Antarctica

The Ultimate Bucket List Destination for Many People

A trip to Antarctica is the most beautiful trip on the planet. Truly, you’ve got to have experienced it once in your life.

Rugged landscapes with glaciers, floating icebergs and animals such as penguins, whales and orcas make this a matchless journey. Yes, it’s expensive. But there are ways around that.

Antarctica (also known as the South Pole), was officially only discovered by humans 200 years ago, the final large undiscovered land. It’s uninhabitable for humans, really, but it’s paradise for whales, penguins and seals. They’re remarkably tolerant to humans.

The rich fauna here is thanks to its large presence of krill, tiny crustaceans that form the most beloved food source for many animals. Since recently, tourists can visit this icy paradise.

Ship or Plane?

The beauty of Antarctica. ©Corno van den Berg

These days, this area that has been declared a nature reserve has become quite easily reachable by boat for tourists from South America and Oceania. And increasingly by plane as well. But despite this, it’s still a relatively exclusive travel destination.

Most tourists spend several weeks on a ship and making many excursions, either by zodiac (a small rubber boat) or on foot. You can get here from South America or New Zealand. And you can do a day trip from Australia, where a Boeing 747 takes daily flights for excursions to Antarctica, where you can soar over the icy landscape.

Antarctic Peninsula

The Antarctic Peninsula.

One of the highlights of Antarctica is the peninsula, where it’s a lot less cold than it is on the south pole. In summer, some parts are even free of ice, this areas is mountainous and popular with researchers.

Scientist view the Antarctic Peninsula as a mountain range, and practically an extension of the Andes in South America. As the start of the peninsula you’ll find the 4.897-meter-high Vinson massif.

You’ll find large colonies of Adelie penguins, gentoo penguins and chinstrap penguin on the Antarctic Peninsula. At Brown Bluff you’ll find mostly Adelie penguins and gentoo penguins. And the remarkable harbour of Port Lockroy, a post office and museum, is surrounded by a colony of gentoo penguins. The distance between the Antarctic Peninsula and South America is 997 kilometers.

Campbell Island

Campbell Island is a volcanic island with unique flora and fauna. It was a notorious place for seafarers in the olden days. To help castaways who were shipwrecked, the government placed sheep and goats on this island, but they all died. Its vegetation consists of tussock grass and many large herbs known as megaherbs.

It is home to king penguins, yellow-eyed penguins, macaroni penguins, gentoo penguins and yellow-crested penguins. It is also the breeding ground for several species of albatross, Mollymawk, fulmars and cormorants (including the Campbell cormorant).

Mount Erebus

Mount Erebus.

The most famous of the volcanoes is Mount Erebus (3.794 m), one of the five volcanoes in the world that as a lake of lava in its crater. The massive chimneys of ice, more formally known as ice fumaroles, are a bizarre sight, towering up to ten meters high and formed by gasses and steam.

The other three volcanoes on Ross island are dormant. The Ross Sea is the gateway to the heart of Antarctica, as the most southerly anchorage in the world is on Ross Island.

Ross Island

McMurdo Station op Ross Island.

Tourist come here to visit the island and the Ross Ice Sheet, and also to leave footprints on the eternal ice. The transantarctic mountains on this island are very imposing, and consists of four volcanoes. You can also find the huts of the famous explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton here.

Ross Dependency

This area has been claimed by New Zealand and houses a research site called Scott Base. You can visit this area, it’s 3.000 kilometer south of New Zealand. You can take a ship here, but most travel is done by plane.

Macquarie Island

A Macquarie penguin on Macquarie island.

Macquarie Island is famous for its many penguin colonies. There are four types of penguins here including the Macquarie penguin, the rockhopper, the king penguin and the gentoo penguin.

The island is 34 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide, and this small island was placed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. It’s considered part of Tasmania, which in turn is part of Australia. You need a permit to visit this island, which you can easily obtain as a tourist in either Tasmania or elsewhere in Australia, or even via the island’s website. This is done to limit the amount of tourists on this island.

Auckland Islands

Penguins on the Auckland Islands.

The most interesting islands of the sub-antarctic islands south of New Zealand are the Auckland Islands. This ancient shipwreck graveyard is now the breeding ground for seventeen kinds of albatrosses, four kinds of petrels and the rare Auckland teal.

This is also where the world’s southernmost forests grow. These forests consist mostly of f southern rata, one of the most strange-looking trees on the planet. All of the islands are protected land.

Animals of Antarctica

The rich fauna is due to its large presence of krill, tiny crustaceans that form the most beloved food source for many animals. Since recently, tourists can visit this icy paradise.

Whales and dolphins

If you take a cruise here you will encounter countless animals. Including whales such as blue whale, humpback, southern right whale and sperm whale, minke whale, minke whale, fin whale and sei whale.

But also various types of dolphins such as killer whale, hourglass dolphin, southern black dolphin and southern bottlenose dolphin. And various types of seals.

A Weddell seal on Antarctica.

Penguins

You will see thousands of penguins on your journey. And also various types. Including the roguish gentoo penguin, emperor penguin, king penguin, macaroni penguin, rock hopper, chinstrap penguin, Adélie penguin and Royal penguin

A cruise ship on Antarctica.

The Size of Antarctica

Antarctica is as large as its reputation makes you believe. It’s a vast area (including surrounding islands) that doesn’t belong to any country, though many countries try to lay a claim to parts of it. This is not because of the ice or natural beauty, but because of the natural resources that can be found here, like oil and gas.

The landscape is untouched and very wild: it’s intersected with glaciers, mountain peaks, fjords and icebergs. There are natural works of art everywhere, the wind plays sculptor with the ice and snow. It’s considered the final frontier of the ‘real’ wilderness in the world, because it’s not yet in the grasp of humankind.

Discovered by the Dutch

Accepted is that Antarctica was discovered only 200 years ago, but it’s possible that Dutchman Dirck Gerritsz was the first there. He was an explorer and lived from 1544–1608. According to the log book of the merchant Jacob Lemaire from Amsterdam, captain Gerritsz and his crew saw Antarctica from their ship in 1599. They were trying to navigate their ship Het Vliegend Hert along the bottom of South America to find a trade route to India.

But bad weather caused the battered ship to drift aimlessly for five weeks, taken further and further south by the wind. Though this account of events isn’t quite taken as fact in the history books, despite Jacob Lemaire’s good reputation at the time. He was on board the first ship, as was Cornelisz Schouten, to pass Cape Horn in 1616, a journey that confirmed that Tierra del Fuego is an island.

Explorers have always been drawn to Antarctica, wanting to map this continent, or be the first to reach the South Pole, or find the South Magnetic Pole.

These explorers include many names that are now world renowned, and have seas, mountain ranges, or other landmarks named after them.

Modern Explorers

These days, this area that has been declared a nature reserve has become quite easily reachable by boat for tourists from South America and Oceania. And increasingly by plane as well. But despite this, it’s still a relatively exclusive travel destination.

Most tourists spend several weeks on a ship and making many excursions, either by zodiac (a small rubber boat) or on foot.

Video: The beauty of Antarctica

Best Time for Antarctica

You can get here from South America or New Zealand. And you can do a day trip from Australia, where a Boeing 747 takes daily flights for excursions to Antarctica, where you can soar over the icy landscape.

South America

For South American areas, including the Antarctic Peninsula, the best time is November to March. December and January are considered peak season, when there is about 20 hours of daylight to enjoy. The rest of the time there are mainly scientists in this area.

Oceania

Because there is no peninsula on this side of Antarctica, the best travel time starts in December here.

Be Aware

Antarctica’s ecosystem is very vulnerable. The rising popularity of tourism here means that the chance of the spread of disease, as well as pollution, is increased. Make sure you find out from your touring company how they manage this, so that your visit has minimal impact on this landscape and it's animals.

In summer the weather is less changeable, and in the ‘tourist area’ the temperature lingers around 0 °C. The maximum is around 5 °C, and in winter it can be -10 to -30°C.

An iceberg on Antarctica

Guide for Every Month

November and Early December

– The winter ice melts and splits, with causes huge icebergs to form. The landscape is remarkably white and clean.
– Penguins and other seabirds start mating, showing extraordinary courtship rituals.
– You’ll see many seals on the ice.
– The limited amount of flowers that grow on some of the islands will flower.
– Elephant seals start marking their territories, often with many displays of dominance.

Mid December to End of January

– Many penguin chicks are born.
– You can see the Antarctic fur seal pups, for example on South Georgia.
– More places become accessible with the retreating of the ice.
– This is the warmest time of the year, with temperatures above °C during the day.

February and March

– Best time to spot whales.
– Penguin chicks start exploring.
– You’ll see tons of Antarctic fur seals, along the Antarctic Peninsula amongst other places.
– Due to the receding ice, it’s easier for ships to reach the most southern parts.

Visiting Antarctica

South America

Most ships leave from Ushuaia (Argentina) en Punta Arenas (Chile). The trip to Antarctica itself takes around two days. Flights also leave from here.

New Zealand

There are flights from Christchurch.

Australia

There are flights from Sydney and Melbourne.

All 9 Bucket List Tips in Antarctica