Antarctica
SMALL SHIP EXPEDITION | 10 Day Cruise aboard Magellan Explorer with Adventure Life and Antarctica21.
Hello from the White Continent, the Last Continent, my 7th Continent!
On this epic 10-day adventure to Antarctica, I’m sailing aboard the Magellan Explorer with Antarctica21, thanks to the guidance of Adventure Life, who book custom tours. We’ll be sailing from the End of the World, Ushuaia, Argentina, through the mysterious and turbulent waters of the Drake Passage. We’re going to one of the coldest, highest, windiest, driest, and most inhospitable places, and we’re not looking back for a second. It’s time to enjoy spectacular view of Icebergs and Glaciers of the Antarctic Peninsula, not to mention, plenty of wildlife sightings including whales, penguins, seals and birds.
DAY ZERO
The End of the World | Ushuaia, Argentina
My expedition to Antarctica begins at the end of the world, fin del mundo 🌎 as the locals call it. This is the Southernmost city on the planet. ✈️
Here in Ushuaia, Argentina, I take a scenic train ride 🚂to remote areas of the Tierra del Fuego National Park to enjoy in spectacular views and learn how the land of fire 🔥 gets its name. The Andes are every bit as dramatic and beautiful as they are in photos. 🏔️📸 I stop by the famous post office and send myself a postcard to mark the journey. 😉 I even visit the most Southern tip of the continent before heading further from home…
So long South America! Antarctica, here we come. 👋
📍 Ushuaia, Argentina 🇦🇷
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ANTARCTICA | DAY ONE and TWO
THE DRAKE PASSAGE + YANKEE HARBOR
We sail off into the sunset 🌅 aboard the Magellan Explorer and wave goodbye to the End of the World 🌎 . Passing through the Beagle Channel, we’re greeted with a rainbow 🌈 . Feels like a good sign as we approach the dreaded Drake Passage, the only thing that stands between us and Antarctica. 🇦🇶
Sleepiness finds us as we discover our sea legs and move about the ship in Z shaped patterns. We complete our safety routines, study up on Antarctica 🇦🇶 and watch the waves grow taller. We miss the best conditions of the “Drake lake” but we’re far from “Drake shake” and worse, “Drake milkshake.” We spot our first glaciers and lucky us, we make it to Antarctica EARLY. 🙌
We enjoy a bonus landing at Yankee Harbor, where we are greeted by gentoo penguins 🐧 and fur seals 🦭 with dramatic mountains in the distance 🏔️.
I’m enchanted watching the wildlife in their land. They don’t mind us one bit, especially because we give them their distance. Wildlife has the right of way around here, and we respect that. We’re just so pleased to be here and take it all in. 💗📸
📍End of the World (Ushuaia, Argentina) ➡️ Drake Passage ➡️ Yankee Harbor, Antarctica
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ANTARCTICA | DAY THREE
Spert Island and Palaver Point
It’s our first full day in Antarctica 🇦🇶 , and we’re weaving through icebergs in a small zodiac boat. It’s wild to witness this place with my own eyes. My vision is drawn to pops of blue and turquoise among a million shades of icey white. 🧊 The changing lighting conditions make the landscape all the more interesting. This land is far from what I know as the real world, and I’m loving every minute.
Later, we reposition the ship and maneuver our zodiacs to a craggy landing at Palaver Point. We spy on a colony of seals 🦭 and find a new type of penguin 🐧. These penguins have a distinctive line below their face, which is why they are named chinstrap penguins. We trek uphill and watch them waddle around in the most rocky, rugged terrain. ❄️ They hop from rock to rock and slide on their bellies on a fresh blanket of snow as if the world is their slip and slide. The life of a penguin 🐧 looks like fun.
I’m so glad Adventure Life pointed me to this small ship Antarctic expedition. We’re getting the most out of our time on land. Did you know that in Antarctica, only 100 people can disembark at one time? We have less than that many people on our ship so we’re able to maximize our play time. 😉
📍 Spert Island and Palaver Point, Antarctica
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ANTARCTICA DAY FOUR
Lemaire Channel, Peterman Island, Pleneau Bay,The Icerberg Graveyard
“Good morning, good morning my Antarctic 🇦🇶friends,” our expedition leader chirps. It’s our wake-up call aboard the Magellan Explorer ⛴️, but today feels extra special…like Christmas Day, hopping out of bed with so many gifts in front of us.
We have arrived to the famous Lemaire Channel, known as “Kodak Alley” 📸 for its stunning surroundings. It’s breathtaking. We’re spotting whales 🐳 and more whales 🐳 and interesting icebergs. Wow. From the upper deck, I snag my favorite photo capture, a lone crabeater seal and penguin sharing an iceberg, total cuteness. I love how you can see the iceberg below the surface from above. We’re lucky this narrow passage is open for us today, and is as calm and serene as it could be.
I follow the kayakers 🛶 with my camera 🎥 and enjoy seeing tiny humans next to mystical mountains and gigantic icebergs in the background. We step foot onto Peterman Island and make friends with the penguins. They are full of life today, diving into the water and bathing in nature’s swimming pools. 🐧
In the afternoon, we travel over to Pleneau Bay, where the whales 🐳 are giving us a show. How amazing to see them from the water level in our zodacs. When it can’t get any better, we shift gears to explore an impressive Iceberg Graveyard. There are big ones and small ones and geometric ones and jagged ones and smooth ones and textured ones. It’s like mother nature’s art museum, each deserving recognition for creativity and design as if it was curated.
We cap off the day before sunset. I watch a zodiac drive in circles to clear the ice before seventy-some of us jump off a perfectly good ship to experience the polar plunge. Crazy? Yes. Stupid? Maybe. Worth It? Totally. 😉
Hard to believe this was just one day in Antarctica!! 🇦🇶✈️ Mind blown, heart full, wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. 💗
📍 Lemaire Channel, Peterman Island and Pleneau Bay
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ANTARCTICA DAY FIVE
Neko Bay + Fournier Bay
#sponsored Feelin’ cute (and warm) in Antarctica 🇦🇶! #GoFarFeelGood
Preparing for this trip, I was concerned about the weather. 🧊🥶 I mean, it’s Antarctica!
And yes, it was cold. Freezing at times. But maybe not as cold as I expected. Teaching snowboarding in Colorado 🏂, I haaate being cold. So for this trip, I was determined to be prepared for the weather. 👊
On my expedition with Antarctica21, we wore our own jackets or you could rent one. They recommend bringing a gortex jacket in case it rains, a bummer result of global warming. I packed a Jules pink @obermeyer down coat and ski pants 😉, hat, gloves, @burtonsnowboards face mask / hood, @oakley goggles, and @smartwool merino wool socks 🧦 and base layers 👚—ready for anything! I packed these cute waterproof boots 🥾 by @merrell which use @Solarcore thermal aerogel foam for warmth (born from NASA-developed technology!) which were super warm…though Antarctica21 provided tall rubber boots for all of our landings (they had to be sanitized every time we left the ship). For packing, compression bags were necessary and @eaglecreek packing cubes and shoe sacs helped me stay organized! 🙌
When I first discussed this trip with Adventure Life, who specialize in organizing custom trips, I learned this kind of trip is not for everyone.
Why? It’s cold! It takes a long time to get there. Also, you don’t always know what to expect. If you’re someone who likes to have a plan and follow the plan, this may not be the trip for you. Around here, Mother Nature calls the shots. The itinerary said something like: Days 1-2, cross the Drake Passage 🌊. Days 3-7 explore Antarctica. We didn’t have a ton of detail. We trusted our experienced captain and expedition crew to design the itinerary based on the current weather conditions. Just like all travel, but even more so with a trip like this, you have to be flexible. And warm! 🙌
Antarctica, game on!
Would you like to visit 🇦🇶?
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Special Thanks
Produced in partnership with the Kazakhstan US Embassy.
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