One of my most exciting holiday experiences began in Buenos Aires. A city renowned for the tango which you can still see either at a dinner-show or on the streets! The city has beautiful examples of old stately architecture with a Spanish flavour and striking modern skyscrapers. After enjoying two nights in this wonderful city I flew down to the city of Ushuaia which is the most southerly city in South America. I enjoyed time amidst the scenery in Tierra Del Fuego National Park before setting sail on the MV Discovery down the Beagle Channel and heading for Antarctica.

I had a day at sea to explore the ship but as we were in the most inhospitable waters of the globe – Drakes Passage, I retired to bed for the afternoon even though it was not a bad crossing! Better safe than sorry.

For the next nine days we sailed among the islands of Antarctica. The scenery was breathtaking – as was the icy wind on occasion. But the parka provided by the ship kept me warm. Our ship had six inflatable Zodiac boats each carrying twelve passengers. These were used to get close to small icebergs and for landings. They were easy to board from the ship and fairly easy to disembark from with willing helpers on shore. Wellington boots were essential though as we sometimes landed in water. There were strict rules regarding the landings. We could not take anything ashore that could be blown away and all landings were timed as only one hundred people are allowed to be onshore at one time. We did three landings one of which enabled us to get up close to several elephant seals basking on the beach in the sunshine. The other two landings were more fun as we were wandering about among gentu penguins and then chinstrap penguins. Despite them being small they were not frightened by our size or our bright red parkas! It was great to stand and watch them going about their business, grooming and feeding the kids.

During the cruise there were interesting lectures on board by various speakers all of whom were experts on Antarctica. They talked about a range of different subjects from art to what it was like being stranded for five days on an ice flow!

The holiday was a wonderful adventure.