Packing list for Antarctica, The Falklands and South Georgia

I started shopping for all the things I needed to pack only about a month prior to departure, much later than my fellow travellers, which in hindsight was a little bit of a rush, but hey, I got most of the items in the Christmas/January sale. If you can get organised quickly it's actually too bad.
 
I've categorised the list below, however, do bear in mind that:

• I sailed on a privately chartered boat from the Falklands, lived, ate, slept (and poo'ed) on the boat for the entirety of the journey, only landing in South Georgia and the Peninsula to see the wildlife during the day;
• went as far as Port Lockroy in the Antarctic Peninsula (at around 65°S, just north of the Antarctic Circle), at the end of the Southern polar summer, so temperatures without wind chill never dropped below -2°C during daytime.

Where sensible, I've also included cost as of Jan/Feb 2013.

This list worked for me but is definitely not exhaustive - feel free to leave a comment if you think there are other essential items too.


Prior to departure

• Travel insurance a must - to cover all 3 locations. If anything went wrong the cost of repatriation would be phenomenal. Falklands immigration requires sufficient cover before you are allowed to enter
• Brize Norton / Falklands return flights - £2,244
• Cash - there are no ATMs in the Falklands, South Georgia (Grytviken), and definitely not in Antarctica (Port Lockroy or any of the bases). The main currency used in these places is British Pound Sterling (£). Falklands has a Standard Chartered bank but will charge you 4.5% fee for cash withdrawal. I had cash for Falklands airport transfer (£20 each way), South Georgia landing (£165), internet cards in the Falklands (£5 for 50 minutes), Volunteer Point day trip (£100-120), petty cash (£400) for souvenirs, postcards, meals and postcards. In total I took around £700 cash
• Visa / Mastercard
• Falklands accommodation - B&B's and hotels are around £70-120 per night
• An understanding of the human impact on Antarctica, and making sure any negative impacts are minimised - priceless

Note that the Falklands have their own Pound Sterling, which is at a 1:1 rate with the GBP. Falklands money is not accepted in the UK, so make sure you use it or exchange it before you leave.
 
Clothing - warning: these will be covered in penguin/seal shit

• Knee length fully waterproof wellies, comfortable enough for mini-hikes
• Waterproof and windproof trousers, or ski pants
• Thermal base layers (body) - I didn't actually need thermal long-johns, as the ski trousers proved to be sufficiently waterproof and windproof to keep my legs warm
• Silk liner gloves
• Warm outer gloves
• Thermal or ski socks
• Mid-layer - e.g. fleeces, hoodies
• Waterproof and windproof jackets, with a hood if possible
• Warm hat(s) - I had a close fit beanie hat and a trapper hat to cover the ears
• Comfortable footwear whilst on board
• Swimwear - YES swimming in the Antarctic water is a once in a life time event not many people can claim! Well, I certainly can't say I've done it myself, but I did bathe in a hole of geothermal spring at Deception Island
• Balaclava - some people had it but I thought it was unnecessary

Medication 

• Sunscreen - I only had SPF 20 but as a Yellow Asian it was OK; otherwise SPF 50 recommended
• Scopoderm patches hyoscine 1mg - each lasts for 72 hours. Essential for the rough seas, but has unpleasant side effects including blurred vision, dry bitter mouth and drowsiness - £3 per patch
• Stugeron travel sickness tablets - make sure this is taken prior to sailing
• Travel sickness wrist band
• Immodium
• Antihistamines
• Standard first aid kit (painkillers, plasters, bandages, etc)

Electronic and camera

• Laptop with photo processing software - just to make those endless hours crossing the open sea more productive
• Portable hard drive to back up photos
• Filters and hoods - to reduce all the glare from the Sun, the sea and the ice/snow (there's lots of it)
• Tripod, shutter release and head torch, especially for night time photography under almost perfect conditions (no light pollution or air pollution)
• Spare battery and memory cards
• Rain cover for the camera
• Dry bag(s) - to protect the camera and lenses from condensation forming from going from the extreme cold to warmth
• Silica gel - as above
• GPS tracking - my friend Simon had one mounted to his camera, records location info for each photo taken
• Underwater camera - Simon had this and proved to be very useful
• Camcorder - Simon had this and was great for filming (much steadier than the penguins and icebergs flipping that I took)
• Satellite phone with pre-paid card if you really want to be contactable in the wilderness. I found the boat's email system sufficient, but my fellow traveller Achut brought a GPS tracking device which uploaded our location to a website via satellite, and allowed in/out messages, which was really nice. 

Accessories

• Binoculars - absolutely must for the spotting cool icebergs, glaciers and the wildlife (whales, albatrosses, penguins, birds...)
• Sunglasses
• Backpack and rain cover
• Knee support for hikes
• Diary or notebook - there are plenty of incredible sights and memories to remember

Personal Hygiene

• Deodorant - I wished I took some, as I ended up not showering for 6 days, twice
• Wet wipes
• Lip balm with sun protection
• Moisturisers

Entertainment / nice to have's

• Music, books and films (preloaded on my tablet)
• Travel scrabble (or any other board game)
• Cards
• Shackleton's whiskey - my fellow traveller Achut ordered this and it was fantastic! Any form of alcohol was good, though the boat provided plenty of beer and wine

What I bought in the Falklands

• Falklands has a very well stocked supermarket called the West Store, although dry foods are sometimes out of date. Stock mostly comes from the Waitrose supermarket in the UK. This is where I stocked up on comfort foods like digestive biscuits, Cadbury's chocolate fingers and sweets
• 1TB portable hard drive from the electrical store
• Fresh food and veg, though less abundant and more expensive

What I did NOT need to take

• Washing powder - provided on board, not that we had much chance to wash clothes anyway
• Toilet paper
• Bedding (sleeping bag, pillow etc) - all provided
• Walking sticks - needed to ward off over-excited seals, provided on board
• Any food or drink, other than non-perishable comfort food such as biscuits and chocolate

Spectacular sight - A flipping iceberg

A few people have asked me, if there was one top highlight of the Antarctica trip, what would it be? Now, I'd been making a note of all the highlights throughout the trip, and I came to a list of about 20 by the end (this warrants a separate blogpost). The most comical scene had to go to the gentoo penguin that was left behind on an iceberg after all his mates jumped into the sea (see my previous video blog), but the most spectacular?

Here it is.

We had spent most of the third day in the Antarctic Peninsula under deck, sheltering from the horrendous snow and wind chill that had cut through my bones in the morning. Our captain Jerome promised there would be better weather on the fourth day.

Lo and behold, as if Jerome had a remote control for the weather, we were treated with a sunny balmy day on Day 4, with temperature rising to 5°C at its highest. We were sailing around the Peninsula in search for wildlife, and by the afternoon we found ourselves in a bay full of pack ice and icebergs. The water was very still and calm, and we were busy above deck taking shots of the landscape, whilst also hoping to spot some seals and whales.

Then, without any warning, Simon shouted "that iceberg is breaking!" and we could immediately hear a loud rumbling noise as our attention turned to the starboard side of the Fleece.

My camera was already ready to shoot and I managed to take as many continuous shots as my memory card could handle. I was a bit gutted I was't in video mode - I'd seen parts of a glacier breaking off before, but it is so abrupt and quick I've never managed to film the whole sequence. I switched to video mode anyway, ready for the big wave caused by the ice that collapsed into the calm and still water.

But the wave didn't come.

What actually followed was completely unexpected, and far more spectacular, so you have to see it for yourself (full screen strongly recommended).

The calving of the iceberg must have changed its centre of gravity so much that the re-balance rotated and flipped it upside down. This process actually happens all the time, from the moment an iceberg is born after breaking away from an ice shelf or glacier. Over many years the iceberg would continue to melt and break up, flipping and rotating in the process. It's actually quite a common occurrence.

But what made this so special was the fact that even Jerome, who has been sailing in the Southern Ocean and the Antarctic Peninsula for 40 years, told us this was only the third time in his life he'd seen something like this.

Incredible.


Simon actually recorded this whole sequence, from the collapse to the flip, on his camcorder on a tripod. I will update with a link once he has posted his video which will be better quality and less shaky.