Jaunted - Ushuaia

Take an Expedition to the South Pole and Be Part of an Antarctic Documentary

cmb — 2010-05-17T12:05:38-05:00

Travelers who embark on a Weddell Sea and South Georgia expedition cruise with Quark Expedition between November 6 to December 5, 2010 will not only have the adventure of a lifetime, but they’ll also get to watch the documentary film-making process in the best extreme conditions. Ireland’s Crossing the Line Films will be accompanying the cruise and simultaneously filming a doc about the 20th century race to the South Pole. Fancy having your wind-burned face on TV? Here's your chance.

The expedition celebrates the 1914-17 Antarctic expedition led by Sir Ernest Shackleton. After their ship Endurance sank, Shackleton led his men across the frozen Weddell Sea to Elephant Island, then sailed a lifeboat 800 miles by dead-reckoning to South Georgia. There he affected the rescue of his men left behind. One of the men who sailed with Shackleton in that tiny boat was Tom Crean. Crossing The Line’s John Murray says, “Crean played a central role in some of the biggest dramas of Antarctic exploration.” And now you can too, sort of.

Jaunted in Antarctica: A Long Way Down

pbb — 2008-03-11T14:30:01-05:00

Two of the Lost Girls are sharing their trips with us this week. Amanda just returned from Ecuador while Holly ventured to Antarctica.

Ushuaia is known as both el fin del mundo and the beginning of the journey to Antarctica. Convicts helped construct its streets, bridges and buildings when the Argentinean government built a jail there in the early 1900s. Officials figured wannabe escape artists wouldn't have a chance to make a getaway, thanks to the city's location in Tierra del Fuego: The waters of the Beagle Channel don't make for an easy swim.

Today, the town's population balloons to almost 65,000 during the high season from November to March. After the jump, find our guide on what to do and see in the City at the End of the World.

Jaunted in Antarctica: Hitting Rock Bottom

pbb — 2008-03-10T16:15:01-05:00

Two of the Lost Girls are sharing their trips with us this week. Amanda just returned from Ecuador while Holly ventured to Antarctica.

For our journey to the South Pole, we signed up with a group called People To People, which essentially offers study abroad programs for adults. In addition to whisking us to the seventh continent, People to People lined up top experts to lecture on board our cruise. We got schooled in everything from glaciology to marine mammals to the politics of Antarctica.

Group or no group, if you're among the .05 percent making the trek to the bottom of the world, mastering the f-word is essential. (That'd be "flexibility.") Our trip to Ushuaia, the southernmost city on earth and the gateway Antarctica, involved flight changes, lost luggage and botched travel plans.