knowledge, he went ashore on almost every landing. After the crew set up each landing site, they would inform all the passengers of the difficulty they might experience so individuals could opt out if they wished.

We had one "landing" where you could leave the ship in a wheel chair. The Captain parked the ship in an ice pack & we went for a leisurely walk as seen in the attached pics.

I am very jealous of your trip on the Explorer. Lindblad does a fantastic job & the scenery does the rest.

[minke]

As diebroke say's, getting in/out of zodiacs is probably the hardest part from what I have seen. I believe Hutigruten (Fram) are the only company that do not use zodiacs. They use a polarCirkel boat with steps & handrails that is much easier to land from & get back into, I found them very easy. Perhaps worth considering if you have an mobility problems. Also time of year can influence the conditions on land, snow will be deeper on dec landings than jan/feb but then it will look more like the Antarctica we see on films etc.

[2552phxcrzr]

SISer - we went with Quark's Professor Molchanov, a 48-pax ship. I would agree with the others that the most agility that we needed was getting in and out of the zodiacs, and even that, after a few times became second nature. The staff were great at helping everyone.

 

If you've not seen it, my trip report is here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=531528&highlight=h2so4

[SISer]

thank you all for the feedback.

 

Now I have a better idea of what is involved in the excursions.

 

h2so4, thanks for the link to your trip report. I had read it recently and it is one of the many things that have peaked my interest in visiting Antarctica. (I have seen this on the Fodors website too, correct me if I am wrong). For any body reading this, h2so4's trip report is one very best trip reports written, so detailed and informative, if you are thinking of Antarctica, YOU MUST read this trip report.

[2552phxcrzr]

SISer, you are correct, the report is also available on Fodor's ... when I was doing my own research for the trip, I found information to be very sketchy, so I'm glad others are finding my report helpfull.