“I went on a cruise through the 'most scary' seas of the world. It's a different world | Cruise | Travel

“A humpback whale has been discovered,” our guide explains after hearing something through a radio called “Clapcha.”

We go through a bus-sized iceberg maze and leaps up like a small oily dolphin behind the boat. The sky is a vibrant blue, on top of a snowy mountain tower, and the day is thrilled with excitement.

Suddenly, we can release the breath we were hugging on our ship. The head breaks the surface of the water, then as Hozile returns to depth, a wandering column of water, a large fluke, turns towards the sky. It's a short encounter, but perfect encounter. The smiles spread all over our faces.

I am in Antarctica on a 10-day trip with the Norwegian cruise company HX Hurtigruten Expedition. The severity of the 400 adult guests mounted on Fridtjof Nansen is constantly exchanged for enthusiasm, wonder, and childlike hunger to learn more about this pristine alien place. But the question mark will begin to cloud this simple joy that comes at the end of the trip.

HX is one of 51 cruise ship operators that sail a total of 122,000 tourists to Antarctica each year. American sealer and explorer John Davis was the first to step into a frozen continent 204 years ago, and since then, about a million people have arrived 110 times more land than the UK. That figure is rising rapidly, with annual visitors quadruple in 10 years. Everyone who made it there had to work for it and work to a lesser extent, depending on how Victorian your date of birth was.

I didn't have to sail for months, but instead went from Heathrow to Buenos Aires, Layover, to Ushuaia at 4am at the bottom of Argentina, and to Frittijov Nansen. But we had to take on the infamous Drakes aisle.

Home to the “world's most frightening sea” and the world's worst storm, known as Drakes' “Shake,” the stretch claims the lives of countless seafarers and cruise passengers over 2022.

Our voyage to our passage was merciless and calm enough for me to fill it up by reading David Gran's The Wager – a sensational account of the fateful royal naval expedition unraveled in Drake – yet still packed with the large hill-like waves that have struck the sea valley for two days after our ship rose.

The first glimpse of the iceberg from the port side helped me to calm the swell and return to the stairs of those suffering from a pale complexion of spring and two days of fasting. The excitement level on board reached its peak.

“I've been waiting for this almost for my life,” he told me, sitting in the hot tub on a deck heated by the ship's engine, watching hundreds of icebergs join first, spotting the ocean with sparkling white swirls. Our ship reached a shelter in the Antarctic Peninsula. Now the waves of judgement were behind us, and the third day on board was peaceful. I woke up to find another world. One of the mountains, an ice shelf that grows ominously past the horizon, and a penguin.

The first sighting from our ship made breakfast guests drop a hash brown and rushed to the window with an excited gag.

This was followed by the first trip from the ship. There, they cheered those who first set foot on the seventh continent to avoid getting in the way of Gentu's penguin colonies.

Like the Sinstrap Penguins and Adelie we also encountered, knee-high aquatic birds are abundant in the peninsula, just as fearless as the pigeons in Trafalgar Square.

With no predators, they become curious companions to them, as their clumsy platforms can switch for the best of elegance as humans fall and slide down into the water along the Penguin highway.

The only competition to see them close in their natural habitat came from the wall sauna with glass of the ship. There, I was able to sweat the cold of the day's expedition, watching the Penguins dance and the invasion of The Humpback in the waves below. The sauna is especially useful after two once-in-a-lifetime experiences. The first was camping.

One evening, a team of 30 jumper swadded guests pounded the deep snow on their waists until they were compact enough to hold a tent for two.

The nightly bucket and flag toilet setup was a bit comical, but looking at the humpback whale pods we surround the island from our tent porch as the false midsummer sunset welcomed on a dark night was extremely sublime.

I peered out of my tent at 4am and found the silence, crystal glaciers and towering mountains surrounding our camp. It gave a small sense of continental cruelty that killed 1,000 of all humans who had ever ventured out there.

We left our four season sleeping bags, stuffed at 5am and returned to the boat for an early breakfast and steam.

The second was the rush of ice. Most Antarctic tourists today go to Disperion Island, the volcanic rock that has suffered the worst accident in the Walling trade. Two metres of ashes cover a preserved humpback whales abandoned on the beach. The magma below will dramatically swirl the steam.

Sadly, the seawater doesn't warm either. The seawater floated around 0c as I exposed it and plunged into an ice drink. The coldness hit me like a train. A few seconds later I ran towards the waiting towel, then towards the sauna. The sauna appears to be unmoved by my pathetic attempts to join the shallow waters.

The HX doesn't wear megaship style cruises at casinos and cabarets, but that doesn't mean there's a lack of fun. Guests can take part in the Civic Science Project and witness workplace experts, including whale researchers who use crossbows to collect humpback whales.

In the afternoon, the lecturer spoke about Antarctic explorer Ernest Shackleton's obsession with places that made him feel “like a spot of frozen things.” Drake rocks the hull and learns how he died in the hole in his heart on his fourth fateful mission: to reach Paul 11 ​​years after Roald Amundsen's success. The strength of their adventures highlighted how warm, comfortable and privileged ours were. Meanwhile, one persistent idea turned out to be difficult to shake. Should anyone of us be here?

Only the remaining footprints, taking photos alone, are the unofficial motto of Antarctic tourist operators. More officially, according to the 1991 Environmental Protection Protocols, visitors should have “minor or temporary effects” at best.

Since then, conservatories have fought to keep the most pristine, barren land on the planet. They have now enjoyed success, including a population of humpback whales of 10,000 to a maximum of 135,000, and the implementation of strict rules by the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators.

But as global temperatures rise in line with desire to travel the novel somewhere, the ice recedes, and the dangers to Antarctica residents grow. Currently, scientists are trying to see if it's cholera or avian flu that's ripping penguin colonies on the peninsula. Humans remain finer from all Antarctic animals and must touch anything to avoid acting as a vector, but sadly, accidents occur.

HX works as hard as possible to make sure that it is not, and ensures that the tourist effect is an absolute minimum. All rules follow the letter. If someone is entitled to take you to this fragile place, it's them.

All dangerous distances can pos anywhere, making powerful allies. The Antarctic is the last place that is not unstained by the heavy human footprints, but ironically, we feel the brutality of the wind, realizing that it is not actually sky-filled with the lives of whale and birds.

I came down from Frittyjoff Nansen, who was clung to the adoring Antarctica.

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HX Hurtigruten Expeditions UK offers 12-day highlights of Antarctica cruises starting at £7,238pp. Includes one night cruise hotel, including flights, transfers, all-inclusive drinks, Wi-Fi, expedition jackets, charm, professional photos, activities and more, including flights, professionals and more. Book by March 31 to save up to 15% on voyages until March 31, 2027. Flights to Buenos Aires. Travelhx.com/en-gbmore argentina.travel bas.ac.uk/tourism information