YOU WANT TO GO WHERE?
Antarctica! It isn’t the most common vacation destination but for those who want to step foot on all seven continents, you have to do it sometime. Only about 20,000-30,000 people visit Antarctica each year and there is only a small window of the Southern Hemisphere summer (November-March) that is safe enough for visitors to travel to the continent. You go for adventure, for beauty, and to see nature up close. It is one of the last pure, untouched locations on Earth. Words, photos and videos won’t be adequate to show and describe to everyone this unique destination. But I hope to give you a taste of Antarctica’s beauty.
FLASH SALE
One of the barriers visiting Antarctica is the cost. It’s quite expensive for one person, let alone for a couple or for a family to go. For a basic shared cabin (with no window), the starting cost can be around $8,000 per person (flights not included). Typically most people book their vacation many months in advance. And you can book your trip to Antarctica many months in advance and pay full price. However, if you can be flexible with dates and can take time (at least two weeks) away from any obligation like work without much notice, I would suggest waiting until 4-5 weeks before the cruise departure to get a flash sale rate where they need to lower the price by 40-50% to fill up the space left on the ship. You would need to inquire in advance with travel agencies or expedition companies and tell them you are interested if the price is lowered. The other passengers on the ship weren’t too happy when they found out a group of us paid much less than they did. It certainly is a huge cost advantage, but not everyone has the flexibility to wait until the last minute to book a huge trip (including flights).
VISITING THE WHITE CONTINENT
Pretty much the only way to see Antarctica is via cruise ship. Some expedition companies offer a flight down to Antarctica but is much more expensive due to the limited space. There are many ships that travel to the white continent. I suggest booking a cruise on a ship with less than 200 passengers since the international regulations only allow ships with less than 200 people to go onto land. Anything more than 200 and the passengers are not able to step onto land (not sure why would pay to go all the way to Antarctica to not be able to get off the ship). Most trips begin from Ushuaia, Argentina, which is the most southern city in the world. Trips from Ushuaia take the shortest amount of time to arrive in the Antarctic region (2-3 days over the Drake Passage). Some trips depart from New Zealand, however those trips are much longer in nature (2 weeks plus) which means they are much more expensive. I booked an 11-day trip on the Ocean Endeavor throughout travel company called Expedition Trips. I had inquired with them and another travel company about a trip to Antarctica when I decided to take my leave of absence. Nothing was available in my price range at the time but a week later they called me back with the flash sale and I jumped on it. The cruise operator was Quark Expeditions which is one of the more popular polar expedition companies and one I recommend!
ITINERARY FLEXIBILITY IS A MUST FOR ANTARCTICA EXPEDITIONS
- Day 1: Overnight at a hotel in Buenos Aries, Argentina, with fellow passengers. We stayed at The Brick Hotel and it was an excellent hotel with a great location
- Day 2: Fly to Ushuaia with all passengers, spend some time in Ushuaia and then disembark
- Day 3: Crossing the Drake Passage en route to Antarctica
- Day 4: Crossing the Drake and make first stop in the afternoon at Barrientos Island in the Aitcho Islands seeing a large penguin colony
- Day 5: Morning Zodiac cruise around Cuverville Island (icebergs blocked our landing site so we weren’t able to step on land); afternoon stepping on the continent of Antarctica at Argentinian research facility – Brown Station
- Day 6: Morning zodiac cruise of the Lemaire Channel; afternoon orca watching from the ship (and the polar plunge)
- Day 7: Morning exploring Danco Island by zodiac and on land seeing a large penguin colony; afternoon zodiac cruise of Wilhelmina Bay
- Day 8: Walk around Whaler’s Bay on Deception Island – an active volcano caldera; afternoon explore Half Moon Island from zodiac and on land (another penguin colony)
- Day 9: Crossing the Drake back to Argentina
- Day 10: Crossing the Drake back to Argentina
- Day 11: Arrive back to Ushuaia; toured National Park by bus and then flew charter flight back to Buenos Aries
NOT YOUR TYPICAL CRUISE SHIP
The ship isn’t your typical cruise ship like you would see in the Caribbean with casinos, multiple restaurants, live entertainment each evening, waterslides and multiple pools (although our ship did have a pool). It is an expedition ship with a reinforced hull to break through sheets of ice if needed (but it isn’t a true icebreaker). The ship had space to store the zodiac boats that were used to ferry passengers off the ship and around the islands. The ship had the following:
- One main dining room (served buffet style breakfasts and lunches with a sit down dinner and wine included) – and the food was pretty good!
- One main lounge with a bar where all of the programming took place (alcoholic beverages from the bar were not included)
- Lounge for afternoon tea
- Pool that was only filled with water and heated for the polar plunge (1 day)
- Spa for facials and massages
- Large saunas (separate for women and men – except after 9pm when it was co-ed)
- Fitness room with limited equipment – free weights up to 5kgs (better than nothing)
- Yoga room with a yoga program (including yoga on land in the snow)
- Mud room where each passenger had a locker to prep for getting off the ship
- Very limited Wi-Fi that was charged by the MB. The connection speed was extremely slow and it was expensive ($20 for 20MB)
- Plenty of outside deck space for viewing everything
AVERAGE AGE OF PASSENGERS
One of my fears prior to boarding the ship was that I would be the youngest passenger and the average age of the passengers would be much higher than my age. I didn’t want to be on the ship for 10 days and not have anything in common with many of the passengers. Not that more senior passengers aren’t fun, however I wanted to make sure I could hang out with people closer to my age. The cost, the length of the trip, the destination were all reasons I felt would exclude many people my age or younger. Turns out the flash sale helped lower the average age! I met some amazing people on the trip. Many of which I will keep in contact with and even visit during the rest of my leave of absence: think New Zealand for New Year’s! It turns out that this destination brings adventurers from every age! The ship was certainly young at heart so age wasn’t a factor! And all rooms host at least two people. Since I was a solo traveler, I would be paired with another male traveler. Another fear I had was sharing a room with someone that I didn’t get along with. Luckily, I had a very cool roommate from Melbourne, Australia.
CROSSING THE DRAKE PASSAGE: “DRAKE LAKE”
Since the Drake Passage (the body of water between the tip of South America and the Antarctica Peninsula) is one of the most treacherous open bodies of water in the world, it is quite unforgiving, unpredictable and has the potential to be dangerous without the correct planning. My roommate said that only until you cross the Drake Passage and Cape Horn that you earn the right to put your elbows on the table at dinner. Crossing the Drake was pretty much the only part of the trip that I was most uneasy about. I obtained the seasickness patch from my doctor in advance of the trip and also purchased Sea Bands which are natural acupuncture bands to help prevent seasickness. I have heard stories of 7-10 meter swells (20-30 feet) with the boat rocking, meals canceled and everyone ordered to stay in their rooms due to the danger the seas pose. The ship’s captain makes every effort to avoid dangerous waters by sailing around or delaying crossing. But it became evident very quickly that our crossing to Antarctica would be one of the smoothest the crew has ever had. The expedition staff on the ship started to refer to the water as the Drake Lake since the waters were so calm!
This is Part 1 of a multi part series about my adventure to the southernmost continent.
Next up… “A dream come true: Stepping onto the 7th Continent”
