RIO, CARNIVAL and the hunt for Indian food

 

THE UNFOLDING OF THE PLAN

 

 

Among the various eye popping things on my wish list, which includes para gliding, para jumping, ballooning and  watching Northern lights, was visiting  theAntarctic. I had quietly struck out para jumping and paragliding mainly  because I chickened out, though I virtuously told myself I was too old !

Now with time running out, I had sort of slowly started of thinking of Antarctica as a distant dream.

We had come close to going in 2011/12 , but a fellow traveller fell seriously ill and we called it off. I thought we were done and dusted. Then we met a   college roommate of Devika, Viji ,who has been to Antarctica 3 times  among other interesting places, and couldn’t stop raving about it.  She lit a spark and we decided to take it up seriously sometime in  2023/24.

Planning for Antarctic is a serious business and bookings typically start a year ahead , if one wants to get good deals. When I check back, I realise  I started the search  by end January 2024.  With peripetatic Indians on the rise, I did some research and then decided to go with an Indian company. I came across Unwild Planet and they sounded right. They  specialise in off the track destinations including the Antarctic.  Gunjan the COO, was very helpful and always available for clarifications. Only thing was, he was not used to bargain hunters like me and wanted to put us on big  classy boats, while we were looking for expedition ships. He, somehow  persuaded us to go for a French liner, which was above budget but well, it did sound nicer !

A word about our companions. The thing is, Antarctic is an expensive proposition, by any count. It also requires people with time to spend. Usually, it also means they have  done the usual Europe, USA stuff and would like something different. I can tell you its not easy to get all three attributes in a single person. Besides, more importantly they have to be people you can  bear to be closeted with, for a month. And that was the hardest part!!! We finally zeroed in on  a much  travelled Devika’s older sister and an aunt of mine. This is no ordinary aunt. She is just a couple of years older than me , a school classmate of mine and actually a good friend. Before you folks start wondering, my mother had 15 siblings and she is number 12, my mother being number 3. And yes, my grandfather was a busy man !

Finally, we decided on a February date as January is the most expensive and February is when u get to see the whales , or so Gunjan says. I hope that’s true! The Antarctic season is from November to March. Another reason was the Rio Carnival coincided with  the end of our trip. Thats  a once in a lifetime experience and we thought it tied in well.  So that was decided.

While I knew the other associated costs were big  and preparations  were needed,  it still came as surprise. The ships usually sail from Ushuaia, on the southern tip of Argentina. Pretty remote place actually, and reaching there is not  an easy job.  Then the clothing lists. This includes layers of clothes, socks, gloves, caps, neck warmers, goggles. Unlike a  sweater or two in a Delhi winter, you are recommended to wear merino wool innerwear, fleece garments and down jackets Not your typical Sarojini market fare or Sunny paaji advertised Amul wear. 

‘Yeh really under ka mamla hai’! 

Fortunately,  Decathalon has it covered and for other stuff my mountaineering  son, Siddharth came to the rescue. He bought merino socks and loaned us his gloves.

We decided to travel to our daughter’s place in New jersey and make that our base,  repack and then head out to the sixth and the seventh continents on our list. We decided to head out to Buenos Aires, our stop enroute to Ushuaia, a good 2/3 ahead of our departure date. The US east coast weather is notorious at this time of the year and we didn’t want to get caught up in a sudden snow storm.

So here we  are Buenos Aires on day 1  at the start of our Latin America trip !!.