Saturday, October 18, 2025

12 hours within the sneakers (or muck boots) of a traveller visiting Antarctica  


Observe alongside on the journey of a lifetime as Anela exhibits you what it’s prefer to spend a day within the Nice White Continent.   

‘This will’t be actual life,’ I believed. It was my final day in Antarctica. The intense sunshine was beaming down on me, sitting in a Zodiac within the Antarctic Ocean, smiling from ear to ear. 

The small, inflatable boat bobbed up and down within the waves because it ferried a small group of visitors again to the Ocean Endeavour – the ship that had introduced us to Antarctica.  

We had been puttering alongside slowly, hoping to see the whales that lots of the different teams on Zodiacs had reported seeing within the waters across the ship within the final hour. Our expedition information scanned the darkish waters. 

And after a couple of minutes, no less than three humpback whales surfaced close by, to the left, proper and behind our little Zodiac. The driving force minimize the motor and we watched them in silence for about an hour. The sound of their breath, as they expelled air as they surfaced, crammed the silence and reminded us of simply how small we had been as compared.  

Simply after we thought it was time to go again to the ship, a pod of humpbacks surfaced proper subsequent to us, so shut a couple of of us whispered and shouted excitedly as we may nearly attain out and contact them.  

No day in Antarctica is identical, and lots of don’t go precisely as deliberate. It’s important to account for sudden climate, sea ice and extra. The pliability is nicely value it, although. That’s the way you get moments like sudden whales surfacing and penguins leaping off of icebergs proper in entrance of you.  

Although it’s unattainable to share an actual day-by-day itinerary, right here’s what a typical day in Antarctica could appear to be.  

7:30 am: Wakeup and breakfast  

There’s no have to set an alarm in Antarctica. Your light morning wakeup name and bulletins in regards to the ship’s location and climate are broadcast all through the ship’s intercom.  

I’m very a lot not a morning individual, so a typical morning for me entails listening to the bulletins in mattress, laying there so long as potential, earlier than hurriedly splashing some water on my face in my cabin’s ensuite lavatory, throwing on some garments and shuffling to the Polaris Restaurant – the ship’s eating lounge – for breakfast.  

It’s lined with home windows that overlook the water and views of mountains and icebergs – and perhaps even some wildlife. Breakfast features a fairly expansive unfold together with eggs, toast, cereals, bacon, sausage and extra. The mix of vivid daylight, a cup of tea and a stable sizzling meal is what actually wakes me up. After breakfast, I head again to my cabin to gather my filming tools and anything I may have. 

9 am: Gear up for a morning exercise

Ship huge bulletins sound to inform everybody when it’s time assemble for his or her morning journey. Passengers are divided into teams for various actions and known as to the mudroom to prepare and depart with staggered timing. Whereas some of us set off for kayaking or day paddling and others head out for landings, this morning, I’ll be exploring in a Zodiac. 

When my group is named, I make the fast stroll to the mudroom the place most of our outside gear is saved after we’re not utilizing it, and I begin piling on the layers of clothes I want to remain heat and dry in Antarctica. Base layers go on below mid-layers, all stuffed inside a heat, thermal jacket and thick muck boots, after which I’m able to go. Fortunately, by the point we get to Antarctica, we’ve had a number of briefings on gear and safely getting out and in of the Zodiacs, so it’s comparatively simple for me to get in and to go discover.  

9:30 am: Zodiac tour 

I personally love Zodiac excursions as somebody who actually enjoys being on the water. One expedition information and about ten individuals in a Zodiac, zipping across the water whereas the wind whips our faces. I feel the panorama is simply as beautiful and otherworldly when considered from the Zodiac. It’s peaceable to take a seat and take within the icebergs floating round us. I obtained to see penguins leaping out and in of the water, seals napping and whales surfacing.  

11:30 am: Return to the ship for lunch 

By noon, it’s time to go again to the ship. My first cease is the mudroom to hold up my outside gear to dry out and strip all the way down to my comfortable base layers. From there, I head as much as the lounge, the place there’s a tea and low station and cookies set out. There’s one thing about having a sizzling mug of tea and a few cookies whereas I sit by the home windows and course of the whole lot I’ve seen to this point. It’s considered one of my favorite instances of the day in Antarctica.  

There’s additionally time to discover the Ocean Endeavour. There’s an on-board reward store that has the whole lot from further SD playing cards to cute postcards. The ship has an open bridge, so on clear days, I’d go up and look from there. There’s a spa and a health club, and yoga courses are supplied periodically. There’s a lot to fill my downtime if I’m on the lookout for it.  

Then, round 1 pm, I head off for lunch. Mealtimes are a cheerful and actually vibrant expertise. Persons are excited and pleased to speak about what they did or noticed that morning. I chat with pals I’ve made on this journey, and we present one another the images and movies we’ve taken, buying and selling tales as every group’s expertise is somewhat completely different.  

READ MORE: ‘IT WAS JUST LIKE SOMETHING FROM A DREAM’: SARAH’S ANTARCTICA ADVENTURE

2:30 pm: Afternoon touchdown 

After lunch, it’s time for the afternoon tour or exercise. Bulletins name us to the mud room once more in the identical teams on the morning. This afternoon we’re heading to make a touchdown. We’ll have time to discover the snow on marked routes in order that we don’t disturb native wildlife or wander the place we’re not presupposed to. 

We get equipped, after which we’ll head out, stopping to dip our boots in a decontamination answer earlier than we go in order to not deliver undesirable pests or illness into the native atmosphere. We take related measures on the best way again to the ship.  

Touchdown days are all the time enjoyable, and it’s wild to see how lovely and, at instances, harsh the Antarctic panorama is up shut. On my touchdown excursions, I noticed seals up shut, simply napping away whereas we watched, in addition to penguins nesting, making fairly the ruckus as they sit on their eggs.  

4 pm: Return to the ship 

It’s time to go again to the ship for a little bit of a break. After hanging up my gear, I spend a while in my cabin sorting via images and video clips, studying, and napping. The joy of the day might be quite a bit, so downtime in my cabin was important for recharging.  

6 pm: Night briefing and dinner 

After my break, I headed upstairs to one of many lounges for the night briefing. I do know the phrase briefing brings up imagery of boring and dry conferences, however these briefings are the alternative. The gang is energized and enthusiastic about what we did that day. The crew tells humorous tales and shares extra details about what we noticed that day and its significance.  

We additionally get the plan for the next day, and the crew emphasizes that plans could change (that’s a part of the journey). We go over the place we’ll be headed and the historical past behind it, what we’d hope to see and the timings for the excursions.  

Then it’s time for supper. Some nights there’s a hard and fast muti-course menu with varied choices to select from and different instances a buffet. There are all the time loads of vegetarian and vegan choices and desserts as nicely. I spent most mealtimes attending to know new pals I made and it was such a cool expertise. A few of these pals I’ve already visited again dwelling, just some weeks after the journey wrapped. And when individuals ask how we met, we get to say we met on a ship in Antarctica. How cool is that? 

8 pm onwards: Relaxation 

After dinner, we are able to take pleasure in some night leisure like trivia or open mic evening or take time to loosen up and relaxation up in order that we might be able to do all of it once more tomorrow. I all the time make certain to plug in my cellphone, digital camera and batteries within the night in order that by the next day, they’re prepared. And one last professional tip: the ship provides laundry providers for a price, so evenings are a very good time to kind any laundry you might should be achieved!

Uncover Antarctica on a small group journey in your individual sneakers.

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