Elite Traveler November-December 2016

INSPIRE ANTARCTICA

elite traveler NOV/DEC 2016 104

"The imposing pillars of East-West/ West-East will age, rust and change color – grey through orange, brown and towards deep amber –

has many forms: frazil, grease, brash, shuga, pancake, white, drift, rafting and fast, going from soft to solid. But out on the ship, on the Zodiacs, and, especially, when kayaking alone, I was able to marvel at the strange, ever- changing shapes of this frozen world when subjected to time, temperature swings, ocean currents and polar winds. There were bears, birds, cathedrals, UFOs, houses and myriad unnameable things. Turning one white corner I came upon a lone cormorant, stood atop a transparent mountain – but a mountain whose base was almost entirely submerged. The blue-eyed bird stayed there as I paddled softly by. We exited this mesmerizing icy domain via the Gerlache Strait, one of the Antarctic Peninsula’s most celebrated channels. Fringed by squat peaks draped in glaciers, it’s a madness of icebergs, slabs, bergy bits and great profusion of white scree caused by collision, commotion, surf and swell. We traversed it in a sunlit, silent morning, with humpback whales for escort. The light was ethereal, the scene beyond photography – for all we might try to capture such moments. As we rocked across the Drake Passage back to the South Shetlands, I gave up on deckwatching – not because of the wild, high water, as I had sea-legs by now, but because I needed time to absorb all the things I’d seen. Antarctica is about the luxury of amnesia as much as hoarding memories. For days on end, I had forgotten where we were; forgotten about phones, internet, work, roads, crises, friends, loved ones. I had forgotten about myself, my trials, troubles and petty anxieties. The world’s last terra incognita is also one of the planet’s last true refuges from the everyday. Its ice dazzles, and it pays to let it blind you for a while. As we rocked up and down, this way, that way, I luxuriated in being lost to the world, and all who dwelt there. I was on an end-of-season cruise, perhaps the last. It was late March and there was a suspicion of a deep chill in the air. As the Vavilov pushed north and made its way back out to sea and to South America, I imagined how Antarctica would close behind us and be locked away behind the broadening ice and freezing storms, keeping all my thoughts to itself.

more quickly than Serra's sculptures elsewhere"

Above: Whalers' Church, Grytviken, South Georgia

THE DETAILS STAY... MV Hebridean Sky

The Spirit of Enderby Sailing February 9 2017, this 35-day itinerary organized by Heritage Expeditions departs from New Zealand for the Ross Sea visiting Macquarie Island and Campbell Island. Depending on the weather, it will also visit the Balleny Islands, the Bay of Whales and Cape Adare – one of the world’s largest nesting sites for Adélie penguins. From $23,500 per person. To book, contact Gill Scott-Douglas, reservations manager, +1 866 285 7884, info@ heritage-expeditions.com, heritage-expeditions.com

This eight-day classic cruise from Chilean firm Antarctica XXI departs Punta Arenas in Chile on a BAE-146 flight to King George Island (part of the South Shetlands) before boarding the Hebridean Sky. From $19,995 per person in the Penthouse Suite. For more information, visit antarcticaxxi.com NG Orion or NG Explorer A 24-day trip organized by Lindblad Expeditions with National Geographic takes in the Falklands, South Georgia, several Antarctic peninsula disembarkations and the Lemaire Channel. From $23,100 per person. To book, contact Sangita Ahlawat, director of expedition sales and service, +1 212 261 9026, sangitaa@expeditions.com, expeditions.com