Busy. Busy, busy, busy. It’s considered one of my least favorite phrases. It feels like a swarm of bees buzzing round inside your head.
And but when somebody asks me “How was your weekend?”, “Did you have a good day at work?” or “What have you been up to?” it’s the primary phrase I reply saying – as such is trendy life. Too busy to loosen up, too busy for hobbies, too busy for household, too busy to only get pleasure from residing.
I’m a metropolis lady, born and bred. I truly fairly like my morning commute, being a part of the huge plenty who make their every day trek to the centre to ply their wares and make the wheels of enterprise flip. And but generally, I lengthy for peace and quiet and area to loosen up and really feel small. What’s the very first thing that pops in your head which may offer you that? A tropical seaside (too crowded, too many hawkers making an attempt to promote stuff, too many Italian males in speedos)? A abandoned island (yeah, if I used to be Richard Branson!)?
Well, I discovered it. The good place. A spot the place the one sound is supplied by nature, or the mild hum of your transport, the place the view in each route is so chic it’s not possible to explain, and the place every little thing man-made is totally dwarfed by every little thing that point, the wind and the ocean has created over millennia. Where is that this magical place, you ask? It is Antarctica.
I travelled to Antarctica on Intrepid Travel’s 11-day Antarctic Explorer in November final yr. I went for the wildlife, to see penguins and whales, and so they had been there of their hundreds. But that isn’t all that Antarctica affords. Here’s 5 explanation why I believe Antarctica is like nowhere else, and why it’s such a must-visit.
Ice, ice child!
It was not the very first thing I thought of when contemplating a visit to Antarctica. Sure, I knew it could be snowy, however the amazement of cruising in a zodiac by way of fields of icebergs, a few of that are most likely centuries-old which were carved into each loopy form you possibly can think about by the ocean and the wind as if by some cosmic sculptor. It blew my thoughts.
Ship tradition
I stated I needed someplace quiet and right here I used to be on a ship with 100+ different individuals. But the place else are you going to get a gaggle of 100 actually attention-grabbing, well-travelled, excited individuals in a single place? Meeting them and listening to their tales was positively a spotlight for me.
I learnt rather a lot
So I didn’t need to really feel like I used to be again in school, however I got here away much more educated than I went with. The onboard specialists gave nice lectures (non-obligatory, in fact) on their areas of experience, in addition to casual bar talks about attention-grabbing issues that that they had completed of their lives. Everything from climbing Mt Everest, to working as a health care provider on a ship rescuing refugees off the coast of Greece. Inspiring!
Up shut and private
Nothing in Antarctica will eat you! (Unless you occur to fall within the water similtaneously a hungry elephant seal is about and also you occur to appear like a helpless penguin.) Not solely that, they’ve had so little contact with mankind that they suppose you might be only a nice huge seal and are available over to test you out.
Imagine sitting on a seaside in a penguin and seal colony and having a child elephant seal come over and snuggle as much as your legs for a cuddle. Or a penguin peck at your boots and pull on the cords in your jacket to see the way you tasted. I noticed these items occur. This proximity to animals is like nowhere else on Earth. It is a really uncommon privilege to be a part of.
Marine wildlife
I form of like my animals fluffy. I’ve at all times discovered it troublesome to get enthusiastic about fish. But by the tip of the journey, I used to be one of many handful spending hours on the fly bridge with the marine biologist and a pair of binoculars, scanning the horizon for the tell-tale jet of water that indicated a whale.
Then there was the pod of orca that spent an hour or so taking part in subsequent to the ship. Then there was the weird trying Commerson’s dolphins that had been wakesurfing alongside us. And then there was the mom and child Humpback whale that had been feeding round our zodiacs for ages. Waiting to see the place they’d come up and the way lengthy they’d keep was as thrilling as watching a detailed soccer sport, critically. (Oh, and I do know that whales aren’t fish!).
So would I am going once more? Yes, in a coronary heart beat.
Ready to embark on the journey of a lifetime? Check out our Antarctic adventures.