An Antarctica cruise is like no other experience I have ever had! I have had some pretty amazing adventures all around the world, but Antarctica has to be my favourite travel destination.
And now that I have been super lucky to have been on an 11 day Antarctica expedition cruise….it is top of my list to go back and do another one! Why? Because it was so epic I want to experience it all again!
So, here are 10 Reasons to add Antarctica to the top of your bucket list.
1. Disconnect and slow down
Cruising to Antarctica, you begin to feel very distant from your everyday life… traffic, work, your emails, social media, the news, what you are going to have for dinner. You are sitting in awe of the dramatic landscape before you, or watching whale play from the outside deck, you are in the moment and all these other things seem to fade away. Someone once told me Antarctica was the medicine they needed, they left all their troubles, baggage and worries behind in the Drake Passage, and returned feeling revived and free.
2. Penguins!
King Penguins in the Antarctica
I don’t think I could ever get tired of penguins. On an Antarctica cruise you will no doubt get to see many different species of penguins, and thousands of them. I remember fondly watching them fight of stones to build their nests with, waddling and stumbling through a snow storm, and pecking at my boot as I sat in complete silence just watching.
3. It is more than a holiday, it is an adventure, an experience
Perhaps it is due to its wild remoteness, basically an untouched land with no towns or cities, just your expedition cruise vessel, and odd research station or two, and the great mass that is the continent of Antarctica, it gives you the feeling that you are on a wild adventure.
4. Best holiday pictures ever!
Responsible Viewing of Wildlife
The wildlife, the scenery, it is all so photogenic it is hard to take a bad photo! If the day is overcast, you might get moody greys with dramatic blues blinging from the iceberg. Or layers and layers of different shades of white. Your photos seem like art on an Antarctica voyage.
5. Push your boundaries, be bold, do something that challenges you
Camping on Ice
Walking up the snow-covered ridge, sitting on the edge of a zodiac as you whizz along the front of a glacier, overnight camping on the ice, kayaking with whales, or braving the frozen waters with a polar plunge! There are so many exciting (but safe) activities to experience, that will give you a sense of adventure (you don’t have to be climbing Everest). Go with a friend, or go solo, it doesn’t matter, you definitely make new friends on a voyage to Antarctica.
6. Learning
There is so much to learn and discover on an Antarctica voyage and your expert expedition team onboard will be making presentations onboard to share their wealth of knowledge and experience too… stories of early Antarctica exploration, the race to the South Pole, the wildlife and research. If you want to get involved even more, select a voyage that offers a Citizen Science programme onboard.
7. Landscape
Landscape in the Antarctica
Wow! Wow! Wow! What can I say, but the landscapes are out of this world.
8. Unique
Yes, the mountains are dramatic in Patagonia, there are fascinating penguin species in New Zealand, you have cruised the glaciers in Alaska, Antarctica has all of these combined, yet it also feels different…unique.
9. The Future
We are seeing climate change impact our world. Being in Antarctica definitely makes you think about our impact on this, and hopefully you will journey to Antarctica and be inspired to help make some change for our world. We don’t know what the future holds for Antarctica, but the chance is real that it will not be the same in the future.
10. Being there feels so unreal, it is actually too hard to describe!
Experience it yourself!
I can talk about the out of this world landscapes, the thousands of adorable penguins, the sheer joy of cruising past towering icebergs and glaciers on a zodiac…but it really doesn’t do it justice, doesn’t encompass it all….ask anyone that has been, and they will probably say the same…
Check out our large range of small ship expeditions cruises to Antarctica.
