A Warm Spot for Antarctica
Antarctica is the world’s coldest, windiest, iciest, driest continent. Yet it is teeming with life: penguins, seals, whales, dolphins, sea birds—and, during the Antarctic summer (December through February), small groups of human intruders. It's not unusual for past visitors to develop an enduring fascination with Antarctica or to call their trip “a life-altering experience.”
Yet tourism to the White Continent is fairly recent. Until the establishment of research stations in the 1950s, Antarctica had no long-term human inhabitants. And not until the late 1960s—the same year Neil Armstrong stepped onto the moon and Woodstock blossomed into, well, Woodstock—were tourists invited to explore Antarctica.
Antarctic cruises fall into two categories: small-ship expeditions of 200 or fewer passengers, and large-ship cruises. Vessels of 500 or more passengers do not make any landings, and they get no closer to shore than a half mile for wildlife viewing. Obviously, we prefer the former.
Ushuaia, Argentina, at the tip of South America, is the world’s southernmost city. With a population of about 60,000, it’s the largest city in Tierra del Fuego and is surrounded by towering peaks of the Martial Range. The Beagle Channel, just south of the city and most likely your vesssel’s departure point from Ushuaia, is a prime bird-spotting location. Don’t forget your binoculars.
From Ushuaia, it’s two days’ sailing to cross the 600-mile Drake Passage. Keep your eye out for the first iceberg sightings and the South Shetland Islands off the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula, curving northwest toward the tip of South America.
Exciting landings made in Zodiacs (sturdy dinghies) bring travelers to shore where, depending on the stop, one can see fur seals, elephant seals, sea lions, or one of eleven species of penguins which greet visitors with their hallmark barks and squawks. It's best to get no closer than about 15 feet from all wildlife—although the wildlife sometimes ignores this rule.
Without spoiling the many discoveries you'll find in Antarctica, we can say that one of the great surprises of any trip takes place on Deception Island. Eons ago, the island’s volcanic cone collapsed, and the crater filled with water. Small ships can sail into the caldera, a safe natural harbor, where two research bases and an abandoned whaling station now stand. In this otherwise frigid landscape, steam rises from the beach, where hot-spring-fed pools tempted us to jump in and then dash into the nearby icy surf. Don’t forget to pack a swimsuit (and a camera, lest those back home doubt your story).
Any voyage to the bottom of the Earth is an experience filled with extraordinary natural beauty. Massive glaciers, blue icebergs, and an infinite variety of icy peaks create an otherworldly environment heightened by a quality of light seen nowhere else on our planet. And there really isn't anything like roaming among a colony of chatty Adélie or chinstrap penguins.
Remember, too, that you are among a lucky few: a fraction of one percent of the world’s travelers ever have the opportunity to visit Antarctica.