Featured image: A woman celebrates making it to Antarctica / Photo by twenty20photos

Visiting the ‘last great nature preserve’ on our planet

By Carolyn Ray, Editor-in-Chief, JourneyWoman

Years ago, in Ushuaia, Argentina, I stood at the port and watched large expedition ships cross the Beagle Channel, heading out into the open sea toward Antarctica. The ocean felt limitless—I could only see water and small outcroppings of rock, far into the horizon. Even there, the multitude of seals, birds and wildlife was astonishing. I can only imagine what it would be like in the world’s seventh continent, in a place that is regarded as the last great nature preserve on our planet. 

The size and scale of Antarctica is massive. Covering some 14,000,000 kilometres, Antarctica is roughly the size of the United States and Mexico combined. As far as the eye can see, it is almost completely covered by a layer of ice, accumulated over millions of years through snowfall. This layer of ice can be nearly three miles thick and contains 90 percent of the ice on Earth. If it was to melt, it would raise sea levels worldwide by over 200 feet. (Source: NASA). Antarctica is dedicated to science and peace, and is protected by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. 

Visiting comes with a responsibility to create as little impact as possible.   

The last pristine place on earth

When we hosted our virtual Q&A session on the Antarctic, it was packed with information and advice from women who have been there, and questions from those who haven’t. The pandemic may have hampered the timing of this once-in-a-lifetime experience, but it hasn’t stilled the adventurous spirit of the women on our calls.

Why women should go

Antarctica, the sometimes forgotten seventh continent, is hailed as the ultimate adventure for those who seek to experience a clear, rugged landscape and observe vibrant species of wildlife, untouched by time and untamed by humankind. To witness a world so remote and so alluring is to capture a memory of nature that lasts a lifetime.

To learn more about Antarctica from an expert, I spoke with Franny Bergschneider, a lifelong adventurer who now leads expeditions at Wild Women Expeditions. Not only has she been exploring the Arctic and Antarctic since 2014, but she has guided extensively in Svalbard, Iceland, East and West Greenland, the Canadian Arctic and the Northwest Passage.

“I think one of the reasons our lives are difficult is because of this separation we’ve insisted on from the rest of the natural world and our insistence on the primacy of human life. Human history is but one dimension of natural history, it’s not the other way around.” 

—Barry Lopez, Author and nature writer

Getting to Antarctica

Most visitors take a ship to reach the Antarctic Peninsula, but it is possible to fly, which a small percentage do. It takes approximately two days by ship to reach Antarctica, and most cruise or expedition ships depart from a gateway port in South America, such as Ushuaia, Argentina, Punta Arenas, Chile or Montevideo, Uruguay. A limited number of cruises depart from Hobart, Australia, or Lyttlelton or Bluff in New Zealand.

Start Planning Your Arctic Expedition

According to Bergschneider, the travel time is time well spent because visitors can decompress from travel, and learn about conservation, the wildlife and the natural environment from experts.

“During those two days, you’re learning about the environment that you’re about to experience, you’re sitting in community with your fellow shipmates, you’re taking time to reflect and shut off from the world before you have this completely consuming experience that is going to change you. Because there’s nowhere else like it in the world,” she says.  

“Once you’re there, everything else falls away, because there’s no internet. I always recommend that people actually don’t pay for internet and use this as a complete disconnect. It’s such a special experience because it’s not like any other trip. You’ll be on the ship for the whole time. So, you won’t be moving around hotels, you’ll have your little safe—your little cabin, and you don’t have to make any choices. 

But when you’re there, you’re given this gift and this opportunity to disconnect, and you know where the meals are every day, you know that you’re meeting your group before dinner, and you all gather in the main lounge and the information is given about what you’re doing tomorrow. And there’s a daily program, so you’re informed, but you don’t have to worry about the timing, because there’s announcements leading you there. And so, you just go where you’re supposed to, and you show up when you’re supposed to, and then all you have to do is just absorb the experience and take it in, which is such a special gift. Not very often do we have an experience like that.”

When to go

Although some cruise lines offer trips year-round, most travel happens in the Arctic summer, between November and April, when temperatures are between 32 and 41 degrees Fahrenheit. 

According to the International Association for Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO), an organization founded in 1991 to advocate and promote the practice of safe and environmentally responsible private-sector travel to the Antarctic, visitors represent over 100 different nationalities each season, and in 2019-2020, the last full year of available international travel data, the IAATO says that the largest group of visitors to the Antarctic was American (36%), followed by China and Australia (both 11%). Seven percent of visitors were from the UK, and 6% from Canada.  (Source: IAATO) 

Preliminary estimates from the IAATO in May 2021 suggest approximately 60,000 people are due to visit Antarctica between November 2021 and April 2022. Prior to 2020, IATTO has envisaged continued growth in Antarctic visitor numbers, and expect this trend to continue post-pandemic.

Can you leave the ship?

“The rule of thumb is if you want to leave the ship, you have to go on a ship that has 200 people or less.” Bergschneider says. “And then, you’re allowed to land about 100 people onshore at a time. Usually there are two excursions every day, a land excursion or a zodiac excursion. And if the excursion is a land excursion, it also will split the ship into two, half the people will land, half the people will zodiac cruise, and then they’ll swap.”

“For women who are not young, who are my age or older, that I’ve had so many conversations with women who come and they say to me: ‘Seeing you drive this zodiac into the beach at South Georgia made me realize that I’m living in my comfort zone and I need to step out of it more often.’ And that—it gives them that opportunity to feel safe and empowered to take risks and take up space and get out of their comfort zone and do those things that they’ve always wanted to do.”

Drake shake or Drake Lake?

On our call, many women expressed concern about seasickness and having that ruin their trip. There were questions about flying to Antarctica. According to Bergschneider, flying the Drake is an option only if you have a certain amount of time, like a week. 

“This is a once in a lifetime trip,” she says. “People plan this trip five years in advance sometimes, so, if you have to fly the Drake because of timing, that is understandable, or if you just have extreme anxiety that you can’t function because you’re worried about the Drake passage. However, I would encourage people whenever possible to sail the Drake. Because it’s the experience, it’s like you’re living in the footsteps of these explorers.  They didn’t do it with the equipment we have, but the remoteness of the place sinks in.” 

Can you still have the full experience with mobility issues?

Some women on our call have recently had hip replacements and were concerned about getting in and out of zodiacs. “There are staff to help you, and we’re always doing the sailor grip when you’re in and out of the zodiac,” Bergschneider says.

For another perspective on mobility, I asked travel writer Cory Lee about his travels to the Antarctic in January 2020 with Holland America. Since it was a larger ship (over 500 people), he couldn’t set foot (or wheel) on it. 

He says: “When I rolled out of my stateroom and went outside to view the beauty of Antarctica for the first time, I was in disbelief. I had never seen anything quite so spectacular. There was a huge mountain of ice and it towered above the cruise ship. Tears filled my eyes and I became overwhelmed with emotion at the fact that I actually made it to my seventh continent. My journey to reach all seven continents certainly wasn’t an easy one, but in that moment, I immediately knew that it was worth it. 

Antarctica as a wheelchair user may sound like a crazy idea to most people. It’s a journey that requires endurance, a willingness to go where relatively few have gone, and a tough stomach if you’re crossing the Drake. But for those who choose to forge ahead and visit Antarctica anyway, it is truly the experience of a lifetime and it’s one that I’ll certainly never forget.

 I saw sights that were more spectacular than anything I’ve ever laid eyes upon. I saw more whales, penguins, and seals than I can even count. And I truly had the experience of a lifetime. I honestly don’t feel like I missed out on anything by not going ashore.”

How does the Antarctic differ from the Arctic?

“The Antarctic is sensory overload, it’s overwhelming,” says Bergschneider. “The landscape is ginormous and beautiful, and it is, like, that moonscape. And so, you’re just completely absorbed in it.”

“The North Pole is water and ice surrounded by land. And the land is owned by different countries, so there’s the Canadian Arctic, the Russian Arctic, like, Alaska, Norwegian Arctic, Iceland, Greenland, all those places. And so, they all have, like, land in the Arctic. But the North Pole is sea ice, the solid sea ice that’s shifting and moving. So, there’s no land. Whereas the Antarctic is land and ice surrounded by water. And in the winter, the continent will actually grow double in size because the sea ice will freeze around it. 

And what’s really exceptional about Antarctica is there’s no Indigenous population. So, everywhere else in the world, there is an Indigenous population except Antarctica. It’s inhospitable in the winter, so no one can really survive there. Some people would live on a base, like McMurdo or over wintering bases, and many people don’t spend the winter there. A few people do, but not many. And it’s a continent that is dedicated to its values—nobody owns it, and it’s dedicated to peace, science, and conservation.”

Resources

Curious about your cruise or expedition ship operator?  The Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators (AECO) works for responsible, environmentally friendly and safe expedition cruise tourism in the Arctic. To search for members visit this link. 

Check out the wildlife guidelines from the IAATO: Among other things, this includes regulations and restrictions on numbers of people ashore; staff-to-passenger ratios; site-specific and activity guidelines; wildlife watching and emergency medical evacuation plans. More than 100 companies and organizations from across the world are members and adhere to the principle that “planned tourism activities will have no more than a minor or transitory impact on the Antarctic environment.” For visitors, it also publishes guidelines on everything from waste to seal watching. Check them out here.  

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