Ignore the naysayers who complain or worry about your unconventional travel ideas. Visit Antarctica during austral summer for milder weather. As for price, with the correct vendor, it’s not too bad with a little prioritization and planning. Hurry up and reserve a spot on an expedition ship. This magical place will reward you with the adventure of a lifetime. The southern continent has a spectacular kaleidoscopic terrain of atolls, snow-covered peaks, pebble beaches, and red volcanic craters. In the water, you have front row seats for viewing colossal whales and curious furry seals. To explore Antarctica, there are shore excursions in the morning and the afternoon, either by motorized Zodiac or by kayak.

Adventures | Must Sees | Wildlife | The Ship

ADVENTURES

Antarctic Kayaking

Sea kayaking offers a perspective of Antarctica’s wildlife and magical landscapes that few experience

Shore Excursions

Zodiak boats ready ferry you to the Antarctic shore where you can go on hikes, see penguin colonies, and explore research bases

 

MUST SEES

Ushuaia

The sign by the Beagle Channel tells you this is the end of the world. The southernmost city is the launching pad for Antarctic adventurers. Ushuaia is a gateway to dreams and adventure. At the last trace of civilization, you can buy trekking gear or eat king crab.

Drake Passage

The treacherous voyage connects Cape Horn to Antarctica over two days. The turbulent waters can generate 17-foot waves. At night, it seems like you will be tossed from the top bunk. During meals, the dining room is empty due to rampant sea sickness.

Antarctic Convergence

This is a constantly fluctuating boundary between the Southern Ocean and the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian oceans. Here, cold north-flowing Antarctic waters sink under warmer sub-Antarctic waters. The convergence provides a zone rich in marine life.

Penguin Island

Penguin Island’s pebble beach contains whale skeletons and a penguin highway. Hike 30 minutes along the red volcanic rocks of Deacon Peak. From the crater, you can view Bransfield Strait to the south and King George Bay to the north.

Danco Island

Danco is a mile-long island shaped like a chicken wing. It is located in the south of the Errera Channel. Gentoo penguins relax at the landing beach and tend to rookeries on the rocky slopes. At the site of British Base O, there is a plaque by the foundation blocks.

Paradise Harbour

Paradise Harbour is a large bay by the west coast of Graham Land. It is a popular spot for stepping foot on the Antarctic mainland. Argentina’s research station, Base Almirante Brown, was burned down by its doctor.

Lemaire Channel

The infamous Lemaire Channel is 2,000 feet wide at its narrowest with 1,000-foot mountains on either side. Massive icebergs make it dangerous to navigate. From the bow, passengers nervously watch as the ship passes 15 feet from the side of an iceberg.

Petermann Island

Petermann Island is in the Wilhelm Archipelago by Graham Land’s western shores. From Port Circumcision, kayak around the island’s perimeter. As you pass giant blue icebergs and brash ice, you may catch a glimpse of an Adélie penguin.

Vernadsky Station

At Galindez Island, take a tour of the Ukrainian research base. Learn about its studies on global warming and the ozone hole. View the narrow research rooms and kitchen. Buy some gifts at the souvenir shop. Have a shot of horilka at the Faraday Bar. You can even get your passport stamped!

Wordie House

Near Galindez Island, Wordie House is a simple hut on Winter Island. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) built this early research base to support Faraday Base (Vernadsky). It is fun to see what provisions the researchers had to eat and how they lived.

Port Lockroy

This harbor is by the northwest shore of Wiencke Island and across Neumayer Channel from Anvers Island.

Port Lockroy Base

During WWII, the British established a secret military base on Goudier Island. It also once operated as a research station. You can see all the tinned food, lounge, science room, radio room, bunkhouse, and painted ladies.

Penguin Post Office

At Base A, you can send a post card using the Penguin Post Office. It processes 18,000 pieces of mail every season. From time to time, they are hiring people for sorting the mail and counting gentoo penguins.

Peltier Channel

If you head south from Port Lockroy, Peltier Channel separates Doumer Island and Wiencke Island. The narrow channel has glaciers on the Doumer Island side and a rocky ridgeline on the Wiencke Island side. Luigi Peak’s Fief Range ridgeline is known as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Damoy Point

Damoy Point is the northern entrance to Port Lockroy. After landing at Dorian Bay, walk up the snow-covered hill. Inside Damoy Hut, the researchers would mix together packets of beef and curry to make scrudge. It is not too appetizing, but adventurers learn to make do in harsh conditions. 

Red and Green Algae

This is not Christmas in Antarctica. Red and green algae blooms have been expanding at an alarming rate. Antarctica is one of the fastest warming places on Earth. The slushy conditions and penguin poop are optimal for green algae growth.

Deception Island

Deception Island is part of the South Shetland Islands archipelago. The atoll is the caldera of a submerged active volcano. Deception Island was a whaling station for processing oil from blubber. You enter Deception Island’s bay through Neptune’s Bellows, a narrow gateway in the high walls.

WILDLIFE

Gentoo Penguin

The third-largest penguin can reach 35 inches. They have a white stripe on top of their heads. These fastest diving birds reach speeds of 22 miles per hour. In addition, they can dive to depths of 660 feet.

Chinstrap Penguin

This penguin has a thin, narrow, black band under its head – like a black helmet with a chinstrap. These industrious little birds build nests up to 20 inches wide out of pebbles. While nesting, they need to fend off other penguins from stealing their pebbles.

Adélie Penguin

The Adélie is black on its head, throat, and upper parts. It has a distinctive white eye ring. The Adélie penguin is one of only four penguin species to nest in Antarctica. They rarely venture north of the 60^th parallel.

Right Whale

Southern right whales were hunted to the brink of extinction for their oil and baleen. These rare whales are brownish with barnacles.

Minke Whale

Minke whales have voracious appetites. They gulp mouthfuls of krill every 30 minutes – fastest among baleen whales. They lunge under sheets of sea ice where krill generally congregate.

Humpback Whale

Humpbacks are famous for singing. Their complex songs range high-pitched squeals to low haunting roars. Their flukes (tails) propel them through the water. Every so often, they generate enough power to breach – leaping backwards out of the water.

Leopard Seal

Leopard seals are ferocious predators. The seals enjoy playing with their food. The seal viciously slams its prey against the water and tosses it in the air. There is no reason to toy with the penguin except for perhaps honing their hunting skills.

Crabeater Seal

Crabeater seals should be called krilleater seals because they do not eat crabs. The seals hunt for krill living beneath the ice surface. Sadly, crabeater pups are an important part of a leopard seal’s diet.

Antarctic Fur Seal

Antarctic fur seals live mainly in the Subantarctic islands. They were hunted for their oily blubber and beautiful fur.

THE SHIP

Decks

• Deck 6: Bridge, gym
• Deck 5: Dining room, Polar Bear Pub, sun deck
• Deck 4: 12 cabins, library, lounge, viewing platform
• Deck 3: 33 cabins
• Deck 2: 14 cabins, mud room

Mud Room

The mudroom is the place in the ship where you enter and exit the ship for expeditions. It is designed to keep the rest of the ship clean like the entryway in a house in a cold weather climate. There is also a wash basin so that the natural environment is not contaminated by the boots.

Hatch

There is a hatch on the side of the ship. For shore excursions, they hang a staircase next to the hatch so that passengers can board the zodiak boats. For kayaking expeditions, you thread the kayaks through the staircase.

Cabins

The ship has the following cabin configurations.

• 4 beds
• 3 beds
• 2 beds
• Suite

Bridge

The captain commands the ship from the bridge. All the navigation, maneuvers, and critical operations are performed here.

Lounge

Daily briefings are held in the main lounge to go over the plans for the next day’s excursions. There is usually some form of entertainment or film screening.

Keep Exploring!

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