Antarctica: Raw, Wild, Bold and Peaceful
/One of the Silver Explorer zodiac boats, heading out for an excursion along the Antarctic Peninsula
Visiting Antarctica was a dream…it is a place like no other. Raw, wild, rugged and bold, the “white continent” also held a gentle calmness that I loved. It’s a remote land with vast amounts of untouched beauty and views that go on forever.
Every day in Antarctica held a wonderful new surprise that left me in awe…something magical would happen that made me gasp in wonder and believe that was “the moment”, never to be repeated, never to be eclipsed. And then, the following day, another experience would unfold and I’d have that feeling of wonder all over again.
Wonder what he’s thinking about?
I am not sure what I enjoyed more: walking amongst hundreds of cuddly little penguins; boating by seals laying on floating icebergs; having a VERY close encounter with a humpback whale while on a small zodiac boat; or cruising on the zodiac in a sea full of icebergs of every shape and size. All of these experiences can and likely will happen when you visit Antarctica - it’s that special.
Aside from researchers and scientists, no one lives on Antarctica, and it’s that lack of human interference - no big buildings, cell towers, light pollution or unnatural noise - that gave Antarctica it’s gentle and peaceful vibe. And then there’s the vastness of Antarctica - it was mesmerizing and inspiring on so many levels: the skies, the water, the ice, the mountains, the glaciers. All of it seemed to go on forever.
A typical landing site along the Antarctic peninsula
Antarctica is the most isolated and pristine area I’ve ever been and I’m forever grateful to have visited such an amazing place. No photos or words can do justice to its beauty and scale, or the feeling of actually being there, but I’ve tried :-)
Below is a slideshow of (MANY) images from Antarctica. The photos will play on a loop automatically - I hope you enjoy.
** For details on the cruise itself, keep on reading below the slideshow **
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Some details:
A friend and I chose to travel to Antarctica on a Silversea Cruise. The only way to visit Antarctica is by boat, and there are a handful of cruise lines from which to choose. Based on our timing, budget and interest, we chose the Silversea Silver Explorer ship and I don’t regret a thing. The boat was topnotch, the staff amazing, and the daily excursions were fantastic.
In all of my research, Silversea offered the most days on land relative to the number of days of cruising. It was a 12 day cruise from start to finish on a smaller (145 person) expedition boat. All boats that go to Antarctica need to be specially designed to break through ice, so you won’t see any 2,000 person boats there. The Silver Explorer was smaller than many, which we really enjoyed. The smaller size enabled us to personally connect with the Expedition Team members, as well as many of staff and crew and the boat was able to visit areas larger boats could not. The only drawback was that the Silver Explorer did not offer kayaking, something I really would have liked to do.
Our specific cruise left from, and returned to, Ushuaia, Argentina - aka “the end of the world”. It’s the southernmost town in the country, and many locals claim it to be the southernmost town on earth. Our cruise took us first across the dreaded Drake Passage and then south down along the Antarctic Peninsula and the mainland continent. While cruising the Drake we spent time attending educational lectures, exercising in the small gym, eating great meals, reading, relaxing and and meeting new friends.
Once the crossing was over, the real adventure began! For the next 6 days we had twice daily excursions. For each expedition we went out in small, rubberized boats (called zodiacs) that seat up to 12 people. Depending on our location we would either cruise around looking for wildlife or make a landing at a number of different sites. Each experience was unique and every day we learned something new.
As we cruised south, conditions were favorable enough that we were able to cross the Antarctic Circle and head even further south - further south actually than most of the Expedition Team members had ever visited. What a treat for all of us!
While in the Antarctic Circle, we had the opportunity to do a polar plunge: we jumped off of the zodiacs into 32 degree water. My guess is that we were in the water for approximately 15 seconds, which was 14 seconds too long - man it was cold!
We had to cross the Drake Passage again on our return, and had a topsy turvy VERY bumpy time of it for 2 full days. I was very glad when that was over!
In general, the parts of Antarctica that cruises visit aren’t as cold as one would think, particularly at the times of year when it’s possible to cruise there. We were very lucky with weather during our time in Antarctica: we had a few days of clear blue skies, a few days of overcast skies, and only one day of snow flurries. The wind wasn’t blowing hard on any given day either. Temps for us ranged from 30 - 38 degrees, and I never felt extremely cold when were out on our excursions.
That said, evidence of our warming planet was plentiful - many of the sites that in years past were covered with ice and snow were bare rock. The Peninsula is warming at a faster pace than the mainland, and it is of concern to researchers.
Antarctica was wild, rugged, and peaceful. It was magical. Even given the tumultuous time on the Drake Passage, I would do it again in a heartbeat.
