Leaving Ushuaia

After an afternoon embarkation onto the Akademik Ioffe, I was pretty excited to finally be on board and cruising. This excitement was a bit tempered by the need to settle in. Cabin space is precious, and so it's recommended to unpack into the cabinets and drawers available so you can have your suitcases stored outside of your cabin.

While that's going on, you're also told there's going to be an evacuation drill, whereby you need to make your way to your designated life boat, and, given the conditions you'll want to be wearing your wind and waterproof outerwear. All good stuff, setting the stage for an amazing expedition.

Seen here are the zodiacs, aka rigid inflatables that would be the workhorses of twice-daily excursion transportation. They would have to be individually lowered by the crane behind them each time they were needed, and then raised back up afterwards.

Looking back at Ushuaia from on board the Akademik Ioffe.