Antarctica Photos - Wildlife photos are an excellent example of what my pocket camera is poor at, so many of these photos were actually taken by my friends on the trip

Glacier Sliding Video


Most people think of Antarctica as a vast land of ice and boredom, but actually Antarctica is one of the most spectacular places this side of Alpha Centari. The rugged mountains are completely covered in snow, offering a unique and magical atmosphere, the wildlife isn't afraid of humans, and due to glacial compression, some of the icebergs even seem to glow blue. Imagine sitting outside on the top deck of the ship eating barbecue. Anchored in a bay surrounded by a winter wonderland of icy peaks, the glassy water reflects the cloudless pink sunset as seals resting on icebergs float by while penguins porpoise along the hull. No need to imagine any longer. This is the reality of Antarctic summer.

I had looked at prices of Antarctic cruises online and decided that they were far too expensive, so I had nearly written Antarctica off. However, when I go to Ushuaia, where most of the boats leave from, I inquired at some travel agencies about whether any last minute deals were available and I was in luck. There was a boat leaving in two days and the last minute price was in my ballpark. After a bit of negotiation, I got it down even further and decided to go for it. I knew I wouldn't be hanging out in Ushuaia with no fixed schedule during one of the few Antarctic summer months too many more times in my life. So even though it would be the most expensive two weeks of my trip, I couldn't let the opportunity pass me by.

The first two and last two days of the trip were spent crossing the infamous Drake Passage, which left ten days in Antarctica. During our first time through the Drake we experienced 30 knot winds directly perpendicular to the boat, which caused significant rolling. There were a handful of passengers who did get badly seasick. I got mildly nauseous the first morning and decided to skip breakfast, but I was fine after that. The harder part was sleeping. I could feel blood rush to and from my head as we tipped deeply side to side. The trick was to embrace Neptune's Cradle rather than resist its sway.

Once we reached the continent, a typical day on the ship consisted of two landings, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, where we got on small rubber boats called Zodiacs and were taxied to shore. The landing sites were chosen typically for wildlife or spectacular views or icebergs. Once on land, we could wander all over as long as we were back to the shore by a certain time.

In the water, leopard seals hunt penguins, but on land penguins have no predators and therefore are quite tame. Out of respect for the animals, we could not get closer than a few meters, but if I sat quietly for a few minutes, usually some of the penguins would get curious and waddle over and peck at my boots. Penguins look quite awkward when they walk, but they manage to get up some amazingly steep hills. By the time we got there, most of this year's chicks were nearly full grown. In many cases, the parents had worked so hard to feed their offspring that the chicks were larger than the parents. One of the funniest things to see was when a mother got tired of regurgitating food to her chick, but the chick demanded more. The mother would run away and the chick would chase after her. Penguins are even worse at running than they are at walking and both mother and chick would fall on their face repeatedly in the scramble before the chick would tire and finally give up.

Another of my main pastimes during landings was to climb to the top of snow covered hills to get a better view of the landscape and then slide back down to the bottom. The craziest hill was at a place called Niko Harbor, which has a 250m to 300m vertical drop. It looks quite tame at the top, but just over the first lip it goes nearly vertical. I was the only person who slid it twice, but by the second time I realized I had skinned my entire forearm, so I didn't give it a third go.

Going into the cruise, I assumed it would be populated almost exclusively by wealthy retirees, which for the most part was true, but I was lucky to also be joined by a small group of energetic people my age that I really connected with.

Throughout the trip we had seen whales, but only blows or tails, nothing spectacular. On our last night near the continent, we stumbled upon a group of humpback whales feasting on krill and were treated to a half hour show at sunset. The whales seemed to be interested in the boat, repeatedly swimming under the boat from one side to the other. They were so close to the surface that we could see their entire bodies from above. They poked their heads out of the water many times and groaned before diving down again. Eventually, the captain decided we'd bothered the giants long enough and set off. The next day, as we ate lunch on our way back to Argentina, we were treated to an even rarer show of humpback whales breaching repeatedly. Breaching means the whale jumps completely out of the water and it's just as spectacular as it sounds. It was a perfect way to say goodbye to the most under appreciated continent in the world.