Antarctica Tour: Exploring the Seventh Continent

Patagonia has gained a reputation for staggering beauty amidst dramatic landscapes. Mountain peaks pierce the skyline, vast plains sweep across the landscape, and the waters along the western edges of the Pacific lap against the chiseled corners of ancient fjords, hidden glaciers, and pebbled shorelines. The city of Punta Arenas in Chile attracts visitors to the coastline along the Strait of Magellan. You can settle into the comforts of your luxury hotel with the remainder of the day at your leisure to explore the streets of the active city established more than 150 years ago.

The morning may fill with seawater's scent and the colorful sounds emanating from the Mercado Municipal on 21 de Mayo. Your airport transfer will drop you at the airport for your flight to King George Island on a specialty plane preferred in areas with short runways. The island supports year-round global bases and summer research stations, and brightly painted chalets decorate the hillside and contrast with the blanketing snow.

The polar landscape highlights nature's stunning qualities while also exemplifying the raw dangers of the scenery's natural beauty. The sea has a frigid temperature punctuated by the intermittent floating icebergs. The snow may crunch beneath your feet as you walk along the pathways between the bases, giving way to irregular patches of slick ice. Your cabin will have a picturesque view from the private window. The boat sets into the fjords and waterway situated between the South Shetland Islands for your first day of exploring the majesty of the Antarctic waters.

In the morning, the sunlight reflects against the sprawling snow and ice. Elephant Island and its unique environment have supported over 350 different species of mosses and lichens. There is enough warmth and moisture in the summer months to naturally maintain the moss, with the greenery growing along the banks up to a millimeter before freezing during the dark and cold winter. The long winters have preserved the mosses and provide paleoclimate scientists essential information on the study of climate in the region and a history of the evolution of the greenery.

The boat will sail around the floating icebergs. The captain and different lecturers on board the ship provide interesting facts about the floating frozen bodies of water. The icebergs begin as snowfall, which forms the glaciers around the Antarctic continent. Make your way by zodiac boat to Penguin Island, one of many small islands attached to the South Shetland atoll. The small, volcanic island has an easily scaled summit, reaching nearly 550 feet above sea level for views of the surrounding seas. Famous British explorer Edward Bransfield named the island after the local population of chinstrap and adélie penguins.

Today, you can watch as Antarctic terns swoop over the water as the zodiac approaches the shoreline. The bird has white plumage with a sharp head and can grow to 15 inches long. They chirp as they fly over the water in search of mollusks, marine worms, and berries to eat around their northern breeding grounds. You can hear the adélie penguin colony before you spot them congregating around the coastline. White markings surround their eyes and the base of their bill. Their iconic appearance resembles a tuxedo with a white belly and a black back and neck.

The islands around the Antarctic continent shape the water and the ice shelf. One of the most famous of the South Shetland Islands is Deception Island, a collapsed yet active volcanic cone. Cliffs protect the narrow entrance to frame an island's edge with a diameter over seven miles long. Underwater volcanoes keep the bay from forming ice. More than half the terrain represents the geothermal activity, producing steam pockets from the boiling water as the magma cools. The freezing temperatures of the region keep eruptions in the area unpredictable.

Deception Island's western area contains Kroner Lake, the only geothermal lagoon on the continent. The highest peak, known as Mount Pond, rises over the eastern edges of the island. Argentina and Spain have permanent research facilities on the island to continue their studies of geothermal activity and vegetation. You walk carefully along the landscape, noticing the lunar consistency of dark volcanic sand and rocks instead of the familiar expanse paved with snow and ice. The surreal scenery grows even more unique when you find the penguin colonies roosting near the shoreline in view of the desolate, black hills.

After breakfast, set out on another zodiac to visit Livingston Island, which brings the highest point of the South Shetland atoll. The western end of the peninsula contains the greatest concentration of 19th-century historical sites on the continent. Southern elephant seals have grown in numbers and can grow to nearly 20 feet long. You can hear the magnificent roar echoing around the shores of Livingston Island as you walk along the pebbled beaches leading inland. Your guide can show you around the island’s borders to find the gentoo penguin colony, known for the white stripe along their head.

In the morning, your boat will wade in the quiet waters around the Antarctic Peninsula. You will return to the Chilean commune and board the plane at Teniente R. Marsh Airport on King George Island to return to Chile. The remainder of the day is yours to enjoy the city on the Strait of Magellan.

In the morning, the fishing trawlers return to the port after long hours scrawling through the Strait of Magellan. The impressive Andes Mountains decorate the skyline to the east, and Tierra del Fuego’s glistening fjords shine to the west of the ranch. After breakfast, your private transfer escorts you to Presidente Carlos Ibáñez del Campo International Airport to check into your connecting flight home.