Antarctica: The white stuff

By Reed Glenn

> A penguin mud wallow
> Choosing a cruise
> The expedition experience
> Large ships
> My Antarctic Dream cruise
> When to go

Swimming in Antarctica? No, we hadn't all gone crazy from hypothermia, drinking seawater or seasickness crossing the notorious Drake Passage. The water was actually warm—scalding, in fact.

Deception Island, the site of our otherworldly beach, is an active volcano in the South Shetland Islands on the Antarctic Peninsula, the protruding northwest finger of the Antarctic continent that beckons toward the tip of South America. Eons ago, Deception Island's huge volcanic cone collapsed and flooded. Our small expedition ship, the Antarctic Dream, actually sailed into the caldera (crater), which is a natural, safe harbor.

A penguin mud wallow

Before our swim, we hiked to the crater's rim to glimpse the primordial landscape. Afterwards, the ship's crew dug a pool on the beach about 50 feet from the sea. The thermal water bubbled up, making a steamy Jacuzzi—"a penguin mud wallow," one bather remarked.

"OK, everybody in the water!" someone shouted and we dashed barefoot over somewhat painful volcanic rubble to the surf. While some he-men and she-women dove right in, I came to a screeching halt when the frigid water hit my knees. As our ship hovered offshore like a phantom in the mist, its attentive crew stood by us in full polar attire handing out fluffy white towels.

Swimming in Antarctic waters is one quirky perk of an adventure cruise. Other travelers may prefer soaking in an onboard Jacuzzi with martini in hand, watching icebergs glide by. Whichever, visitors to the Great White Continent experience heart-stopping scenery and wildlife, and a feeling of having arrived on another planet.

Endless glaciers and fang-like peaks alternately glow and glower in otherworldly ethereal light. Antarctica is the world's coldest, windiest, iciest, driest and highest continent. Despite this, it teems with life: millions of adorable penguins; sweet-faced Weddell seals; cantankerous fur seals; stealthy leopard seals; grotesquely schnozzola'd elephant seals, whales, seabirds, dolphins and a curious, red-coated rookery of annual summer visitors—us.

Until the establishment of scientific stations during the 1950s, Antarctica experienced no human habitation. The size of the continental U.S. and Mexico combined, Antarctica is the world's largest wilderness area. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, which designated Antarctica as "a natural reserve devoted to peace and science."

Choosing a cruise

Antarctic cruises fall into two categories: small-ship adventure cruises (200 or fewer passengers) and large-ship cruises. Larger vessels (500-plus passengers) are operated strictly on a cruise-only basis, with no landings allowed. The larger ships get no closer than a half mile from shore for wildlife viewing, according to Steve Wellmeier, executive director of the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (www.iaato.org).

The expedition experience

"For many passengers, particularly more active travelers who anticipate walking among penguins, hiking ashore, etc, small expedition ships with ice-class hulls that make two or three landings per day via Zodiac are the way to go," Wellmeier says. (Zodiacs are inflatable, motorized landing craft holding about 10 people.)

Andrew Cockerham of Adventure Life Voyages (www.adventurelifevoyages.com) recommends first identifying what you'd like to do. Choices include hiking, kayaking, camping, cross-country skiing, helicopter tours and even scuba diving. Next come accommodations: basic, really nice or something in between? "That will determine the trip's price," says Cockerham.

Small expedition ship cruises start at about $6,000 per person, depending upon amenities, itinerary and season. Sometimes there are last-minute, half-price bargains during "shoulder seasons" if ships aren't full. For children, a minimum age of 12 to 14 is standard.

By far the most popular and affordable Antarctic itinerary aboard small ships is the Antarctic Peninsula, with 10- to 12-day trips offering stunning scenery, interesting wildlife and research base visits. Nineteen to 20-day itineraries add such stops as the Falkland Islands, South Georgia Island and Elephant Island (popular with fans of heroic explorer Ernest Shackleton). Epic, month-long icebreaker trips go even farther south to the Ross Sea and U.S. McMurdo Base.

Large ships

For those who don't need to go ashore, the big advantage of the larger ships is their greater "creature comforts, roominess, entertainment and amenities," says Wellmeier.

"The itineraries developed by such companies as Princess, Holland America, Crystal and Celebrity rely on known locations that are well surveyed" and well traveled, Wellmeier says, although they don't follow the same routes as the smaller ships. Weather and ice conditions are monitored closely using state-of-the-art equipment, and larger cruise vessels have stabilizers that provide a smoother ride.

Most cruise ships include "Antarctic cruising" as part of a South America itinerary that begins or ends in Buenos Aires, Argentina, or either Valparaiso or Santiago, Chile. Others leave from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. Prices for some 14-day cruises on large ships are a bargain at less than $3,000 per person.

My Antarctic Dream cruise

Our mid-March, 10-night, 11-day cruise aboard the Antarctic Dream departed Ushuaia, Argentina, the world's southernmost city. Ninety percent of Antarctic cruises begin here. From Ushuaia, it's a two-day crossing of the 621-mile Drake Passage, justly famed for the world's roughest seas. It's either like driving through Kansas or riding a nonstop roller coaster, depending upon the weather.

The Antarctic Dream offers 39 double cabins on four decks and several suites-all with private bathrooms and flat-screen TVs. (http://www.antarctic.cl/index.php?lang=en) There were 46 passengers from 14 countries on our end-of-season trip, ranging roughly in age from 30 to 75. During the passage, our three staff biologists gave twice-daily slideshows, including photo tips, and in Antarctica we enjoyed two daily Zodiac "wet" landings of two to three hours apiece.

Educational programs like these prepare visitors to get the most out of what they'll see, to learn the difference between the wandering and light-mantled sooty albatross, or the storm and Cape petrel. We learned about types of whales, other marine mammals and penguins we might spot. First-run movies and nature or historic documentaries played daily in our cabins. In between, we got to know the ship and other passengers, or watched the mist-shrouded sea undulate like molten lead, changing to quicksilver in the sunlight.

We saw thousands of molting juvenile penguins with fluffy tufts of down making them look like French poodles, and a wide variety of seals, seabirds, whales and dolphins. Because it was late in the season, other wildlife had gone to sea. Hiking was gentle, but sometimes slippery, muddy, icy or rocky. Our one continental landing—not islands—was at the G. Gonzalez Videla Chilean base, where we were welcomed by a zillion penguins and 16 friendly Chilean officers, who invited us inside for coffee, cookies and photos.

Seasickness medication is a must, along with agility and good balance both inside the pitching ship and outside negotiating the wobbly stairway to the Zodiacs. The ship supplies parkas and rubber boots, and summer in Antarctica is not that cold. Although it might be 50 below at the South Pole, the sea modifies the weather on the coastal peninsula, where temperatures hover around freezing, although often cooler with wind chill. After every excursion we were welcomed back onboard with a steaming cup of hot chocolate or savory broth.

When to go

Cruises occur only during the Antarctic summer, from November to March. High season is late December to late February. Shoulder seasons are from early November to mid-December and late February to mid-March. The best wildlife is seen during the high season. Early season will have more pack ice and breeding wildlife.

Coloradan Michael Flanagan is a three-time Antarctic cruiser. "And I'm not done!" he emphasizes. "It is totally 'other.' There is a sense of a participation in something unique, and to be presented with this opportunity is marvelous."

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