Antarctic Adventure

by Carmel Moore

Antarctica? Why go there?

This was a question many of my friends asked me before I started the trip. I told them I was going there to see the : wildlife and scenery that was interesting and different from what we had seen elsewhere. But having gone there, the real answer is so much more than simply checking off something new on a list of things we have seen. Antarctica just amazed me with their abundance of life that can survive in extremely inhospitable conditions. Seeing the harsh climate, the ice, mountains, glaciers and the frigid waters is just amazing, but seeing how life adapts and thrives in that kind of environment is the kind of experience that gives you a whole new respect for nature. To go to Antarctica is to see nature and wildlife at its absolute finest, and to see and experience things that change the way you think about the natural world.

My trip was one offered by Peregrine. I was traveling on the Academik Ioffe which was very comfortable.

Our expedition leader, Bill Davis, made sure that the trip offered something to appeal to everyone’s interests, and looking at the trip as a whole, the diversity of things we saw and the care he used in planning our activities. The remaining expedition staff (marine biologist, ornithologist, geologist, historian, pro photographer and several other naturalists) were all high skilled and excelled at assisting passengers to and from the landings and at providing in-depth information about the places we visited and animals we saw. They all did an excellent job and ended up delivering a fantastic trip experience for us.

Almost all Antarctic cruises depart from Ushuaia, a medium-sized town in the far southern part of Argentina. Getting there involved flying through Buenos and then taking an Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Ushuaia.

Our itinerary was a 10 night 11 day cruise and included Itinerary:
1 Ushuaia and the Beagle Channel. 2 - 3 Cross the Drake Passage.4 - 8 The Antarctic Peninsula.9 -10 The Drake Passage.11 Ushuaia

Crossing the Drake Passage, on days 2-3 we managed to spot whales and identify seabirds wandering albatross and petrels. We’ll also have the chance to take part in the onboard presentation series preparing us for our adventures on in Antarctica. We also had talks by various experts on board on wildlife, ice and polar history of the region,

Day 4 -8 We cruised among the volcanic South Shetland Islands and the waterways of the Antarctic Peninsula, travelling ashore as frequently as possible in inflatable zodiac boats. We’ll hope to make shore excursions to Livingston, Half Moon and King George Islands beginning on day 3 or day 4.

Admiralty Bay, on King George Island, a feeding ground for humpback whales At crescent-shaped Half Moon Island, we’ll observed a breeding colony of chinstrap penguins fur seals and blue-eyed shags while at Livingston Island, we see more elephant seals, skuas, giant petrels, rookeries of chinstrap, gentoo and macaroni penguins.

We were very fortunate to have been lucky enough to enter the flooded volcanic caldera of Deception Island, a recently active volcano and one of the most perfect crater islands in the world..

Our journey continued onto Paradise Harbour or Hope Bay, both situated on the mainland where we seen some the most dramatic scenery in the world. The icebergs were different shapes and sizes, including those that have eroded into natural ice sculptures as well as city-block sized 'tabular' bergs which break from the thick ice shelves. The weather worked in our favor and we did get to land on the Antarctic continent, and even managed to spend a night camping out on shore. This for me was one of the most memorable camping experiences of my life. We had quite a few different species of birds around the ship throughout the trip out to the Antarctica Peninsula.

Days 9-10 Drake passage - sadly we departed the Antarctic Peninsula and headed back across the Antarctic Convergence and the Drake Passage & round Cape Horn.

Day 11 Ushuaia - arrived back in Ushuaia early morning where our trip ended.

To learn more about Antarctic voyages like this and to see current dates and prices click here.

Carmel Moore is an Adventure Specialist at Adventure Center and is available to answer your questions about travel to Antarctica, her toll free direct number is 1-877-285-0652 or her email address is carmel at adventurecenter.com