Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Typical Itineraries
Tour companies offer r oughly similar trajectories for cr uises to Antar ctica, with the
exception of a fe w o ver-the-top cr uises. (G ot a month and $37,000/£25,000?) Then
Quark E xpeditions conducts a semi-cir cumnavigation of Antar ctica.) A part fr om the
destinations listed belo w, cr uises attempt to land at r esearch stations when it 's conv e-
nient. Most Antarctic cruises leave from Ushuaia, in Argentina, but a tiny fraction leav e
from New Zealand. Chile used to be a depar ture site for Antarctica, but few if any trav-
elers now leave from Chile; those who do make the journey aboar d a military ship. Plan
to leave from Ushuaia; it's the fastest departure point.
Remember to factor in 2 days to cr oss the Drake Passage (4 days total for the r eturn
trip, if you're traveling to the Antarctic Peninsula). During this time, you won't do much
more than hang out, r elax, take par t in educational lectur es, and suffer thr ough occa-
sional bouts of seasickness. Cruises typically last 8 to 13 days for the Antarctic Peninsula,
and 18 to 21 days for journeys that include the S ubantarctic Islands. Seasoned travelers
have frequently said that 8-day trips are not much of a value; consider tacking on 2 extra
days for a 10-day trip.
THE ANTARCTIC PENINSULA
This is the easiest site to visit in Antar ctica. Due to
its rich variety of wildlife and dramatic scener y, it makes for a magnificent intr oduction
to the “White Continent.” If you have a short amount of time and/or a limited budget,
these trips are for you.
All tours stop at the
South Shetland Islands.
Historically, sealers and whalers used
these islands as a base; today they're home to research stations, colonies of elephant seals,
and a variety of nesting penguins and seabir ds. Popular sites here are
King Island,
Liv-
ingston Island,
and
Deception Cove
—a collapsed, active volcanic crater with bubbling
pools of thermal water.
Tours continue on to the eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula, making stops to view
wildlife such as Weddell and leopar d seals and v ast colonies of A délie, chinstrap, and
Gentoo penguins. At the peninsula, sites such as the
Lemaire
and
Neumayar
channels
afford camera-wor thy vie ws of narr ow, sheer-walled canals made of ice and r ock. A t
Paradise Harbor,
calving icebergs theatrically crash fr om the harbor's main glacier, and
throughout the area, outlandishly shaped gigantic icebergs float b y. Other popular stops
include
Port Lockroy,
a former B ritish base that is no w run as a museum;
Cuverville
and
Rongé
islands, with their penguin colonies; and
Elephant Island,
named for the
huge, sluglike elephant seals that inhabit it.
THE POLAR CIRCLE
Ships with ice-breaking capabilities can transport guests past the
Antarctic Cir cle, belo w 66 degr ees 33'S, and into the z one of 24-hour sunlight. The
highlight here is
Marguerite Bay,
with its abundant orca, minke, and humpback whales,
and multitudinous Adélie penguins. These cruises typically stop for a fascinating tour of
research stations, both ultramodern and abandoned ones.
THE WEST SIDE & THE WEDDELL SEA
Longer tours to the peninsula might
include visits to its west side, known as “iceberg alley” for the mammoth, tabular chunks
of ice floating b y slowly. Stops include the rar ely visited
Paulet Island,
an intriguing
crater island, and
James R oss
and
Vega
islands, kno wn for their nesting colonies of
Adélie penguins.
An even longer trip (or simply a different itinerary) takes travelers to the distant
Wed-
dell Sea,
which is blanketed with a v ast expanse of pack ice, looking much like a fr ozen
sea. But that's just one of the highlights her e; the real reason visitors pay extra time and
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