Antarctica: Journey of a lifetime
Join me in reminiscing about the ride that Antarctica was in this one-year-anniversary special edition. This piece is longer than my usual posts.
Last year, this time, I had just stepped back into civilization after almost half a month, from a mystical place that looked and felt like a painting…
while the reality of my life looked like this.
In March 2022, I had the privilege of being in Antarctica, a place for which not many insurance providers offer travel & evacuation insurance!
Returning from the extreme calm of Antarctica to the clonking of cities felt jarring at first and confusing soon after. This journey that I fondly remember as my journey of a lifetime turned out to be an inflection point in my life. How? Read the story here.
So, how did the thought of making it to Antarctica occur to me?
In 2017, I learnt about the program, Leadership on the Edge, led by Sir Robert Swan, the first man in history to have walked to both the poles. The idea of learning about climate change at the hotspot with a select group from across the world and of course, earning the bragging rights for the rest of my life seemed thrilling. However, I had just finished my studies then, so I earmarked the program for my future self.
Fast forward to 2021, I went back to the earmark, applied for the program and got selected.
Covid came in between, scared the expedition date away multiple times but what eventually emerged was way more beautiful - 3 annual batches of the program merged into one to emerge as a group of 150 amazingly diverse participants from 37 countries!
(Remember the picture above - the topmost floor is Deck 8)
Insane! Where did I apply for an Antarctic visa?
Umm well…nowhere.
Antarctica doesn’t need a visa for it is neither a ‘country’ nor owned by any country. However, I needed one for Argentina since our sea voyage began in Ushuaia.
Trivia: Ushuaia is nicknamed “The End of the World” since it’s the southernmost city of South America. It’s a pretty, little resort city where people also go skiing.
Forget Antarctica, even making it to Ushuaia is a daunting task - took me 50 hours from Dubai!
A moment for our ship
Our vessel was the beautifully sturdy Ocean Victory, a newly commissioned ship which uses 60% less energy than other ships of comparable size, and has the lowest carbon emissions per passenger in the entire industry.
And then began the momentous journey…
After kick starting our climate-change sessions in Ushuaia, we set out to conquer the ~1300 km journey to Antarctica. We began our sail in the awe-striking Beagle Channel, replete with dancing dolphins and exotic birds.
Trivia: The Beagle Channel is named after the ship HMS Beagle upon which Charles Darwin went across the world collecting samples as the ship’s designated naturalist. Being part of his voyage, this channel is considered of significance in the formulation of his Theory of Evolution.
The stillness and picturesque-ness of the Beagle Channel was our pre-game to the Antarctic party…
BUT it was also the calm before the storm that was awaiting us 8 hours down the line…
All Antarctic tours are strictly regulated by the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) to promote practice of safe and environmentally responsible travel to the Antarctic. As a practice, each ship has its own team of experts with deep, 360 degrees knowledge of the Antarctic ecosystem.
So before approaching that 8th hour, we were well initiated into our journey by the team. My favorite part of the initiation was the safety drill to ensure biosecurity. We were asked to thoroughly check our belongings, especially the velcro tapes and zippers thereof, for any ‘contaminants’ like food particles, sand, gravel & plants and vacuum them out. Similarly, every time we left (returned to) our ship for a landing on the Antarctic landmass, we were mandated to dip our shoes in a chemical solution. Both these exercises were meant to maintain the pristineness of Antarctica by preventing exposure to any non-Antarctic bioparticle.
Cometh the 8th hour, I felt like a drunkard unable to walk straight. We just said Hi to the beast!
Around 8pm, we started feeling the wobbliness (that would eventually flow into dizziness) that we were prepared for in our initiation. But I guess no amount of preparation can really prepare you for the Drake Passage for it has a mood of its own…one which swings like a pendulum!
What is the Drake Passage?
This stretch of sea between the southernmost part of South America & northernmost part of Antarctica, has one of the roughest waters on Earth. It is a confluence of three oceans - Atlantic, Pacific and Southern oceans. Waters of all these oceans vary vastly in temperature and with no land barrier around, winds go crazy here - this deadly combination leads to extreme turbulence.
To put this into perspective, waves of the Drake can possibly submerge a 6-floor building!
Luckily, what we experienced was apparently a “Drake Lake” because the waves could only reach the 4th deck unlike one of the previous expeditions where they reached the 8th deck! (look at the picture I asked you to remember above) 😵💫
Fun fact - It takes a ship 2 days to cross the Drake Passage. 😵💫😵💫😵💫😵💫
However, modern ships are built to comfortably withstand the atrocities of the Drake. Interestingly, our ship used stabilizers which reduced the sway of the ship by 80-85% yet what ensued will go on to prove the wrath of the Drake!
Watch a glimpse of how the Drake looks like here.
How does it feel to be on the Drake Passage?
I was excited to feel the “Drake Shake” but the reality wasn’t as exciting (in hindsight). Being on the Drake is like being on a rollercoaster for 48 hours straight! When it began, it was fun to see people unable to walk straight and watch tethered chairs swivel on their own as if in the middle of a paranormal activity. But, as we progressed we had no choice but to make frenemies with sea-sickness. Most of us were heavily drugged with medicines or patches.
The ship turned into a spectacular zombie-verse.
It was in the Drake that I experienced snowfall in the middle of the ocean for the first time. With nothing else in sight, just me and my crew (and occasional sightings of the mighty Albatross), I was always reminded of the poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner and wondered if it meant something, just like it did in the poem.
Lo and behold…
All those thoughts were put to rest when Phil, our expedition leader, announced that the Antarctic land had finally come to sight - the sight for which we had ‘sacrificed’ 2 days of our lives! The well-behaved child inside each of us went bonkers and rushed to the outer deck (8th deck).
THIS SIGHT WAS NOTHING LIKE I HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE.
It was an inexplicable mix of natural beauty, built-up emotions and a sigh of relief.
I saw people around me cry, out of happiness, at the sheer brilliance of what was in front of our eyes.
At this point, the freezing temperature and winds blowing at 70-90 kmph felt like tropical breeze (while in reality the winds would numb the skin faster than the speed of light).
Trivia - Antarctica is the windiest place on Earth where the wind speed can go beyond 300 kmph. These winds are known as Katabatic winds.
…the ship was back to life.
As we emerged from the Drake, we were back in calm waters and made landings at multiple places in the Antarctic Peninsula in the remaining days.
Check out this map to view our route
(courtesy Trenton Branson)
All participants were divided in two groups - while one group attended sessions onboard, the other group ventured out on mini-mean-boats called zodiacs. Some trips on these zodiacs definitely felt like scenes out of “The Fast and the Furious”.
While these zodiac trips took us ashore to multiple penguin colonies (we maintained safe distance to not disturb them), sunbathing / lazy seals and some whale carcasses, we also cruised the Antarctic waters to watch humpback whales play hide and seek with us, penguins porpoise and a seal devour a penguin for lunch.
Things they won’t tell you about cute penguins:
They stink!
Walking through penguin colonies means walking in iced penguin poop and vomit.
We also found ourselves in the middle of an iceberg graveyard where a lot of broken ice blocks from the Antarctic waters are washed away. We walked around Brown Station, an Argentinian research station which was closed for the winters and traveled back in time at Mikkelson Harbour which used to be a significant British whaling station (place where hunted whales were processed for blubber, oil and meat) in the 19th century - boat wrecks, abandoned boilers and a dilapidated house still remain as reminders of the brutal history.
Trivia: Krill, a crustacean, forms the base of the food cycle of Antarctic marine life.
Find glimpses of my encounters below.
And on the final day, I hammered the last nail in my adventure - I took a polar plunge.
Yes, I stripped off those 367,483 layers of clothes down to my swimsuit and let my skin taste the chilling Antarctic waters for ~15 seconds. What followed was an internal cry for help to push my numb body closer to my clothes. But all worth it!
Afterall, this expedition is the reason I got to writing Anticlimatic.
My time at Antarctica will remain one of the most cherished experiences of life for it directed me to my purpose. In addition, Antarctica made many of the participants learn to appreciate silence. The silence of this place offered a unique calm which was only occasionally interrupted by the sound of Ocean Victory cutting through sea ice or an iceberg falling into the sea at a distance (this sounded like an explosion). While we witnessed the effects of climate change first hand, my hope for a better future only strengthened thanks to my expedition buddies who continue to play their part in making things better for our planet.
Antarctica: Journey of a lifetime
I did not even realise that I was holding my breath while reading parts of your story! Beautifully written! Thank you for taking me along on this incredible adventure of yours :)
I have no words to mention how I felt reading through your Antartica journey. I could just imagine each moment as if I was there. Thanks for writing it so sooo beautifully and inspiring and pushing people like us to take on this expedition and fight for the Climate Change!! 🤍🤍