Two maritime charts draped across the navigation table.Both charts show these waters have yet to be surveyed. The captain keeps us on a cautious course using depth soundings. He may be a seasoned Antarctic sailor, but he’s never sailed this channel before today.

A wet snow starts to fall as dusk settles in. Visibility is severely reduced. Huge snowflakes stick to the windows, making it harder to see the icebergs that plug the channel. We luckily have radar, which shows us a safe route to follow. The screen is filled with various blobs of oranges, signifying icebergs. Up ahead, the monitor paints a giant orange blob nearly blocking the channel. Three kilometers separate us from the behemoth. You need to visit this site to learn about antarctica travel adventures.

The captain finally issues a quiet order at one kilometer. The ship is quickly steered from danger, as the helmsman follows his command. Fog and snow cloud our vision, but we see a spooky sight; the tabular iceberg, which can only be seen in the southern ocean, appears. This type of iceberg sports a flat, wide top with sides that rise straight upwards.

The sheer size found me dumbstruck, as only Antarctica was capable of doing. We’d boarded the polar class cruise vessel with the intention of reaching the Antarctic Circle.We’d gone by areas that were terribly remote and removed from life.It took an additional 79 years for someone to winter over on Antarctica after it was found in 1820. Explorers wanted to find the southern pole, and soon perished. They paved the way for scientists. Traveling to Antarctica used to be the reserve of the very rich. You’ll spend as much to cruise to Antarctica as you would to experience the Caribbean, thanks to falling prices.

Some people say that Antarctica looks a bit like a manta ray with a curving tail. The manta ray’s tail extends to within 500 miles of South America. This stretch of seas is called Drakes Passage and is notorious for its turbulent waters.Reaching Antarctica by passing through this area, which has also been called the ‘Slobbering Jaws of Hell’, is difficult, but worthwhile. A reminder to make sure our cabin portholes are tightly latched and that our gear is thoroughly stowed before we retire comes from one caring passenger. Learn about adventure antarctica tours.

After sailing from Ushuaia, in Argentina, we sailed through the Beagle Channel and reached the open ocean. We didn’t see land for the next two days as we were tossed in rough water. The winds reached near gale-force and were always blowing. Passing my fourth deck window, ocean spray shot into the air from waves breaking on the bow. Depending on the level of your seasickness, you could see swells from 15 to 40 feet.

The Southern Ocean greeted us after two days of sailing from South America. The view of a coastal enclave filled my porthole the next morning. The waters were calmed a little by the land.Wispy clouds shielded high mountain tops. Looking like chocolate spikes through the glacier’s frosting, angular ridges poked up. The ice from the continent cascaded into the waters in a choppy, fissure-filled, dirty slab. Looking like the mountains suddenly jumped from the ocean, they seem tall enough to be home to Mt. Everest or the like.

One passenger equated traveling to Antarctica to the labor in childbirth. This continent seems to behave as a bad child would. It?s the coldest, driest, windiest, and highest continent on earth.Death Valley and Antarctica get the same amount of precipitation per year. But, Antarctica stores seventy percent of the fresh water reserves for the planet. Antarctica claims no original human populations, human owners, nor animals that make it a year-round home.

This area of extreme weather makes planning difficult. Sailing routes and shore landings depend on that day’s weather. Even though the guides had warned us to be prepared for waiting, our first scheduled landfall became a reality.The groups we’ve been assigned to meet on deck. I climb into an inflatable boat with the nine other people in my group. Land is a mere quarter mile from the ship. Then, with one step, I join the small group of people who have actually touched Antarctic soil.