Antarctica? Who is going to Antarctica? This sixth continent has increasingly become a popular target of eco-tourism. Currently, approximately 20,000 people visit this place on an annual basis. The vast majority of the tourists go there during the summer months; the winter is basically reserved for scientists, military base personnel and die-hard documentary reporters/film makers. The most common gateway to the Antarctica is through Ushuaia, the southernmost town in the world. The sea in the Drake Passage, where the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans meet, is mostly rough and we had to deal with it for about 36 hours. I took two sea-sickness pills over a 24-hour period and I slept a lot during the passage.

The reward started to materialize when we were approaching the Antarctic Peninsula; the view is truly out of this world. Plus, the sea became less rough, as an added bonus. This place is regarded by many visitors as being one of the most beautiful places on earth. This serenely beautiful place makes you feel like you are visiting another planet. Huge open skies, enormous icebergs, low clouds, and constant surprises from the abundant wildlife will keep you in a constant state of awe. We witnessed two spectacular sunsets during this trip. The colors are so awesome, even long after the sun set. Surreal landscapes and unusually intense colors are the rewards.

These are a few highlights we visited:
Hope Bay, also known as “Iceberg Alley” - As the name says, icebergs were abundant. We could see the fascinating shapes and myriad blues of some extraordinary icebergs.

Lemaire Channel - This narrow channel is flanked by the Antarctic Peninsula on one side and Booth Island on the other. You can see enormous sheer cliffs drop straight into the sea. The mundane nickname of 'Kodak Gap' hints at the nature of the location (it brings out the cameras in force; everybody was trigger happy) without doing it justice.

Paradise Harbor – There are many icebergs that calve off the glacier at the harbor's head, these provide an fascinating infinite variety of shapes and shades of blue. In addition, we landed using zodiacs on the Peninsula, where Gentoo penguins nest and breed.

Half Moon Island – This crescent-shaped island is the location of large colonies of chinstrap penguins.

A little bit of a photographic note: I took two zoom lenses, Canon 24-105mmL IS and Canon 100-400mmL IS, and some prime lenses on this trip. The longer zoom lens did get used more than I anticipated; about 70% of images on this gallery were captured using that lens. I could have left the prime lenses at home. A polarizer filter was used on images taken at Lamaire Channel to increase the contrast between the blue sky and the white clouds/ice.

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