Stepping carefully down the cruise ship’s gangway, I wait for a break in the swelling waves to make my move. After striding in a flash, I was in my small boat. Our team of tourists went bouncing by huge fragments of strikingly blue ice and even a seal dozing off, right after a few minutes. I take the cue as my boat stopped along a rocky beach, putting my legs right above the zodiac to get to the Antarctic Peninsula’s northern area.

Walking along the beach laden with blocks of ice, a marvelous sight accompanied by a pungent guano smell caught my senses. A hundred adelie penguins surrounded me, waddling happily. High up the crags of a slope, their numbers stretched, just about as much as I could bear to see. Needless to say, our first day of landing at the continents know to be the farthest is great and this two day cruise from Ushuaia, Argentina is exceptional even as it holds the dangers of infamously rough seas. This wilderness of crystal glaciers no matter how far or risky has been able to mesmerize tourists all around the world. Further information on Antarctica cruise deals can be found there.

Through the years, numbers of visitors grow and just last year, 26,000 trooped here. Discussions on global sneaky penguins are able to break swirling blue patterns. This may be known to be the coldest continent of all, but then during the austral summer’s December days, the weather is remarkably pleasant. Going way beyond 40s in the area of the peninsula, temperatures can reach beyond freezing. November to March is the time when these trips normally run.

Most of this trip spanning 11 days is spent at sea on a 100 meter ice strengthened cruise ship that is nearly full with about 100 passengers. The ship is quite comfy but then it does not have a hint of fanciness. Most passengers frequent the bar and lounge, but also enjoy what the library and auditorium have to offer. Going on a trip to Antarctica can be done with tiny yachts. We shall leave the port come Friday evening. The next day, is about seeing the breathtaking birds in their flight such as the wandering albatrosses, along with the other birds found in the southern seas traveling around.

In their aim to pass time while cruising the sea, tour guides inject lectures by different experts from a marine biologist, geologist, bird expert, historian and an artist that teaches them how to draw and paint penguins and icebergs. While global warming is always discussed, it came as a surprise that lectures on this did not surface during the trip. You can get resources on exciting Antarctica cruises by visiting this site.

Events in the nearby islands as well as during the landings on the continent is mostly where the highlights of the trip were. Experiences like listening to a calving iceberg’s stentorian cracking boom or perhaps witnessing the destructive movement of an avalanche from afar can be unforgettable sights.So many things, right on the decks of the ship, can be seen. Thanks to a very short span of darkness at this time of year, travelers get the most from their trip.

As you go on the ship deck to behold the wind carved icebergs shimmering in hues of blue or perhaps white, float past your cruise ship, be certain to be dressed appropriately so that you will stay warm, away from the hassles strong winds bring. Tall mountains bejeweled by hanging glaciers is a beautiful landscape we passed through. Sometimes, whales would rise and be seen by many. Fierce colors of red and orange radiate during a long, glorious sunset.

As we got on board the ship again, alarming news greeted us for an old passenger needed evacuation as he got extremely ill. Basically, this means that we need to get an airstrip way back in the Islands in South Shetland after a very long detour overnight. Because of evacuations like this, which can cost tens of thousands of dollars, many tour groups highly recommend that passengers get medical evacuation insurance.

As soon as the passenger was sent to Chile for his evacuation, we found our way to Ardley Island, where Gentoo chicks were being fed by their penguin parents. A slimy strand connects an adult penguin and its young after the adult penguin feeds its young by regurgitating a snack of krill by putting its tiny head inside her own mouth delicately.