Antarctica Travel Guide

Modern Antarctic expedition ships serve restaurant-quality food — post-Zodiac hot soup, expedition cake and evening tasting menus are the rhythm of Antarctic shipboard life.

Ushuaia's Magellanic king crab at Chez Manu restaurant — simply dressed with butter and lemon — is the pre-Antarctica meal every expedition traveller should eat.

On Zodiac landings near glaciers, guides collect floating ancient ice to bring back to the ship — served in good scotch whisky, it releases compressed air bubbles from another geological era.

Expedition ships carry South American provisions — mate thermoses during wildlife sightings, alfajores at afternoon tea. South American hospitality persists at the bottom of the world.

The tradition when the ship enters calm Antarctic waters — a special menu, drinks and the group bonding that only shared adversity produces. By this point everyone on board has become unlikely friends.