My Solo Trip to Antarctica

there are icebergs drifting past us giant snowy mountains and whales everywhere welcome to [Music] Antarctica the rainbow the rainbow call me oh like the rainbow the rainbow [Music] [Music] I'm headed to Antarctica my number one travel bucket list destination but the adventure of Antarctica begins long before you get there first you have to get to usua Argentina it's definitely an adventure Hub there are a lot of really cool things you can do launching from this city and it's known as the gateway to Antarctica in usua I boarded the Seaborn Venture thanks to Seaborn who's hosting

me for this trip I've always heard that their Antarctic experiences are incredible but before you get to Antarctica you have to cross the Drake Passage the Drake Passage is the body of water between the southernmost tip of South South America and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica and it's known to have the roughest seas in the world and the stretch we're going to be Crossing is nearly 600 miles we're about 13 hours into crossing the Drake Passage I think we hit it around 2: a.m. last night because I woke up to things in my room

starting to slide back and forth but so far so good from what I understand we're having a really easy Drake Crossing so I've been able to enjoy it a little bit I was just out on the bow watching albat Frost soar around the ship which is incredible these birds have wingspans up to 12 ft and for some reason they like following the wake of the ship so they're actually hanging around us which is very cool after 2 days of sailing across the Drake Passage seeing the Antarctic continent emerge on the horizon was so exciting and

I was kind of surprised by how dramatic it was in some ways it felt like we'd arrived at another planet and the Expedition team wasted no time getting us out on Shore so the way this works is the ship hangs out offshore of a landing site and then Expedition leaders bring passengers to shore in zodiac boats and the tentative itinerary of the sailing is to travel along the Antarctic Peninsula making shorel Landings every day dependent on weather conditions the thing I was most excited about for this trip was the wildlife especially Penguins because Antarctica is

home to some of the largest penguin colonies in the world and it did not disappoint point every single shorel Landing had Penguins we saw all different types we saw chinstrap penguins which are named for the obvious we saw ad Deli penguins and then the most common penguin we saw was the gentu and there were so many special moments like one Landing was at this incredible spot called Brown Bluff where these snowy Cliffs hung over a beach and there were Penguins everywhere and this young gentu penguin was napping with a tuft of feather in its beak

I didn't realize Penguins napped like this and it's one of the most precious things I've ever [Applause] seen we also saw lots of chicks even some twins I was giddy getting this shot and do you see this this is a baby penguin butt with this little nubby tail I mean it was all just magical something I didn't realize is that while adult penguins swim it's important for babies to stay dry because their feathers aren't waterproof and that's one of the biggest survival challenges for parents especially when they get an unusually wet season because they not

only need to find a dry place to build their nest but once the baby is born they need to keep it covered from rain and snow penguins are really social animals and it's fascinating to watch them interact with each other but as cute as they are as babies they go through a really awkward phase growing up I mean you think you had some bad looks in your teenage years look at this guy and then you have this one whose parent is trying to groom it and it's running away like stop you're embarrassing me they also

create what's known as penguin highways which are dedicated trails that you can see them all walking on in a [Music] line I just made it back to the ship these Landings are so amazing it is incredible to see so much wildlife in such a remote Wilderness to protect all of this wildlife and the environment there are a lot of rules we have to follow to be able to do these Shore Landings we have to be really careful about what we wear and what we bring on Shore and once we're on land we can't set anything

down and before we go out we walk through these disinfecting tubs and this is to make sure that we're not spreading disease from bird colony to bird Colony or throughout the wildlife or the environment very cool experience and I'm just so happy happy to be [Music] here the most magical thing is happening right now we're sailing in this area where we're surrounded by giant icebergs and mountains and it's snowing the lightest fluffiest snowflakes and we're surrounded by whales they're in every direction I couldn't have dreamed up a more beautiful setting with such incredible conditions around

us the Expedition team prepared The Zodiacs and got us out on the water and this afternoon was probably my favorite of the entire trip we sat on this water that was like glass in the fog in the snow while humpback whales surfaced all around us this was the most etheral experience of my life the camera can't even do it justice [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] something very cool and unique about the Seaborn Venture is it has two custom Expedition submarines and guests can sign up to go on a submarine experience I didn't even realize technology

was here yet and these submarines can dive nearly 1,000 ft giving you the opportunity to see wildlife plant life in depths of the ocean where very few humans have ever [Music] been another Excursion available on this sailing is kaying early one morning I went out with the Expedition team to kayak among icebergs and before this trip I'd never considered cold weather climates for kaying but it was such a cool experience oh my gosh look at [Music] that it's another beautiful day in Antarctica and today we're doing something a little different we're stopping in Port lockroy

which has the world's Southern most post office and apparently there's a little gift shop there where you can buy postcards and Postage and mail letters Port lockroy is a former British military base and it's also nicknamed The Penguin post office because it's home to a gentu penguin Colony that has made the place their own I just loved seeing them all in front of this house with the red door some of the photos I got here felt like they could be a penguin family holiday card this afternoon we're sailing through the laam mer Channel which is

known to be absolutely beautiful because it's a very narrow channel with steep snowy Cliffs on either side the laam mer channel is nearly 7 m long and as if it wasn't special enough on its own a lone Orca showed up and swam alongside the ship as we sailed through [Music] something that's been so handy on this trip is the Suites on the ship have drying closets so when I get back from excursions I can hang all of my wet stuff up in here like my gloves and beanie turn the radiator on here in the back

and everything gets so toasty and dry the Seaborn Venture is a luxury Expedition ship designed for diverse polar environments and you can see this reflected throughout the interior design is so beautiful there are maps and Explorer themed touches all around the ship there's the bow Lounge that has screens with navigational charts and weather forecasts and the ship's location this is one of my favorite spots on the ship it's also a great place to watch for wildlife there are mud rooms where every passenger gets a personal Locker to keep Excursion boots and other gear there's a

gorgeous sauna which was amazing for warming up after returning from Shore there are lots of heated whirl pools and a swimming pool which are perfect for taking in the scenery while sailing and of course there are so many restaurants and dining options to choose from I think my favorite was sushi in the club but you will never go hungry on this ship and the Suites are super spacious with balconies walk-in closets and fullsize bathrooms today in Antarctica we are sailing into an active volcano we've made it to Deception Island which is the Caldera of the

volcano I believe it last erupted in 1970 and they do monitor it to see how active it is and apparently it's low risk right now however the ship has informed us that there is an emergency plan in place if the volcano erupts today we [Music] got one day we got one day [Music] soon one day one day soon one day one one day one we're now headed back to usua and I'm so happy to have had such a wonderful experience on this trip and so sad it's coming to an end thanks for coming along with

me on this one I've had so many moments on this voyage that surpassed my dreams in a way Antarctica always felt Untouchable I didn't grow up ever thinking I would come here and now that I've made it to my number one bucket list destination what's next [Applause] [Music] the window [Music]