Antarctica :

My quest to behold every country on earth normally bars repeats unless a place is indescribably astonishing. From the moment I left the Antarctic Peninsula in 2005 and returned to the southern tip of South America, I vowed to revisit that crystalline quartz otherworld known as the White Continent. Extremes of climate, terrain, and awe found on no other continent confront all who venture here. The 1,800-mile-long Transantarctic Mountains rival the Rockies in height, but only the peaks break through the towering ice sheet. Cubic and gently sloping, sculpted icebergs larger than a tilted Empire State Building glimmer green and blue while endless undulations of glacial crest crackle and boom over mountain valleys as they fall hundreds of feet into sea water. Getting there isn’t easy via the earth’s most torrential wave action. But this time, I arrived in style.
   
Like climbing a strenuous mountain for a dandy view, just getting to Antarctica deters most travelers. Ocean-going warriors also despise crossing the Drake Passage, which is required to reach Antarctica from South America. The Drake Passage, along with being the confluence of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, separates the South American continent and the Antarctic Peninsula. Splash in the Drake’s funneling of the clockwise circulating waters around the Antarctic continent, and you have Earth’s strongest current with an average flow rate four times stronger than the Gulf Stream. Did I mention wind? The Westerlies, not compromised by mountain ranges, often blow up to 100 miles per hour. These factors produce gigantic waves; half of our 70 passengers fell ill during the southbound and northbound passages, which takes two days going a maximum speed of 12 knots per hour.
   
The Antarctic Dream Expedition Ship 
The key distinction between the Russian-built and staffed research craft I sailed in 2005 and a 2011 expedition on the Antarctic Dream was the Dream’s dinner cruise-style dining/living room. Whereas the Russian boat’s dining hall resembled a factory mess hall with dingy portholes, the Dream’s nearly basketball court-sized dining area has an interior living room complete with couches and surrounded by 21 picture windows that provide 270-degree views of our globe’s most epic scenery. This wooden floor room reminded me—table and couches removed—of a classic dance hall. The combination of scenery,light, and rocking waves inspires daydreaming. Warm memories tumble out. A mirror in the ship’s would-be dance hall recalled my earliest memories of being in my dad’s arms while he danced to big band and swing music. Each time we sauntered past our living room mirror, I’d steal a glance of my face,chin on dad’s shoulder. A feeling of safety won me over, farther from civilization than is otherwise possible. This place gets you thinking.
   
The 270-foot Antarctic Dream, refitted for finer cruising in 2006, was initially Dutch-built as a Drake Passage/polar-specialty ship. Smaller capacity vessels like the Dream, which hosts no more than 80 passengers, can navigate shallow bays and narrow channels, allowing quick, easy Zodiac raft landings for intimate hiking connections with the terrain. Effective August 2011, boats with more than 500 passengers are no longer allowed in Antarctic waters unless they comply with new fuel standards. Five hundred, heck, even 200 other shipmates are still way too many unemployed decks on hand for this remarkable desolation.
   
Ships rolling in waves make people nap, a lot. When not napping, passengers are mellower on the boat than they’d be at home—the only tension is possibly missing something gorgeous. Once within sight of iced land the waves calm down. In total, we were 18 nationalities; a Chinaman painted the Chinese symbol for water, a seaworthy Dutchman told tall seagoing tales, a British chairman reflected on the horrors of doing business in Nigeria, an Italian woman cried over the beauty overload. The sort of folks undertaking such adventures are usually interesting, at least…but nothing outdid the penguins—adorable, flightless birds doing their funky walk-dance. They also run, trumpet, play tag, and waddle closer to look at you. Voyagers also feel up-close encounters with fur seals, humpback whales, leopard seals, and orcas.

The ship’s bridge is always open to visitors, and barring ice-bashing emergencies, the captain is usually available for a chat. Someone on watch is always willing to discuss life at sea, whale watching, or storm fighting, even at 3am. There’s a passenger’s bridge below that makes for a nice happy hour setting. The manageable number of passengers allows full ship access to everyone, and express Zodiac landings that last two to three hours each day. Humongous cruise ships, which are being phased out, are forced to loom far from land, making Zodiac landings tedious and rare.
   
Iceberg Panorama
Beholding the frosty-themed marvel is glorious yet intimidating. Imagine an endless Alps-like range and seaside covered in thick, groaning glaciers while whales breach and unafraid ....