Elite Traveler November-December 2016

INSPIRE ANTARCTICA

THE ENDS OF THE

The vast, snow-shrouded continent of Antarctica has to be poles apart from all other destinations. Steeped in history, this remote realm offers that rarest of treasures – the chance to forget the world for a while

And on the sixth day, God made Antarctica. Or at least the captain made it known that we had crossed the Antarctic Convergence, an invisible boundary that marks a change in currents and temperatures in the Southern Ocean. This was exciting enough, but as an imaginary threshold the announcement was even more potent. Travel, after all, is about dreams, and I felt like I was entering a dream realm: Antarctica, land of the South Pole, the white continent, terra incognita , the unknown land. I stood on deck, grinning into the gale, looking out for the first signs of ice. I had boarded the ship, the Akademik Sergey Vavilov, in Ushuaia, on Tierra del Fuego. Argentina’s southernmost city signifies extremity, a chill climate and hardship, in stark contrast to balmy Buenos Aires. For those of us heading out into the South Atlantic, it was a last symbol of civilization. The night before embarking, I’d made sure to indulge in the local spider crab delicacy and enjoy some vintage white wines from Mendoza; my last supper before a three-week adventure cruise.

by Chris Moss

EARTH

Opposite page: The imposing landscape of Antarctica – the world’s last terra incognita