Ever since I visited Brazil in the summer of 2018, I have been dying to go back. Because I travel so much, people always ask me - what is your favourite place? I could never answer them; there are things I like about every place I visit, and places like Turkey, England and Guatemala hold special places in my heart because I spent so much time living in each country. But now, my answer is Brazil - I don’t even have to think about it. I fell in love with this place. I can’t rea

The next morning we get up early and catch a bus to El Chalten, the hiking capital of Argentina. The star attraction is Mt. Fitz Roy and as we drive in, I see its jagged peaks through the high clouds. This is the most dramatic mountain I think I have ever seen and I’m enthralled. We have only come for the day, but there are 3 shorter hikes that we can do that will give us spectacular views. We start our first trail, Mirador de los Condores, with all our layers on. Within minu

The main attraction in El Calafate is the Perito Moreno Glacier, and though I am interested in seeing it, I feared it would pale in comparison to Antarctica. I couldn’t have been more wrong. It is one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen and the sheer size and power it holds takes my breath away. Located in Los Glaciares National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site, Perito Moreno is only one of 48 major glaciers here. The southern Andes are home to the largest ice

Our morning excursion takes place at Hydrugra Rocks, named after the scientific name of the Leopard Seal. We are at the northern end of the Gerlache Strait. As we board the zodiacs, a humpback whale dives deep right beside us, his tail fluking perfectly against the iceberg behind us. When we approach land, two Weddell Seals greet us. They are lounging on the snow and hardly notice us. It makes me happy that the wildlife hardly notices us - it means that the tour operators are

I’m awakened by icebergs. The ship is moving and I can hear and feel ice crashing against the sides. Sadly, the Neumayer Channel is blocked by so much ice that we can’t get through. This happens a lot on Antarctic expeditions, and the team comes up with another, equally as exciting plan for the day. Our first excursion is a zodiac cruise around Cape Willems and some of the most beautiful icebergs we have seen. There is one that is almost spiked, and one with an arch big enoug

On our way to our next landing site, we pass the mountain that you see when you open Lightroom. It is something I see nearly every day on my computer, and to see it in real life is surreal. The ice prevents us from making it to our first landing place on time, so we carry on down the Neumayer Strait until lunch. It is much the same scenery, but closer. It’s a narrow strait and the landscape feels as if you could reach out and touch it. Giant icebergs float by, and I still can

Neko Bay We make our way toward the next landing spot and I spend these hours on deck. Even though I’m a writer and a photographer, I doubt that I can fully capture the beauty, the wildness and the wonder that is Antarctica. The light is almost pink, but the blue of the glaciers steal the show. Icebergs and bergy bits (small pieces of icebergs that have broken off) fill the water. The ship navigates through a strait overflowing with icebergs and I have no idea how the captain

We woke up to a message this morning saying Welcome to Antarctica. We passed the 60th latitude and are officially in Antarctic waters. We cheered. This still doesn't seem real. After attending a lecture on whales and marine mammals that we might encounter, hopes are high for whale spotting today. After lunch, we see our first humpbacks. They are frolicking off the bow of the ship and everyone crowds around for a better view. Over the course of the day, we spot about 13 humpb

Montevideo, Uruguay, is a short 2.5 hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires so we had to check it out. It’s a lovely city - I’m glad we went - but it is SOOOO expensive! We paid more for taxis and meals than we would have in Canada. It’s hard to understand how people survive here. We started our Montevideo experience by going to the local market for lunch. We had the most delicious, perfectly undercooked steak amidst both wonderful and not so wonderful smells, in an overcrowded, ex

On New Year’s Day, everything was still closed. Luckily there was another walking tour - this time of the political area of the city. Buenos Aires is so big - and every part of the city has it’s own feel, it’s own style, it’s own heartbeat. We met at the Congress building, which unfortunately were under construction and were barely visible. We walked down Avenida San Martin, taking in the incredible architecture, and trying to listen to our guide over the big city traffic. Th

It Takes Two to Tango - And You Better Hope I’m Not Your Partner New Year’s Eve in Buenos Aires is the opposite of most of the rest of the world. Everything closed around 6 - including restaurants. Being tourist staying in a hotel with no restaurants open posed a slight problem for dinner. Our only option was to hit the corner store, so our New Year’s Eve feast consisted of a beer, nuts, crackers and a dulce de leche covered biscuit. So by the time we left for our New Year’s

Arriving in Buenos Aires after nearly 28 hours of travel is fairly anticlimactic. It’s pouring, we’re exhausted and starving - but there is something about South America that feels like home. Hearing Spanish and speaking Spanish gives me a rush that I haven’t felt in years. I don’t know how people who don’t speak Spanish make it in these countries, even with my knowledge -getting a taxi and trying to change money took nearly two hours. There is a system where you buy a ticket