- There are icebergs drifting past us,
00:00
giant snowy mountains
and whales everywhere.
00:02
Welcome to Antarctica.
00:06
I am headed to Antarctica,
00:52
my number one travel
bucket list destination
00:53
but the adventure of Antarctica begins
00:57
long before you get there.
00:59
First you have to get
to Ushuaia, Argentina.
01:01
It's definitely an adventure hub.
01:03
There are a lot of really
cool things you can do
01:05
launching from this city
01:07
and it's known as the
gateway to Antarctica.
01:09
In Ushuaia I boarded the Seaborn Venture,
01:12
thanks to Seaborn who's
hosting me for this trip.
01:14
I've always heard that
their Antarctic experiences
01:17
But before you get to Antarctica,
01:21
you have to cross the Drake passage.
01:23
The Drake passage is the body of water
01:26
between the southernmost
tip of South America
01:28
and the South Shetland
islands of Antarctica.
01:31
And it's known to have the
roughest seas in the world.
01:33
And the stretch we're gonna be
crossing is nearly 600 miles.
01:37
We're about 13 hours into
crossing the Drake passage.
01:42
I think we hit it around
2:00 AM last night
01:45
because I woke up to things in my room
01:47
starting to slide back and forth.
01:49
But so far so good.
01:51
From what I understand,
01:52
we're having a really easy Drake crossing
01:53
so I've been able to
enjoy it a little bit.
01:55
I was just out on the
bow watching albatross
01:57
soar around the ship, which is incredible.
02:00
These birds have wingspans up to 12 feet
02:02
and for some reason they like
following the wake of the ship
02:06
so they're actually hanging
around us, which is very cool.
02:09
After two days of sailing
across the Drake passage
02:13
seeing the Antarctic continent emerge
02:16
on the horizon was so exciting
02:18
and I was kind of surprised
by how dramatic it was.
02:20
In some ways, it felt like
we'd arrived at another planet
02:23
and the expedition team wasted no time
02:27
getting us out on shore.
02:29
So the way this works is
the ship hangs out offshore
02:30
and then expedition leaders
bring passengers to shore
02:34
in zodiac boats and
the tentative itinerary
02:37
of the sailing is to travel
along the Antarctic peninsula
02:40
making shore landings every day
02:43
dependent on weather conditions.
02:45
The thing I was most
excited about for this trip
02:49
was the wildlife, especially penguins
02:51
because Antarctica is home
02:54
to some of the largest penguin colonies
02:55
in the world, and it did not disappoint.
02:57
Every single shore landing had penguins.
03:00
We saw all different types.
03:02
We saw chin strap penguins,
which are named for the obvious.
03:04
We saw Adelie penguins and
then the most common penguin
03:08
we saw was the gentoo.
03:11
And there were so many special moments,
03:13
like one landing was
at this incredible spot
03:16
called Brown Bluff
where these snowy cliffs
03:18
hung over a beach and there
were penguins everywhere
03:21
and this young gentoo penguin was napping
03:25
with a tuft of feathers in its beak.
03:28
I didn't realize penguins napped like this
03:30
and it's one of the most
precious things I've ever seen.
03:33
We also saw lots of
chicks, even some twins.
03:40
I was giddy getting this
shot, and do you see this?
03:43
This is a baby penguin butt
with this little nubby tail.
03:47
I mean, it was all just magical.
03:51
Something I didn't realize
03:54
is that while adult penguins swim,
03:55
it's important for babies to stay dry
03:58
because their feathers aren't waterproof,
04:00
and that's one of the
biggest survival challenges
04:01
for parents especially when
they get an unusually wet season
04:04
because they not only
need to find a dry place
04:07
to build their nest, but
once the baby is born
04:09
they need to keep it
covered from rain and snow.
04:12
Penguins are really social animals
04:16
and it's fascinating to watch
them interact with each other,
04:18
but as cut as they are as babies
04:21
they go through a really
awkward phase growing up.
04:23
I mean, you think you had some bad looks
04:26
in your teenage years?
04:28
And then you have this one whose parent
04:31
is trying to groom it and
it's running away like, stop,
04:33
you're embarrassing me.
04:36
They also create what's
known as penguin highways
04:37
which are dedicated trails
04:40
that you can see them
all walking on in a line.
04:41
I just made it back to the ship.
04:50
These landings are so amazing.
04:52
It is incredible to see so much wildlife
04:55
in such a remote wilderness.
04:58
To protect all of this
wildlife and the environment,
05:01
there are a lot of rules we have to follow
05:04
to be able to do these shore landings.
05:06
We have to be really careful
05:09
about what we wear and
what we bring on shore.
05:10
And once we're on land,
we can't set anything down
05:13
and before we go out we walk
through these disinfecting tubs
05:16
and this is to make sure that
we're not spreading disease
05:20
from bird colony to bird colony
05:22
or throughout the wildlife
or the environment.
05:25
Very cool experience, and
I'm just so happy to be here.
05:27
The most magical thing
is happening right now.
05:47
We're sailing in this area
where we're surrounded
05:49
by giant icebergs and mountains
05:52
and its snowing the lightest
fluffiest snowflakes
05:54
and we're surrounded by whales.
05:59
They're in every direction.
06:01
I couldn't have dreamed up
a more beautiful setting.
06:03
With such incredible conditions around us,
06:09
the expedition team prepared the zodiacs
06:11
and got us out on the water,
06:13
and this afternoon was
probably my favorite
06:15
of the entire trip.
06:18
We sat on this water that
was like glass in the fog,
06:19
in the snow while humpback
whales surfaced all around us.
06:23
This was the most ethereal
experience of my life.
06:28
The camera can't even do it justice.
06:32
Something very cool and unique
about the Seaborn Venture
07:08
is it has two custom expedition submarines
07:11
and guests can sign up to go
on a submarine experience.
07:15
I didn't even realize
technology was here yet.
07:21
And these submarines can
dive nearly a thousand feet
07:23
giving you the opportunity
to see wildlife, plant life
07:26
in depths of the ocean where
very few humans have ever been.
07:30
Another excursion available
on this sailing is kayaking.
07:53
Early one morning I went
out with the expedition team
07:56
to kayak among icebergs.
07:59
And before this trip,
08:01
I'd never considered cold
weather climates for kayaking
08:02
but it was such a cool experience.
08:05
It's another beautiful day in Antarctica
08:20
and today we're doing
something a little different.
08:23
We're stopping in Port Lockroy
08:25
which has the world's
southern most post office
08:27
and apparently there's
a little gift shop there
08:31
where you can buy postcards
and postage and mail letters.
08:33
Port Lockroy is a former
British military base
08:38
and it's also nicknamed
the Penguin Post Office
08:40
because it's home to a
gentoo penguin colony
08:43
that has made the place their own.
08:45
I just loved seeing them all
08:47
in front of this house with the red door.
08:49
Some of the photos I got here
08:51
felt like they could be a
penguin family holiday card.
08:53
This afternoon we're sailing
through the Lemaire channel
09:05
which is known to be absolutely beautiful
09:07
because it's a very narrow channel
09:10
with steep snowy cliffs on either side.
09:12
The Lamaire channel is
nearly seven miles long,
09:16
and as if it wasn't
special enough on its own,
09:18
a lone orca showed up and
swam alongside the ship
09:21
as we sailed through.
09:25
Something that's been
so handy on this trip
09:47
is the suites on the
ship have drying closets
09:49
so when I get back from excursions
09:53
I can hang all of my wet stuff up in here
09:54
like my gloves and beanie.
09:57
Turn the radiator on here in the back
09:58
and everything gets so toasty and dry.
10:01
The Seaborn Venture is
a luxury expedition ship
10:03
designed for diverse polar environments
10:06
and you can see this reflected throughout.
10:09
The interior design is so beautiful.
10:11
There are maps and explorer theme touches
10:14
all around the ship.
10:16
There's the bow lounge that has screens
10:17
with navigational charts
10:20
and weather forecasts
and the ship's location.
10:21
This is one of my favorite
spots on the ship.
10:24
It's also a great place
to watch for wildlife.
10:26
There are mudrooms where every passenger
10:29
gets a personal locker
to keep excursion boots
10:30
There's a gorgeous sauna, which
was amazing for warming up
10:34
after returning from shore.
10:38
There are lots of heated whirl
pools and a swimming pool
10:40
which are perfect for taking
in the scenery while sailing.
10:42
And of course, there
are so many restaurants
10:45
and dining options to choose from.
10:48
I think my favorite was Sushi in the Club
10:49
but you will never go hungry on this ship.
10:52
And the suites are super spacious
10:54
with balconies walk-in closets
and full-size bathrooms.
10:56
Today in Antarctica, we are
sailing into an active volcano.
11:01
We've made it to Deception Island
11:05
which is the Caldera of the volcano.
11:07
I believe it lasts erupted in 1970
11:09
and they do monitor it
to see how active it is
11:11
and apparently it's low risk right now.
11:14
However, the ship has informed us
11:16
that there is an emergency plan in place
11:18
if the volcano erupts today.
11:20
We're now headed back to Ushuaia
11:57
and I'm so happy to have had
such a wonderful experience
11:59
on this trip and so sad
it's coming to an end.
12:02
Thanks for coming along
with me on this one.
12:05
I've had so many moments on this voyage
12:06
that surpassed my dreams.
12:09
In a way, Antarctica
always felt untouchable.
12:11
I didn't grow up ever
thinking I would come here
12:14
and now that I've made it
12:17
to my number one bucket list destination.
12:18
(upbeat reverb music)
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