“It was stormy for two days”. Diary of a traveler who visited Antarctica for the first time

TV presenter, traveler, traveled to 59 countries around the world

Travel is my special love, I can’t live without it. I love discovering new countries and unusual places on our planet. January is especially rich in travel. Every year I choose the most unusual and distant destination and set off on an adventure. This year my choice fell on snowy and deserted Antarctica.

Drake Passage

The start of the trip was windy Ushuaia, the southernmost city on Earth, sometimes referred to as the edge of the world. It was from here that our ship set sail. But first we had to cross the Drake Passage.

It is not for nothing that I say “cross” and not “swim across” – the roaring forties showed themselves exactly as described in the books. For two days we were stormy, so most of my companions were lying in their rooms with plasters from the rocking. And I enjoyed the ride with the great joy of Bambi’s childhood, watching everything that wasn’t attached to the cabin fly around: cups, umbrellas, personal belongings.

Once, at a dinner party with the captain, we were rocked so much that the tables went flying and there was a ringing sound as the entire glass rack shattered. But we watched a spectacular picture of big waves washing the windows. I immediately remembered the footage of Cousteau diving into the Mariana Trench. These emotions simply cannot be described, you have to experience them yourself.

The appearance of the whale

We had an expedition on zodiacs, special inflatable rubber boats with a rigid bow to break through ice floes. Through blocks of ice we traveled to large icebergs across the ocean. Suddenly, a ridge of some large wildlife flashed across the mirror-like surface of the water.

Imagine how our breath was taken away, because there was an iceberg on the right (it is peculiar for them to turn over sometimes), and something alive on the left. And this “something” can easily wag its tail, form strong waves and overturn our boat. A naturalist (a member of the expedition, an Antarctic nature expert) recognized several whales near us.

We sailed on and came across another boat. Cheerfully throwing snowballs with our “neighbors”, we approached them and made a stop together. After warming up a bit, we headed towards the ship, and while moored 10 meters away from us, the whale showed itself in all its glory!

We were still on small zodiacs, the snow was falling as heavily as ever, we only had time to wipe our faces to make sure we didn’t miss anything interesting. When we saw this picture, we were breathless – it was a humpback whale – the largest in the world! It can be up to 17 meters long. We felt both fear (“if only it did not make sharp movements!”) and delight at the same time.

Captive penguins

On the next landing on the mainland my expedition group went to the top, and I was the last and unwittingly a little behind them, and… I was blocked by penguins.

Because this is their territory, there’s a rule on Antarctica: give way to penguins. If you see them passing by, you have to stand still so that they don’t get scared and go on their way. But in my case it was different. The birds surrounded me and kept me with them for quite a long time. And I watched them spending time by the water.

It is especially entertaining to watch them dive in and come to land a meter away from me. I was lucky to meet them, they were rare for those places penguins, guests of the coast. One even rubbed his beak on my glove, I froze… but then I realized – I had to run uphill to the others, you can not lag behind, otherwise you will be left without communication. But it’s a great cardio workout!

Obligatory disinfection

Another one of the surprising facts that struck me is the mandatory disinfection. Before disembarking on the mainland or islands, you have to clean your clothes. When we went down to the boat, we went through a tray with a special liquid and rinsed everything that would come into contact with the surface at the landing site. On the mainland they are very environmentally conscious, so there should be no foreign microorganisms or crumbs left on things. Otherwise, it will lead to disturbance of the environment.

A party of sea elephants

Once when I landed on the mainland and walked along the shore, I saw fed and tired seals weighing 600 kg on average lying everywhere on the coast.

I immediately realized that something was going on here. And immediately I noticed a sea elephant – even bigger and heavier than its neighbors. It turned out they were having a fight. The whole situation reminded me of the morning after a bachelor party. But I was even more surprised when I heard the sea elephant snoring. These huge mammals make incredibly impressive sounds.

Дива природа

There’s a lot to see in the wilderness! For example, I’ve witnessed penguins walking paths and letting others know that a harbor seal has appeared somewhere nearby near the water. And then watched it try to drag a penguin cub away. On a previous expedition, a harbor seal mistook one of the team members for a penguin and dragged him underwater. Fortunately, it was all right.

Volcanic Island

I had the opportunity to visit a bunch of four young volcanoes. When we sailed up to the island and landed right into the icy water, I could see black sand on the bottom. After climbing up to the crater, I walked along the shore and waded ankle-deep in the water.

I was walking and looking at some rare and oddly shaped mushrooms, and suddenly I saw a huge skeleton five meters away from me. It was a recently eaten seal, and a huge bird was sitting on its ribs and nibbling on the dried remains. I was completely immersed in the atmosphere of this island.

A fascinating fact was revealed to me on the trip

I was surprised by the fact that you can not sail Antarctica in a circle completely. You can only make a one-way approach from the town of Dunedin in New Zealand to the Argentine city of Ushuaia. The whole trip would take 30 days, but there is simply no route around Antarctica on the other side of the mainland. Some say there is a route along part of the wall that surrounds the earth. Fans of the flat earth theory can rejoice.

White on white

The nights in Antarctica are incredible. We set sail from Ushuaia in the afternoon as it started to get dark. That’s how we sailed through our first night. It started to get light early, and even when it was time for the next night, it was still quite light around.

The thing is that polar days and polar nights happen regularly in Antarctica. At first it is hard to get used to this regime – sometimes it can be light at night or dark all day long. If you don’t look at your watch and calendar on your phone, you can just get lost in time.

It was an amazing journey into summer, from which I got unforgettable emotions that I would advise everyone to experience. And it didn’t matter that we were stormed in the Drake Passage, it would have been even boring without that. Antarctica was just a small part of my big trip in the new year.