Carefully, I stepped from the cruise liner’s gangway, waiting for the swelling waves to break before I did my stunt. I was seated in my tiny rubber boat after one fast stride. A napping seal and chunks of blue ice were the things we passed by in just a matter of minutes. To get to the northern part of the Antarctic Peninsula, I swing my legs over the zodiac as soon as the boat comes to a stop at a rocky beach.
My senses were overwhelmed by a pungent smell and an extraordinary sight as I walked along the beach, ridden with blocks of ice. More than a hundred adelie penguins waddled adorably around and even in front of me. As far as I can manage to behold, their numbers flew above a rocky slope. Our journey to the continents that are very far proves to be paying off, even the infamously rough sea cruise for two days from Ushuaia Argentina. More and more travelers across the globe see that this huge crystalline wilderness at world’s bottom is worth all the trouble.
Some 26,000 visited in the past year, and the number increases annually. Swirling patterns of blue are broken by talks about very sneaky penguins. This may be known to be the coldest continent of all, but then during the austral summer’s December days, the weather is remarkably pleasant. Temperatures often get above freezing even into the 40s on the peninsula. Trips usually run from November to March.
Most of this trip spanning 11 days is spent at sea on a 100 meter ice strengthened cruise ship that is nearly full with about 100 passengers. While the ship is not fancy, it is very comfy. It has a bar and lounge with a small library and an auditorium. Small yachts are able to reach Antarctica. We leave port on a Friday night. As we open our eyes on the next day, we marvel at the birds from the southern seas flying gloriously, especially the wandering albatrosses as they show off their glides and arcs.
Tour guides mix in exciting lectures by various experts such as a marine biologist, bird specialist, historian, a geologist, and even an artist that teaches passengers how to draw and paint penguins and icebergs all to pass time while at sea. Even as global warming was often part of conversations, it came as a surprise that during the trip, this was absent.
Events in the nearby islands as well as during the landings on the continent is mostly where the highlights of the trip were. Seeing an avalanche in action or perhaps listening to the boisterous sound produced by a calving iceberg will never be forgotten. So many things, right on the decks of the ship, can be seen. Thanks to a very short span of darkness at this time of year, travelers get the most from their trip.
Make sure that you are dressed to stay warm as you go against the chilling winds on the ship deck, enabling you to witness the icebergs drifting by, wind sculpted visions of dazzling white and blue. We marveled as we passed through white landscapes of high mountains with hanging glaciers like jewels. Sometimes, whales would rise and be seen by many. Glorious red and orange paint the skies during a nice long sunset.
Back on the ship, we get some alarming news that one of the older passengers is very sick and will need to be evacuated. This means we will make a long detour overnight and go back to the South Shetland Islands to get to an airstrip. These instances, evacuation that entail tens of thousands of dollars, call for the wise move of getting medical evacuation insurance before embarking on a journey.
After the passenger was evacuated to Chile, we visited Ardley Island, where newly Gentoo penguins are being fed by their parents. The mother penguin delicately feeds its young a snack of krill by regurgitated it upon putting the young one?s head in its own mouth, creating a strand of slime thereafter.
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