15 Things to Do in Antarctica

Half-million chinstrap and Adélie penguin colonies — birds that have never evolved a fear of humans, arguing with each other inches from your feet. The noise, smell and comedy are extraordinary.

Antarctic icebergs reach 80-storey heights — sculpted by wind and wave into arches, cathedrals and tables of electric turquoise. The colour of ancient compressed ice has no equivalent anywhere inhabited.

Small inflatable boats navigate between icebergs — a leopard seal sleeping on ice 2 metres away, humpback whale flukes diving nearby, fur seal pups ahead. Scale, silence and wildness in a small boat.

December–January: 20–24 hours of daylight — midnight sunsets painting ice pink and gold. The quality of Antarctic light, flat and clear and seemingly sourceless, is unlike any other light on earth.

2 days of the world's roughest ocean — albatrosses ride the ship's air currents; six-metre swells rock the vessel. Arriving in calm, iceberg-studded Antarctic waters after the storm is travel's great dramatic transition.

Humpbacks feed in Antarctic waters during summer — surfacing beside Zodiacs, logging motionlessly alongside the ship against a backdrop of glaciers and icebergs.

A 10–12 day voyage from Ushuaia — daily Zodiac landings among penguin colonies, whale watching, iceberg navigation and lectures from expedition scientists. The most transformative travel experience available on earth.

200,000 king penguins, hundreds of thousands of fur seals and Shackleton's grave — the wildlife density on this sub-Antarctic island is unmatched anywhere on earth.

Scott's Cape Evans hut and Shackleton's Cape Royds hut, preserved by extreme cold almost exactly as left — food tins still on shelves. The most haunting heritage sites in the world.

Jumping into 0°C seawater — shocking, brief and permanently something you've done.

The southern hemisphere's Northern Lights — visible from March as darkness returns, curtains of green, magenta and violet above the ice.

Paddling in silence between icebergs in a two-person kayak — nothing between you and the raw Antarctic environment.

Antarctica's apex predator rests on ice floes beside Zodiacs — 3.5 metres long, apparently regarding passengers with equanimity.

Fly to 90°S from Punta Arenas and walk around the entire earth in a circle. The most expensive point on the planet to stand at.

Photography-specific expeditions led by polar photographers — smaller groups, more landing time and instruction in shooting ice light and wildlife behaviour.