The story behind the establishment of Puerto Williams is almost like something out of the Butter Battle Book. Argentina has Ushuaia, the “Southernmost City in the World”. Well, Chile, who is simply not to be outdone by Argentina, decided they would establish a city even further south than Ushuaia, taking the title away from their …

There are several Antarctic itineraries that include Cape Horn as a possible stop, but most are never able to make it there due to weather either at the Cape itself, or along the Drake, forcing the ships to rush the crossing to beat a storm. The Antarctic Express cruises make the most earnest attempt to land here, and we were lucky enough to be on …

My last journey to Antarctica was filled with incredible storms and unrelenting seas. The guides do an amazing job of filling each day with lectures about the upcoming land you are about to explore, and the crew keeps you entertained with music performances, hilariously molded food, and other fun surprises. Unfortunately, I spent most of the …

Our first official stop in Antarctica was at Half Moon Island. I visited this island during my previous trip to Antarctica, but only by kayak, so this was my first time on shore (and my husband’s first time setting foot on Antarctica!).

We loaded into our zodiacs and headed to shore. They dropped us off on one end of the island and we then …

At Yankee Harbor, I had the chance to experience something I had not experienced during my last trip to Antarctica - encounters with Elephant Seals!

We arrived at one end of the harbor and made our way with the guides on a walk along the shoreline. As we went, they taught us about the geology, history and ecology of the landing site. We examined …

On our final morning, we were informed that the Russians had granted us permission to land at their base. So, for our final disembarkation, we took zodiacs to shore and had about an hour to spend on the Russian base before our walk to the Chilean base to catch our plane.

On the Russian base, there was a giftshop the size of a bathroom where you …