Antarctica: January-February 2026

Our next adventure was to Antarctica!  We were going on an expedition cruise to see icebergs, whales, seals and penguins!

We were beginning with a couple of days in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Then we were to go north to the Brazilian border to Iguazu Falls before going back to Buenos Aires to connect with our Seabourn Cruise.

This was to be our first cruise with Seabourn, specifically on Venture. She is one of  two ships the company has designed and built for expedition cruises in polar regions.

Prepping clothes and other items for this trip was quite the undertaking.  Our guest room was the staging area for weeks.

We had to pack for warm weather in Buenos Aires, hot weather at Iguazu Falls, cool temperatures on the ship and cold weather in Antarctica.  We also had to take an extra duffel for the flight to Iguazu Falls because big bags weren’t supposed to go on that plane. Whew!

I like to read about our destinations before traveling but really struggled finding something for Buenos Aires.  (I don’t want to read heavy books when the world feels heavy.  January 2026.  Ugh.)

I started and DNF (did not finish) a book that involved German Nazis who made their way to Buenos Aires but continued killing. There was another that had a tango plot line but with a background of Argentina’s long standing economic woes. I didn’t even start that one.

Given my struggle, I chuckled when I learned that Buenos Aires is Latin America’s Literary City. It leads in publishing with over 20,000 titles published annually. The city has over 800 bookstores and UNESCO gave Buenos Aires the title of World Book Capital.

We moved on to reading about Antarctica and that book will come up in a later post.

We both love to travel but don’t like to pack.  However, by mid-day on January 21st, packing was accomplished and we spent the evening watching the movie Antarctica-A Year on the Ice.

It was about the scientists and the support community who live and work on the continent. It highlighted the international cooperation and day to day life in both the summer and winter seasons.  It is a very different experience than what we would see on an expedition cruise, but fascinating nonetheless.

Then it was go time! Our flights were Phoenix to Houston to Buenos Aires.  Much of our country was getting a huge winter storm, beginning January 23rd and airlines were preemptively rescheduling flights.  Our flight through Houston was on the 22nd.

We flew United from Phoenix to Houston and were on an old Boeing 737.  The controls for the small Direct TV entertainment screen were on the armrest.  It was very easy to disrupt your own, or your seat mate’s, programming.

We had better digs on our overnight flight from Houston to Buenos Aires.  We sat in premium economy on a Boeing 777. That gave us larger seats, a pillow, a blanket and a little toiletries pack.  

While we were boarding, one of the attendants told us that the crew expected to be stuck in Buenos Aires for a day or two because of the weather.  She has animals on an acreage near Houston and made arrangements for their care.

Overall, the flight was okay.  After dinner and a movie, we settled in to try and sleep.  There was a fair amount of turbulence and the pilot kept asking passengers to make sure their seat belts were secure. At one point they asked for any doctors to make themselves known because of a medical situation.  There was a lot going on…

During the last couple of hours, the flight attendant who was assigned to our section just stopped working.  After getting the drink cart in place,  he had to wait a bit for passengers to get their stuff sorted and he just walked away. The cart sat there while breakfast was served and passengers on the other aisle got their drinks.  Because of my seat placement,  I was aware that the other attendants were wondering where he went.  Several others, including one from business class, combined to do his job for the rest of the flight.  I hoped he wasn’t sick – for him and for us.  If he wasn’t sick, it doesn’t bode well for his performance review.

We landed at about 9:30 a.m. Buenos Aires time.  It was new country for us – Argentina!

Next up: We get to the hotel and try to recover.