I spent my birthday sailing to Antarctica! I experienced world records being broken by swimmers, icebergs and glaciers shining in the sunshine and also walked around with many different species of penguins, whales and seals. I also hiked around Tierra del Fuego and rode under waterfalls on both sides of Iguazu Falls.

When you make your expedition to Antarctica, you join a privileged and small group of people who have dared to embark on this journey. Cruises to Antarctica depart from either Ushuaia, Argentina, Invercargill, New Zeland, or Punta Arena, Chile. Accessible only by expedition ships, some of the most popular destinations on a visit to Antarctica are:

The Drake Passage is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn and Antarctica. With so much water funneled through such a small space, the seas are some of the roughest in the world. In fact, 125–200 million cubic yards per second pass through the passage.I was pretty anxious about spending four days on the Drake and tried to …