Cheers to Antarctica 2023 January
- waterandsalttravel
- Apr 18, 2023
- 4 min read
We sailed to Antarctica with Atlas Ocean Voyages January 2023. Yes, Antarctica! What an amazing adventure. I went for the wildlife...to walk amongst the penguins. However, once you see the Southern Ocean in all its glory you will forever be mesmerized every time you return to your photographs.
The crisp cool bright cobalt-turquoise colors of the icebergs contrast with the deep, deep navy blues of the ocean in the most beautiful way!
To witness enormous icebergs protruding from the water while concealing the hard-to-fathom truth that 80% of their mass is submerged is surreal. The sounds of the gentle rolling thunder as glaciers calve into the sea and their left-over ice fragments clunking on our kayak as we navigated along with porpoising penguins. With fewer than 150 guests, our compact ship cruises through the Lemaire Passage among enormous, 1,000-year-old slabs of ice. The splendor that this seventh continent afforded our eyes and ears was difficult for our brains to comprehend. We sailed with Atlas Ocean Voyages, and were blown away by the exquisite accommodations, luxurious ship, and first-rate service and meals.
Glaciers and icebergs...The brightest blue to the whitest of whites, each shape is distinct and always changing. With every turn in our kayak a new breathtaking scene emerged. We saw massive arches of ice and enormous glaciers with cracks showing where calving will likely occur. As we glided along and amongst the ice, we all quickly took photo after photo as the ice was constantly rotating, moving, bobbing In the sea.
The wildlife, such as the humpback whales fluking, breaching, or spouting, the seals relaxing on the cool ice, and the chitter of the penguins as they wobbled along the penguin highways to their nests—either straight ahead or zigzagging to reach the heights of the rocky terrain to their nests—were all wonderful to witness.
Seals...while kayaking we spotted an Elephant seal gently rolling and hanging out in shallower waters, several leopard seals lounging on sea ice ledges (these feed on our penguin friends) and Weddell seals nestled together for the night while we camped nearby.
As guests of the penguins, we were enamored. We were periodically treated to a penguin belly slide—a more effective manner of returning to the water for food—while they passed, so long as we were quiet and took care not to obstruct their migration routes. We were lucky to spot three types of penguins. The Gentoos, which are unique to Antarctica and have white patches that extend from around each eye over the tops of their heads, are also simple to identify thanks to their orange-tipped beaks and feet.
The Adelies are one of the tiniest penguins, having white bellies, black backs, and entirely black heads except for a circle of white around each eye.
And Antarctica's most common penguins, the Chinstraps- so handsome in their own right with a thin black band under their chin resembling the strap of a helmet.
Most days, we participated in 2 “operations”…landings, zodiac cruises, kayaking and/ or stand up paddle boarding. All were determined by the captain's preference and the weather. Due to limited equipment, kayaking, SUP, and camping required pre-registration and additional fees. Below the Antarctic Circle, the polar plunge was free! Being a little anxious, I did not even feel the ice cold water!
Our first landing on Shetland islands, we were surrounded by penguins and were thrilled to experience them in their habitat. Upon subsequent visits we learned more about the species, including their behaviors, breeding, and types.
An Antarctica flag was at the top of the glacier on our first landing on the continent—it was worth the steep ascent through deep snow for the view and photo with the flag!
When we visited in January, there was unusually heavy snow. It fell nearly everyday and temps hovered around 30-32 degrees. With the provided parkas and knee boots, we were able to move around comfortably. Our days were mostly overcast, emphasizing infinite shades of gray and shapes and textures of the ice which made them really stunning. We did receive a few brief glimpses of sunlight and the waters blue hues complemented the skies.
The expedition team members offered daily educational seminars for orientation, what to anticipate, instructional talks outlining the behaviors of the species we hoped to see, and special photographs depicting Antarctica at its best. The staff was incredibly helpful, courteous, and accessible to answer any of our questions, which made for the smoothest of experiences.
We were very happy campers! A different experience was sleeping in a tent on the snow beside the ocean. After dinner, we boarded the zodiacs and made our way to the shore, where we hiked with our supplies and pitched camp. Before leaving us to enjoy the beauty till the zodiacs arrived at 6 am to take us back to the ship for breakfast and another full day of touring, the expedition team assisted with our setup. The surreal night was spent listening to the frequent, distant thunder of glaciers calving, sporadic whisper of whales blowing, and occasional calling of seals or penguins, all with the quiet hum of the ocean current gently passing by. A group of three seals spent the night next to our tents. We took a peaceful pre-dawn walk and spent a long time just sitting, experiencing the wonder around us.
One of my favorite photographs, no filter...just gorgeousness!
The 11-day journey gave us the opportunity to cross the Antarctic Circle and additional chances to land and see wildlife. I strongly advise traveling on a small ship with a small number of passengers on board because Antarctica only permits 100 visitors at a time on land and no ship with more than 200 passengers may land ANYONE. Make sure your expedition line offers opportunities on the water via zodiacs as well as on land. You cannot get off every ship that sails to Antarctica.
Your writing style makes me feel like I was able to see the great experience through your eyes! THANKS!