We approached this visit with some trepidation, having read about Argentina’s hyperinflation and concerns about safety. However, with careful research and by sticking to the recommended neighbourhoods. We remained cautious, keeping our belongings close and avoiding overly crowded areas.

Our first challenge was getting an Uber. The first driver refused to take us because he wanted cash under the table, a common issue in Argentina due to the preference for cash transactions. Our second driver was much more accommodating and even pointed out landmarks as we drove past.

Exploring Recoleta

Our exploration took us through several distinct neighbourhoods, beginning with Recoleta. We passed by the Basilica of Our Lady of Pilar, a church built in 1732 that stands as the second oldest in Buenos Aires.

Next to the church, La Recoleta Cemetery ranks among the most famous burial grounds in the world. This city of the dead contains over 4600 vaults, many decorated with elaborate statues and intricate marble carvings. Perhaps its most famous resident is Eva Perón, the former First Lady of Argentina who was a powerful political figure and advocate for women’s suffrage and labour rights. Known affectionately as “Evita,” she became a cultural icon whose life inspired books, films, and a famous musical. Despite her enormous popularity among working-class Argentinians, her tomb remains relatively modest compared to the grandiose mausoleums surrounding it.

In the nearby Recoleta Garden, we came across an interesting sight – a massive tree growing on a concrete platform.

Continuing our walk, we came upon the Floralis Genérica, a massive stainless steel flower sculpture. Created by Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano and installed in 2002, this mechanical flower actually opens its petals each morning and closes them at sunset, mimicking the behaviour of a real flower symbolizing hope and rebirth.

We passed through a series of public parks where we saw people weightlifting in open spaces. It was interesting to see that people felt safe enough to bring heavy equipment like barbells and weights to exercise outdoors. This outdoor fitness culture suggested we were indeed in a safer area of the city.

Nearer to our hotel, we visited El Ateneo Grand Splendid, a former theatre that has been converted into one of the most beautiful bookstores in the world. Originally opened in 1919 as a theatre, the venue still retains its ornate ceiling frescoes, balconies, and stage. The theatre boxes now serve as intimate reading nooks, while the former stage houses a café.

Our walk in Recoleta offered a nice introduction to Buenos Aires, showcasing the neighbourhood’s blend of historical significance, architectural beauty, and modern urban life. Despite our initial safety concerns, we found Recoleta to be not only secure but genuinely welcoming, allowing us to relax and fully appreciate its considerable charms.

A Steakhouse Experience at La Cabrera

For our first dinner in Buenos Aires, we visited the renowned La Cabrera steakhouse. With our reservation at 20:30 – considered “early” by local standards – we were introduced to the Argentine custom of late dining. The steak arrived with a charred exterior and a tender, juicy centre. It arrived with a selection of dipping sauces, which are a staple in Argentinian cuisine. These included chimichurri (a tangy mix of parsley, garlic, vinegar, and oil), and mustard-based sauces.

One downside of the dining experience was the unexpected charges. Servers would present items as complimentary, but they’d end up on the bill after. We could have made a fuss, but we decided to let it go – it’s always harder in a foreign country with a language we don’t speak and without knowing the local customs. Despite this, the meal was still reasonably priced, especially considering the exchange rate.

Roux from the Michelin Guide

For lunch, we ate at Roux, a Michelin Guide-recommended restaurant (different from Michelin Star – the star would have reflected an even greater quality). The meal began with a “complimentary” foie gras, gazpacho, and deep-fried cod croquettes. Remembering our experience at La Cabrera, we were wary of additional charges, but this time we actually wanted these.

The adventurous highlight of our meal was llama carpaccio from the Jujuy Province with a cherry tomato vinaigrette, capers and caperberries from “La Chacrita”. Llama meat has a mild, slightly gamey flavour.

We also tried Jugoso Bife Black Angus Azul Natural Beef, served with potato, roasted red peppers, truffle air, and its own juices. The beef was rich and tender, with the truffle adding depth to the dish. While Roux delivered a refined dining experience with well-executed dishes and thoughtful presentation, we found that the flavors, while excellent, didn’t quite surpass the bold, hearty appeal of La Cabrera.

Dessert was flan-like cake with vanilla ice cream and dulce de leche. Dulce de leche is a staple in Argentina, found in everything from pastries to ice cream. It is a caramel-like confection made by slowly heating sweetened milk, which we noticed featured prominently throughout Buenos Aires.

An interesting thing to mention here is that even for an upscale restaurant here, the staff still did not speak much English. I did my best with the handful of Spanish words that I knew to get by. I would have thought that these establishments would have decent English, but they didn’t.

Landmarks in El Centro

Later, we walked around El Centro, which felt noticeably less safe than Recoleta with larger crowds and “shady” individuals sleeping/walking about. Nevertheless, we visited Teatro Colón, Argentina’s premier opera house. Opened in 1908, it is regarded as one of the best concert venues in the world due to its exceptional acoustics and grand architecture.

We also saw the Obelisk of Buenos Aires, a 67-metre-tall monument commemorating the 400th anniversary of the city’s founding. Located in the middle of a major intersection, it serves as one of Buenos Aires’ most recognizable landmarks.

Our walk to Mall Pacifico was uncomfortable, as we were repeatedly approached by money changers shouting “cambio.” Our fatigue set in at a good time when we had to go to the airport, for our final journey home.

The Final End of a Long Journey

Our Buenos Aires visit concluded what had been a remarkable expedition to Antarctica. The journey there involved two days of flying to Buenos Aires, one day of flying to Ushuaia, and two days crossing the Drake Passage. We’ve already done the three days coming back to Buenos Aires, and now we’ll do another two days on the plane back home.

Life Aboard an Ultra-Luxury Expedition Cruise Ship

The moment we stepped into our cabin, we knew this wasn’t an ordinary cruise. A bottle of champagne chilled in an ice bucket, while a bottle of wine and whiskey stood ready on the counter, part of the open bar included with the cruise. The cruise even includes free wifi.

The cruise line had outfitted us with essential Antarctic gear – a winter parka, waterproof backpack, toque, and stainless steel water bottle. There was even a pair of Swarovski binoculars ($1500 retail) for us to borrow for the duration of the cruise for wildlife spotting during our journey.

With 233 crew members attending to 262 passengers, the ship offered an intimate expedition experience. This nearly one-to-one ratio ensured personalized attention throughout our journey.

Preparing for the Expedition

Before setting off, we attended a briefing about the voyage, and a mandatory IAATO briefing on the rules on what we were allowed to do in Antarctica, like how only 100 people are allowed on shore at a time, and rules on maintaining distance to wildlife to avoid potential disease transmission.

Unlike typical cruises, there was no fixed itinerary—our activities in Antarctica would depend entirely on weather conditions. The expedition team informed us that conditions looked good enough to cross the Antarctic Circle, a rare opportunity even for them. On the second day at sea, the crew informed us that we finally crossed the Antarctic Circle, and as a fun thing, everybody received a certificate for this “achievement”.

To protect Antarctica’s pristine environment, we underwent thorough biosecurity checks to ensure we wouldn’t introduce any foreign organic material. Organic material, such as seeds stuck in hiking pants, could disrupt the fragile Antarctic ecosystem.  

Drake Lake or Drake Shake?

The Drake Passage, the body of water between South America and Antarctica, presents a fascinating demonstration of Earth’s natural forces. This stretch of water, where the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans meet, features the Antarctic Circumpolar Current – the most powerful current system on Earth. The absence of any landmass allows winds to blow unimpeded around Antarctica, creating the infamous “Roaring Forties,” “Furious Fifties,” and “Screaming Sixties” – terms that reference the increasingly powerful winds found at these latitudes.

The real challenge lies in the Drake Passage’s notorious waves. We prepared for seasickness with medication the night before, though in hindsight, the dosage proved too strong, leaving us groggy throughout the following day. Fortunately, we experienced what’s known as the “Drake Lake” rather than the “Drake Shake” – encountering strong waves only overnight before conditions improved by noon the next day.

Sea Days

With two full days at sea, the crew organized plenty of activities. We explored the ship, which featured several lounges for us to hang out in decorated with Antarctica-themed artwork from various artists. The top deck housed the Zodiacs — small boats we would use to reach the continent.

We also ate a lot. Each day, the lunch buffet featured a different cuisine, and the dinner menus always had items that changed daily. The food was delicious, as is usual for a cruise, but at the end of the day it’s tough for the food to be truly exceptional since the food is made in such high volumes, and more difficult to keep food at their freshest given the time at sea. The open bar was nice too – I looked up a list of common cocktails and ended up trying a different drink every time. Even better was that the bartenders were so good that I’ve been having trouble getting the same cocktails at the same level of quality since I’ve been back.

We toured the bridge, where crew shared stories of recent celebrity visitors including Neil Degrasse Tyson, William Shatner, and Scott Kelly as part of the Space2Sea.io program. One crew member quipped that if he got a dollar every time a guest mentioned hitting an iceberg, he’d be rich.

We also got to tour the submersible garage. They have two subs on board, one named 71-1, and the other 71-2, with 71 representing the percentage of the earth covered in water. Just like how it’s hard to resist joking about hitting icebergs, it was also tough not to mention the OceanGate fiasco too. A sub excursion costs $1000 USD per person for an hour-long tour, so we opted to skip that particular adventure.

Learning About Antarctica

The cruise also offered lecture series, that provided valuable context for our upcoming Antarctic experience. We learned about the Antarctic food chain, where krill forms the foundation of the entire ecosystem. We studied the different penguin species we might encounter – Adelie, Gentoo, and Chinstrap – and learned about the hunting strategies of orcas, who work in teams to create waves that wash seals off ice floes. We didn’t go to all the lectures though since some felt like going back to school, after all I’m on vacation!

Experts explained various ways to define Antarctica’s boundaries – from the obvious land and ice borders to the more complex Antarctic Convergence, where warmer sub-Antarctic waters meet colder Antarctic waters. There are other geometric boundaries too such as simply using the Antarctic Circle, or just defining the borders as all land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees south latitude, which is what political treaties use.

Between lectures, we passed time with games of Scrabble, though our enjoyment was somewhat dampened by the grogginess of the seasick medicine, and the feeling we might be getting sick due to the past days of being in transit – a couple of people sounded sick too on the flight to Ushuaia. We focused on rest and hygiene, determined not to let illness prevent us from exploring once we reached the continent. We would have been very disappointed that if after everything we had been through so far, to be bedridden with a fever, would have totally ruined the trip. Cruises are known to quarantine people, and that is a policy that predates COVID.

First Glimpse of Antarctica

Finally, after two days and two nights at sea, we finally reached Antarctica. Icebergs drifted past our balcony, marking our arrival.

Looking through the binoculars, I spotted our first penguin in the distance, a moment that marked the true beginning of our Antarctic adventure.

A Polar Vortex Throws Plans into Chaos

The original itinerary involved flying to Buenos Aires for the cruise check-in before boarding a charter flight to Ushuaia, the southernmost city in Argentina, where the ship awaited. However, a polar vortex had been causing severe flight disruptions across the Midwest and East Coast of the United States, including our planned route.

Thousands of flights across the USA had been cancelled – ours among them. It became clear that we would not make it to Buenos Aires in time.

Scrambling for a Plan B

We were already at the airport, and the only way out of this was frantically search for another itinerary. One option was to take a United Airlines flight through USA, and then onto Buenos Aires. The second option would take us to Santiago much later, with an 8-hour layover, and then onward to Buenos Aires, and possibly give us more options to fly to Buenos Aires earlier, but arrive much later and we’d miss the day we originally planned.

Ultimately, we chose to go through Santiago. We had no idea if the even other flight through USA would even get cancelled later, and didn’t want to take the risk. The cost of last minute economy seats wasn’t too different than booking business class, so business class it was!

The whole time I was super anxious about whether or not we’d make the cruise at all. At least we’d made progress in the longest leg of the flight. Once we landed in Santiago, we planned try to find an earlier flight onward.

A Frustrating Layover in Santiago

Flying business class allowed me to have a good night’s rest at least, but I wouldn’t truly be at ease until we checked into the cruise.

Our connection from Santiago to Buenos Aires was the absolute last flight we could take to make the cruise, and I was worried about something happening to that flight. We tried to change our itinerary to get an earlier connection to Buenos Aires, but because this connection was through another airline, we couldn’t make the change online.

So now we had to buy a Chilean eSIM that supported local calling, but then calling either airline would tell us to make the change with the other. Instead, we just tried to book a new flight outright, but because it was close to the actual flight time, it wasn’t bookable online anymore, so we had to call. We figured, if we could get on this plane, we would just figure out how to cancel the original one.

It was already hard for the agent on the other end to enter our names, birthdates, and having to repeat ourselves over the phone, and when it came time to fill out the billing address, the agent just gave up on us and hung up. I guess she got frustrated. By then, it was too late to book the earlier flight, so now we were stuck with our original itinerary, and we hoped there’d be no further delays. If there were, we’d miss the cruise check-in in Buenos Aires, and we’d have to pay for another ticket to fly to Ushuaia ourselves to catch up with them even though the original flight from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia was already paid for as a part of the cruise.

A Taste of Argentina in Chile

With nothing to do now, but to wait for our flight, we enjoyed the airport as much as we could. We grabbed an early dinner at La Cabrera Al Paso, a to-go version of an Argentinian steakhouse inside Santiago’s airport.

The steak was a welcome distraction, and we also tried a local Chilean beer cocktail served with spices and salt around the rim. Each sip hits with some zing of the salt and the spices followed by beer – quite refreshing. After the meal, we got to look outside and see the warm summer glow of January in the southern hemisphere.

An Uncertain Departure

As we got closer to the departure time, I wondered if there’d be any delays. I had to know to make an alternative plan. Fortunately, our flight to Buenos Aires departed on schedule, and we arrived in Buenos Aires, where representatives of the cruise company picked us up and took us to the Alvear Palace Hotel at 11pm to officially check in. This luxurious hotel, included in the cruise package, exuded elegance with its grand chandeliers, marble floors, and ornate furnishings.

Unfortunately, arriving so late meant we barely had time to appreciate it. Upon check-in we found out we had to be in the lobby by 5:45 am.

Gateway to Antarctica: Ushuaia

After a short night’s rest, we boarded our flight to Ushuaia. The whole plane was reserved for the cruise guests, and the plane wasn’t full at all and everybody got an empty seat between them. Despite the exhaustion, stepping off the plane and breathing in the crisp mountain air at the foothills of the Andes was invigorating.

Ushuaia is the world’s southern-most city and is situated at the bottom tip of South America, and its economy revolves around Antarctic tourism. Arriving here marked the true beginning of our journey. Representatives from the cruise company picked us up, took us on a brief tour around Ushuaia before dropping us off to board the ship.

As we finally boarded our ship, the previous 36 hours or so of stress and uncertainty melted away, and it turned into excitement. We had made it – our Antarctic adventure could begin.