Antarctica (Nov-Dec 2025) - Part 1: Intro & Ushuaia

Few locations on earth allow the imagination to run wild the way Antarctica does. Not only is it the least visited continent on the planet, but media from the White Continent is not something one stumbles across often unless you are a follower of adventure travel Instagram accounts. And even if you have caught up with photos and videos of the place, I find it nearly impossible to give justice to such a vast landscape via media. Simply put, you have to be there to appreciate the magnitude of the place.

Though it is a land I had always dreamed of visiting, Antarctica was not in the plans for 2025. In fact, there was a solid chance it would have to wait until much later in life (retirement?), when one starts to prioritize "bucket list" destinations. The reason? The cost of the trip. Getting to Antarctica as a tourist is financially daunting. But rather unexpectedly late last year, Caroline and I were presented with a deal on a cruise to Antarctica that we could not pass up. So we rearranged our work schedules juuuuust enough to make the trip work.

We departed the traditional port of Ushuaia, where most Antarctic journeys begin. We traveled with Oceanwide Expeditions, a company that very recently made worldwide headlines for carrying a passenger who had presumably picked up Andean hantavirus in their pre-cruise travels. That disease killed multiple passengers onboard.

The close quarters of cruise ships allow for fast travel of infectious disease. Indeed, our ship had its own issues with a flu-like illness. Caroline and I both came down with that about halfway through the trip. Determined not to miss out on this one-in-a-lifetime wildlife experience, I tried my best to ignore it. This ended up costing me in the long run, as by the time I returned home the illness had progressed into a full-fledged bacterial pneumonia. Luckily a couple antibiotics took care of that in about a week!

Despite the illness hiccup, we had a fantastic time. The itinerary was an uncommon one: we went to the Weddell Sea in search of Emperor Penguins. If the sea ice allowed, we would take a helicopter ride close to an EMPE colony and hike to the birds from there. Unfortunately for us, the Weddell Sea was socked in with ice very late into the season due to wind conditions that piled the ice into the western sea. Still, as you will read, we were able to connect with this elusive species, though we did not experience the magic of the breeding colony.

The itinerary did not include any of the subantarctic islands, so we traversed the Drake Passage twice. Basically, we left Ushuaia, headed east through the Beagle Channel, turned south into the open ocean, spent about 2 days traversing the Drake, made a landing at the South Shetland Islands, crossed over the northern tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, and steamed south into the Weddell Sea as far as ice conditions allowed. We repeated all that in reverse on the way back to Ushuaia.

Our ship was the M/V Ortelius, a comfortable but not luxurious expedition vessel well-suited for polar travel and pushing through a bit of ice. Viewing from the ship was solid for wildlife spotting. The bow was wide open and was best to get down close to sea level for photography. You could also view forward from the next deck up, or from inside the bridge. Staff was happy to have us come and go from the bridge as we pleased. The top deck behind the bridge was also wide open and made for easy spotting off either side of the ship, though views directly fore and aft were blocked. I picked my spot based on wind & weather conditions, but when weather was pleasant I gravitated towards the bow.

We made sure that we arrived in Ushuaia a couple days before departure to ensure time for delayed luggage to catch up, were that an issue. Luckily the journey south went smoothly and we had time to enjoy the city and dip into Tierra del Fuego National Park. I had birded Tierra del Fuego on a prior birding trip to Argentina in 2022, so there was no pressure to obsess on birds. There was, however, a strong temptation to trek to high elevation for White-bellied Seedsnipe, but circumstances did not allow.

view of Ushuaia, the Beagle Channel, and Chile from our Airbnb

On the afternoon of November 29th we spent a couple hours hiking the coastal trails inside the park. The woods were birdy despite the midafternoon hour. BLACK-CHINNED SISKINS, PATAGONIAN SIERRA-FINCHES, and AUSTRAL THRUSHES were particularly abundant. Turdus is one of my favorite genera, so I never tired of those thrushes. A dozen AUSTRAL PARAKEET cooperated for quite a while on the hillside above. I enjoyed brief but fine views of a single FIRE-EYED DIUCON, and a few THORN-TAILED RAYADITOS, one of my favorite local species, showed well.

Austral Thrush

Black-chinned Siskin

Austral Thrush

When we reached the end of the trail overlooking the bay, I was kinda surprised to see so much activity in that sheltered waterway. A couple hundred SOUTH AMERICAN TERNS were feeding heavily, and SOUTHERN FULMARS and BLACK-BROWED ALBATROSSES were catching air in the breezy conditions. A few CHILEAN SKUAS were harassing whatever they could. Tight to shore, both FLYING and FLIGHTLESS STEAMER-DUCKS were hanging out.

The Upland Goose welcoming committee was in full force

Flightless Steamer-Ducks

The next afternoon (Nov 30) we took a combined bus & boat tour to the MAGELLANIC & GENTOO PENGUIN colony at Isla Martillo. Ya know, just in case we dipped on penguins in Antarctica :). Our time on the island was very enjoyable, but the marine mammal museum tour afterwards was just as cool - 10/10 recommend!

Gentoo Penguin with chick

Magellanic Penguin

Gentoo Penguin colony

Chilean Skua

On December 1st, I spent a few hours on my own birding the coast around Ushuaia while Caroline explored the city before we were due at the pier. A hail-mary seawatch for Magellanic Diving-Petrel from an overlook east of town failed to turn up the target species (not a surprise). I did catch a WHITE-THROATED CARACARA flying past the vicinity of the landfill. The mouth of the Rio Pipo always seems to be birdy and did not disappoint today. I enjoyed watching some of the common stuff at close range, like CHILOE WIGEON, BLACKISH OYSTERCATCHER, MAGELLANIC OYSTERCATCHER, and DOLPHIN GULL. There were several raptors riding the thermals of the mountainside behind me, highlighted by two ADEAN CONDORS and another WHITE-THROATED CARACARA. The gargantuan size of the condors can be appreciated even from a great distance.