Astronauts have said that the most distinctive feature of Earth as seen from space is Antarctica, which “radiates light like a great white lantern across the bottom of the world”. Its ice sheet is over 2km thick on average, contains more that 90% of the world’s ice and snow, and has an area greater that the US and Central America combined. If suddenly melted, oceans would rise dramatically and drown a large chunk of humanity.
Yet, until 200 years ago no one had seen it, let alone explore it. Why? You need to understand the type of place it is. South of the Antarctic circle there is no habitation that we can call home. The only vegetation are a handful of mosses and lichens and the only Antarctica native land life are protozoa and wingless flies. There is very little to no rainfall, gushing winds with speeds of over 200km/h are not rarity in certain areas, and temperatures can drop as low as -90°C. It is largely inaccessible (or at least extremely dangerous) by water for 8-9 months due to the ring of ice that strengthens in winter months and could crush ships. In short, it’s not a hospitable place.
Yet it is a land of extreme and spectacular contrast. It can be transformed within minutes to a place of ethereal beauty. Quite suddenly the wind will drop, the sky will clear, the light will strengthen until mountains many miles away can be seen with a naked eye (as you will see below), and the ice will glow with colors so brilliant and be engulfed by a stillness so absolute that they have to be experienced to be believed. In moments like these the Antarctic offers a display of beauty hardly matched by anything else in the world.
***
I was lucky enough to spend 12 days around Livingston island where the Bulgarian Antarctic base is. I was perhaps equally surprised as some of you might be that we won’t be going further into the continent but remain within the limits of the Antarctic peninsula. For the reasons above, there are few bases beyond 70° latitude, especially ones manned year round (the US and Russia are among them, naturally). And although the conditions were no where near as drastic as the ones described above, it was no walk in the park despite that it was summer. I can only imagine what it must be like going further south in the tougher months of the year…
Sunrise over Buenos Aires as we were catching a flight down to Punta Arenas. South America is the easiest way to reach Antarctica, though you also can from South Africa and New Zealand.
Our ship Hesperides (part of the Spanish Armada) that got us across to our final destination. What an amazing vessel that was, I will likely do a separate post just on it. And it had a great captain and crew, such welcoming people! I got to practice my Spanish 🙂
The Beagle channel was quite calm, but the sky had ominous clouds hanging around… not quite what you want to see knowing you’re about to spend 2 days in the Drake passage.
If you wonder what you do on a ship for 3 days, this is a large part of it 😉 All that rocking about makes you a bit dizzy and napping helps, especially after a big lunch.
Last bit of land around us shot around 6am before we head for open water. This is Tierra del Fuego (literally “Fire Land”), quite a breathtaking place that somewhat reminded me of Milford Sound in terms of the scale and beauty.
Sunset over Drake that lasted for an hour and a half. We are far enough south by this point that the sun is moving slowly close to the horizon line. We were really lucky with the weather, Drake was calm with waves no more than 2m (crew members told me they often see ones over 10m so this was quite good in fact) and little cloud cover.
Almost two days into the voyage, you start stumbling upon the icebergs peacefully floating around. This multicolored one was particularly interesting, that arch almost seemed man made. The air also changes and now has a certain chill about it as well, it’s hard to describe.
You can’t get off the ship in one of the Zodiac boats unless you put this special submersion suit (lovingly dubbed the Teletubby!) which is quite tough to get into to — it has to protect you should you fall in the freezing water after all. You also double wrap all your stuff in plastic bags, just to be on the safe side. You might be wondering why there are 2 suitcases and who would go with one to Antarctica — believe me, I was too.
Finally after 7 days of traveling we’re at the Bulgarian base. What you see are the 3 main buildings — there are 2 chapels to the right of the frame and another 2 smaller buildings under the snow. Back in the day (this was the 24th Bulgarian expedition, the first one was back in the 80s) this whole area was mostly rock, but with climate change came the snows and it is exceedingly harder to keep those 3 from going under as well.
Speaking of the base, this is the base commander, Dancho. A seasoned Antarctica veteran, he kept things under control.
The first couple of days were spent walking around as much as possible. On my first “night” (there are no nights in this time of year technically, the sun only goes down for a couple of hours and it’s close to the horizon so you can always see quite well) I was rewarded with this beautiful sunset that lasted for 2 hours! Yup, Antarctica can be a photographer’s dream 😉
One of the chapels, shot around 2am. It’s as dark as it got while I was there. The shovel you see in the lower left corner is where we had dug up the snow to get to one of the old shacks that I mentioned.
Incredible colors of the sky at dusk. It’s interesting to note here how quickly the weather changes. I was setting up the tripod to take the photo and it was completely still, no wind whatsoever. Literally 10 seconds later, completely out of nowhere a gush of wind hit me and within 2 minutes it was blowing hard, making it extremely difficult to keep the camera stable. 10 minutes later the sky was completely grey and started snowing… welcome to Antarctica.
(I imagine that by this point the first song is over so you should play this one. I wouldn’t call it “typically” Antarctica-esque, but it kept popping throughout the trip and it’s certainly a fun and adventure enticing tune.)
Chinstrap penguins! Yes, they are indeed just as cute in real life as well 🙂
But so was this guy! The smell that comes from them is quite punchy, but they are fun to observe.
Actually most of the time it’s quite cloudy, but that makes for some exciting shots.
Not sure if it was the UV light or what, but sometimes you could see this incredible purple skies at sundown.
This place is a minimalist photographer’s heaven essentially.
For a scale of reference, this face of the glacier was probably well over 50-60m high.
Mountains in the distance… sadly there would have been no way for me to climb. For one, my technical abilities are not quite there yet, but more importantly — these places are largely untouched by people. So it’s very dangerous to walk around on your own or try to ascend, you never know when you can fall in a crevasse never to be found.
Doesn’t mean you can’t wander around though, within the approved safe limits.
Kamen, one of the old timers who’s been coming to Antarctica for years. We’re inside one of the buried buildings that used to be these guys’ home back in the day so he was reminiscing about the older days. The shack (called the Lame Dog Hut, interestingly) has actually been declared as Antarctic heritage and is now an official part of the Bulgarian History Museum 🙂
After a few days I wanted to go further out and do a bit of exploring so it was time to gear up.
You can never go out on your own past certain boundaries so one of the guys was kind / stupid enough to agree to go with me. We put a tent, a couple of sleeping bags, and some provisions in the sleigh and off we went. The weather wasn’t on our side, sadly, as it snowed a lot and the wind picked up quite a bit so this was one of the few shots I was able to take.
The snow storm caught up with us at some point so we dug up, which took a good couple of hours. The weather in the next two days wasn’t great so we didn’t move further, but rather stayed in and got out in the few opportunities that we were given. This sunny moment was a total rarity, 10 minutes later it was all cloudy again and the wind was blowing.
What we had crossed the previous day… quite a sight, especially with those sun spots! They were darting across the snow covered glacier quite fast.
On the second afternoon we were able to go out and do a bit of exploring, which included skiing down this great slope. Tough conditions though, heavy snow that made it hard to control your ski. Still fun 🙂
We went to this rookery and came across this cute fella — a southern elephant seal.
Some of them can get angry if you get too close.
Keeping the tradition of doing stupid s*** in crazy locations, much like in Nepal at the top of Gokyo Ri 😉 This was actually a promise I had made to a friend to support her new swimwear with a cause business called Rebel where part of the proceeds of each pair goes towards the conservation of a certain endangered species. The design I’m wearing is with penguins, naturally 🙂
Victory photo on our return from the camping trip which was marked by the severe winds and snow storm that hit us. I had never been in a whiteout before, thank goodness for GPS because you couldn’t see more than 2-3 meters away. I could barely see Bojo at times (you’re supposed to walk some distance apart in case one falls in a crevasse or something).
Although it seems quite calm, it was hard to remain standing for this photo. The wind that had been blowing the whole night had created some interesting snow patterns.
A golden sunset with the light hitting the glacier across the bay.
One of the mornings I woke up to notice there was an island in the distance where I had seen nothing in the past week. On a particularly clear day when all the clouds are gone the atmosphere is so clear that you can see it they told me. It turns out this is 130km away, mind boggling really! And I thought you could see far out in Iceland with its 50km…
A lot of those fun facts like the one above came from people like Vasko who has been part of the expedition since the early days. A true encyclopedia of knowledge!
On our way back we were lucky enough to get a chance to spend a day on Deception, a horseshoe shaped active volcano island which last erupted in 1970. I will certainly do a separate post just on it because it was fascinating to walk around.
On Deception we went to the biggest rookery I have seen — thousands upon thousands of penguins below us. So worth the 3-hour trek 🙂
One penguin to rule them all.
The last sunset on the way back to South America… I almost want to call it the Eye of God.
No better way to spend December 31st than climbing Cerro Guanaco (near Ushuaia, the south most city in the world), the view from the top of which lets you marvel at the beauty of Patagonian peaks all around you. It was a fitting way to end the trip.
I should hopefully bring you more photos and stories from Antarctica soon… ish 😉
Stay tuned and share!
In a Search of Balance 
Absolutely fascinating, what an amazing trip! Really enjoyed this post and looking forward to the additional ones mentioned.
Also you CAMPED in Antarctica, what?? In a tent? Crazy.
When you say it like that it almost makes it sound stupid / dangerous… which perhaps it was a bit, but it is summer there after all 🙂 Temperatures probably didn’t fall below -5/-10C.
I didn’t mean to make it sound that way, I’m sure you knew what you were doing. 🙂 I’m just a creature of comfort and that’s far too cold for my wussy bum!
A wonderful experience – and marvellous photographs! Interesting to learn that Bulgaria has a base in Antarctica!
We’ve had one since the 80s, it’s somewhat of a national pride it seems 🙂
Fantastic pictures !! To be honest I wasn’t expected so much variety for a totally ice covered place. Looking forward to see the rest ! Cheers
Keep in mind I was on a small island. I’m sure Antarctica has a LOT more to offer 🙂
Wonderful pictures! What a cool adventure!
I really enjoyed this!
Absolutely magnificent photos, and great stories to boot! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by and commenting! Do share with friends as well 😉
Wow, very beautiful. I don’t think I’d make it down there, but I really enjoy seeing your pictures.
Obviously I don’t know what your life situation or inclination for adventures is, but I’d say don’t start off with a negative thought that it might never happen to you 🙂 In fact, it’s in your hands to make it a reality. Good luck!
Reblogged this on Famous Five.
One word: Breathtaking
Two words: thank you!
Nice place 🙂
Wow. That is all. Just wow.
Your pictures and details of your adventure are so breathtaking and inspiring!!! ❤
Those photographs are amazing
what a beautiful photo!
wow..absolutely loved reading it. So adventurous.
There are a few other adventures around the blog — Nepal, Tanzania (climbing Kilimanjaro), Iceland, Scotland. All worth visiting! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
These pictures are literally breathtaking! Thanks for sharing them!
Very well written. You wrote so well i felt like i experienced some of it myself. Amazing pictures and the music inserted in between was just incredible…. I am a new blogger and cant wait to write about my travel stories. You have just inspired me a lot. Really enjoyed this post and looking forward to the additional ones. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words and glad to hear this inspired you to some cool stuff yourself 🙂 Do come back and share!
God’s creations never stop amazing. What a beautiful work to share with His children. Thank for you traveling there to document it for all of us!
This looks like the adventure of lifetime, I would love to see Antarctica in the future and you have done a beautiful job weaving together the culture and quintessentially serene landscape. The fact that many never get to see places as exotic as this gives people the chance to enjoy upclose footage and have the incentive to plan adventurous trips-I love this post. 🙂
And comments like yours make all this worth it 🙂 Thank you! Do share with friends 😉
Okk
What an awesome place! Eternal snow and stunning view there make me want to go there someday 🙂
wonderful
Looks really cool.
If you want to know more about college life check out my Blod 🙂
It’s good:))
Your photographs are just amazing . And reading about your adventures makes me want to visit it as well .
Well, buy that ticket 😉
Very nice read, beautiful! If you’re interested in reading something equally good about movies and anything related to cinema, you’re welcome to http://lifefilmlove.com
Hey, i just started a blog and i have like only one post.
But if you do find yourself going through the same thing i am, please comment on my post and we could be friends.
Because i could really use somebody to talk to 🙂
https://dreaminginmetaphorsblog.wordpress.com/
Breathtaking beauty! Superb photographs and the victory one is awesome 🙂
Really, I thought that was the least interesting one 🙂 Thanks though, glad you enjoyed the photos.
I liked your shorts haha
Admittedly, I have not (yet!) taken the time to read and absorb all of this but wanted you to know I’ve shared this on Facebook, having tagged my 80-year-old mother in the post. Traveling to Antarctica has been on her travel wish list for some time now and I know she’d enjoy this. Gorgeous, fascinating, STUNNING photos!!!
So so kind of you, thanks Julie! I do hope your mother is able to make it down there, it is very much worth it 🙂 Keep in touch, thanks for stopping by!
AMAZING!!! Jealous of these adventures
It was interesting for me to read this, and your photos are picturesque.
Amazing photos! Just couldn’t take my eyes off! *_*
Wow what a fascinating post. Never knew Penguins live in a Rookery.
I think it’s more they create one when time to nest and raise little cute penguins 🙂 But it was too early in the season, still only eggs around.
That must be an amazing sight and experience!
Indeed, seeing thousands of penguins wobbling around you is quite mesmerizing 🙂
Not high on my list of places to visit, but the photos are terrific. But I’ll never understand why people want to trek around cold places when they could just as easily be in the tropics eating fresh mango and sweet pineapple.
To each his own I guess. I’m certainly not opposed to fresh mango and pineapple, but I like to diversify the experiences 🙂
Wow, this is so so beautiful!
Great adventure, great photography. Thanks for sharing.
Wow, these are really amazing. I love the landscapes, in particular. Looks like the perfect place for quiet and solitude, though probably a little too cold for me!
Absolutely stunning.
Beautiful Photos!!!! thank you for sharing your adventure! 🙂
Thank you for stopping by! Stay in touch.
fantastic pictures….. loved reading ur blog….
This is gorgeous and it truly inspires me for my backpacking trip coming up.
Where are you going?
Wow!!! Thanks for sharing.
Refreshing!!!
The photos are simply beautiful. This was quite an experience. I’m actually looking forward to reading about the volcano.
Thanks Mike! Stay tuned, will share more on Deception island in the coming weeks 🙂
Will do!!!
Alaska is unbelievable! 🙂 🙂
I’m sure it is. I’ll make it there sooner or later 😉
Awesome!
I would like to go there once but I cannot tolerate cold less than 20 degrees ha ha
That could be a problem 😉
Looks like a nothing less than fantastic trip!
Beautiful photo set and great variety of shots. That land is absolutely stunning.
Omg!! The penguins xD
I will be sharing more in future posts, come back again 😉
Sure!! xD
I love how you took us through your journey with amazing words and beautiful pictures! Want to see more of such things!
WHOA!!!!!!!! an amazing log of an awesome trip…!!! needless to say, a bunch of super-cool photographs….!!!!! damn, i wish i could jump on a boat to Antarctica..! Wishful thinking! 😉
first of all, what a beautiful photos you’ve taken, my favorites is the last one, the view from the top of Cerro Guanaco was breathtaking. i thought it make u felt like in a heaven, did’nt you? and then the story is fascinating to read. what a fantastic trip, it was quite an experience. Thanks for sharing
Being at the top of Cerro Guanaco certainly felt very humbling and awe inspiring at the same time 🙂 Thanks for the kind comment!
What an incredible adventure and photos… especially like the one you describe as the “minimalist photographer’s heaven”… so very serene
That’s one of my favorites, as well 😉 Thank you!
Wauw! Fabulous pictures and awesome journey. The Earth is so beautiful and peaceful (if the human doesn’t destroy it of course). Your review is very good to read, i’ts like we are ther to!
That’s amazing and beautiful!!!!!
Incredible! What a beautiful way to capture the world.
I absolutely loved your pictures and wit!! (One penguin to rule them all- haha!). And your swimsuit picture is ADORABLE.
Haha, glad someone finally appreciated my LOTR joke 😉 Thanks, Daphne, I really appreciate the comment and kind words!
Proud to know you personally.
Amazing trip and post.
You should do this ( trips, photos, writing ) full time !
Thanks, M, what a compliment! I am truly flattered 🙂 Not sure I’m ready to do this full time (others have suggested that scenario as well) as I have things I want to achieve, but who knows, maybe one day 😉
Nice one 🙂
It’s so inspiring to read this before my trip to Iceland! Thanks 🙂
Iceland is incredible! I went last year and loved it >> https://inasearchofbalance.wordpress.com/tag/iceland/
This blog is really great! All of the places, first hand experiences, really useful for some travel beginners…
alaska surely is a great place
WOW! What an amazing story, and incredible photos. One place I would love to visit – thanks for sharing 🙂
And thank you for stopping by. I see you’ve done some great work around the UK, keep it up 🙂
Reblogged this on You & Me.. and commented:
Beautiful, Each and every pictures are stunning.. Bring it on more pictures.. Wish i can go there..
Great photos!!! Amazing.. wish i can visit soon.. thanks for sharing amazing pictures..
Hope you get there one day 🙂 I see you’ve recently started blogging, good luck!
Thanks, dude..
I like the music inserted very much. Is that your composition?
I like the music inserted very much. Is that your composition (the first one)?
I wish 🙂 It’s a band called Junip and the song is “To The Grain”. Lead vocalist is Jose Gonzales, who is amazing and whose songs I’ve used in other posts, such as the ones from Africa.
Thank you! Beautiful song!
Great post! I’ve just started my own blog too, take a look and follow if you find it interesting! Many MANY more to come.
Thanks for those amazing pictures ! ❄❄❄
Fascinating. Thanks for sharing. This stirs up my soul and will propel me to continue to adventure.
Fantastic, brilliant, life changing, etc… post. You have touched on so much with your travels and for us reading and viewing this, it may be the epitome of sharing and living vicariously through another. Loved this, and wish you safe travels in the great Year of the Monkey ahead, 新年快乐！猴年大吉！
Wow, what a kind message! Really appreciate it. All the best to you as well 🙂
Nice!
‘Never say never’ is used at my house a lot, but I can honestly say that I will never go to Antarctica. That is the kind of adventure I like to enjoy and envy through pictures and strikes of others! As always, your pictures elicit audible gasps and sighs from here. Thank you for sharing your world with us. Cheers!
Haha, I use that phrase a lot as well 🙂 It’s a good thing people are different, otherwise things would get boring fast. I’m more than happy to do the crazy adventuring for you!
MARAVILLOSO
Wow thank you for sharing with us. It still blows my mind how technology is able to bring us everywhere in the world. But obviously this will never beat actually being there which I plan to!
We live in an incredible age indeed, but even more unimaginable things will happen in the future I’m sure. Virtual Reality is just the beginning 🙂
But nothing beats the real deal so you should definitely experience in person!
This is the life. Seeing the wonders of the world = wow.
Yes, it sure is. Trouble is there are always more places to see and things to do 🙂
What fantastic pictures and great one for the bucket list, well done my friend !
This is extraordinarily beautiful!!
Thanks, Mayur, really appreciate the comment and stopping by!
I saw you live in Auckland — love NZ, one of my favorite trips for sure. Wellington really impressed me, more so than your city (sorry!) have friends who live there.
You have friends in Auckland or Wellington? I want to visit Wellington, maybe even settle there but I can’t be certain for now.
Thank you so much for the reply!
Wellington. I did go to Auckland as well, I just liked the former a little more. Perhaps it was because I had friends to take me around. Or the fact that your parliament is a beehive, how cool is that! 🙂
I gotta go to Wellington!!
OMG, this is the best I have read on WP for a long time, what an oustanding travel report! Love your photography, I’ll be back for more. 🙂
Greetings from the North,
Dina
Hi Dina, thanks for your comment and kind words! You’re not doing so bad yourself 😉 I’m kidding of course, yours seems like a well visited blog with many comments and appreciations — well done! And you use the same theme, how nice.
Beauuuutiful!