Antarctica

Antarctica is said to be the coldest, driest and windiest place on earth. However, this immense wilderness is also a fabulous and virtually pristine paradise for wildlife with an incomparable scenery of mountains, snow and ice. The continent has lured explorers, adventurers and scientists for more than two centuries and - more recently - world travellers.

Considerably larger than either the United States or Europe, the continent is surrounded by a frozen sea that varies in area from one million square miles in summer to 7.3 million square miles in winter. Beyond the ice are the waters of the vast Southern Ocean, which encircles Antarctica in a continuous ring several hundred miles wide.

Taking advantage of the long days at the height of the Austral summer, we explore vast colonies of penguins, observe some of the great whales, watch hundreds of seals resting lazily on ice floes, and marvel at the extraordinary variety of shapes, sizes and colour of icebergs. The vistas are magnificent, with towering glaciers and dramatic cliffs that drop almost vertically into the sea.