Features

Antarctica's Call of the White

30 Jun 2007 by business traveller

Douglas Khoo tries to fully live in the moment as he experiences the beauty and isolation of a continent that has never been home to human beings.

In 1914, Sir Ernest Shackleton’s dream of making the first crossing on foot across the Antarctic ended just 137km off the continent when his ship Endurance found itself trapped in ice. Even though the expedition failed, Shackleton is nevertheless remembered today for having led his entire crew of 27 back to safety through one of the greatest navigational feats in history.

Today, as much as one would like to return from the Antarctic boasting of having survived a harrowing adventure comparable to that of Shackleton’s, the reality is that the journey to one of the world’s most inhospitable regions can be made in relative comfort and even luxury – although the over 30-hour journey getting to and from Ushuaia, Argentina, where we boarded the Sarpik Ittuk last summer, felt exhausting.

But this was a journey my wife and I and a friend felt strongly we had to make before it was too late, and there was little of the ice left to see.

Our trusty vessel, which boasted a capacity for 100 passengers, took only 75 this time, and while it wasn’t exactly luxury cruising, the accommodation and facilities were comfortable. The group consisted mainly of Americans, with a smaller number of Europeans and Latin Americans. We were the only Asians.

Most of us had already set foot on six continents and wanted Antarctica to be the last to complete the collection. We were all concerned about global warming.

We travelled to the Antarctic – the fifth largest of seven continents, with a total surface area approximately half that of the US – from the world’s southernmost city, Ushuaia, across one of the roughest stretches of open water in the world, the Drake Passage. For the fortunate few, who were immune to the famously turbulent and unpredictable passage, the two-day open-sea crossing with no land in sight was a rather lonely time, compensated only by endless sightings of seabirds like the giant petrels and albatrosses gliding across the skies against a dramatic backdrop of rain, sleet and waves over six metres high.

Fortunately, the crew were expert at getting the passengers to interact. They conducted informal talks about the area we were to explore and walked us through the various itineraries. Strolls around the observation deck and meal times provided several opportunities for us to get to know our fellow voyagers more intimately.

From them, we learned that about 20,000 tourists are expected this year on ships like the Sarpik Ittuk whose entry into Antarctica and the North Pole is regulated by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). (At the start of the season, expeditions have to submit to IAATO routes and places to be visited.)

On the third day, we were finally rewarded with clear skies, calmer waters and our first landing on Telefon Bay and Whalers Bay on Deception Island. A hike up the crater on this volcanic island presented exhilarating views of the area, while a walk around the steaming beach at Whalers Bay led us to remnants of its history as seen in the ruins of?abandoned whaling stations, partially destroyed by previous eruptions.

With the landing at Brown Bluff the following day, we were finally able to lay claim to having touched the continent. It was here we were first introduced to thousands of Adelie penguins, all nesting and tending to their newborns. It didn’t take long to conclude that penguins of all breeds are a part of the Antarctic landscape. Bustling about, they never failed to amuse and lived up to their reputation as entertainers of the Antarctic.

But while the penguins are the Antarctic wildlife most have journeyed far and long to meet, the elephant and fur seals with their tranquil, cat-like features were a surprising delight to encounter. Unlike the noisy penguins, one could never tell if they are dead or alive as they lined their sizable bodies along the beach, waking only to relieve an itch in slow motion with their flippers.

Throughout the journey, Antarctica’s simultaneously spectacular, romantic, harsh and foreboding landscape was a constant reminder that its wildlife was but a small part of the adventure. One could lay in watch for hours on deck, enchanted by the intensity of the passing vistas, witnessing the continent appear and disappear in mystical clouds and fog, captivated by the colours, textures and shapes of icebergs that reinforced the beauty and isolation of the place.

Our journey to the continent could only be described as pure magic because it was one filled with a multitude of first-time experiences and encounters, led by an expedition team that was both knowledgeable and passionate about their conservation work. From the first sighting of a towering, tabular iceberg the size of a city, the first ride on a Zodiac, the first step onto a continent that has never been home to any indigenous inhabitants, the first greeting and every other greeting from a penguin in the wild to the first walk on ice that brought us right up to the point where the sea met the ship, it was never necessary to seek out the pleasures of the continent. These kept coming up to greet us.

And with each new encounter, we felt an almost desperate desire to hold on to the moment, realising that it could well be one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments.

FACT FILE

  • Getting there: To Ushuaia in Argentina, we flew Cathay Pacific via Los Angeles, with a night lay over, then to Buenos Aires on LAN Airlines via Lima. From there, we took a domestic flight to our final destination.
  • Quark Expeditions conducts tours to Antarctica and the Arctic. Packages come in nine- or 21-day durations. Log on to www.quarkexpeditions.com for more details.
Loading comments...

Search Flight

See a whole year of Reward Seat Availability on one page at SeatSpy.com

Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Business Traveller March 2024 edition
Be up-to-date
Magazine Subscription
To see our latest subscription offers for Business Traveller editions worldwide, click on the Subscribe & Save link below
Polls