The things they don't tell you about an expedition cruise to Antarctica | Canadian Traveller Magazine

I STEP OFF THE M/V SEA SPIRIT AND ONTO a Zodiac which speeds towards Cuverville Island, the largest Gentoo penguin rookery on the Antarctic Peninsula, home to 6,500 breeding pairs.

I expected many things travelling to Antarctica with Chimu Adventures: wildlife, glaciers and polar temperatures. But there are a few things they don’t tell you to expect: the deafening silence when you find yourself atop a mountain overlooking the Southern Ocean, camping overnight in a self-dug hole in the snow only to be awakened by a calving glacier, or the moment when you stop paddling your kayak and are overcome by the nothingness.

As we approach the rookery, I’m again taken aback by something less pleasant. Most surprising aren’t the astonishingly brash sounds penguins use to communicate, rather the revolting smell of their guano – that’s science speak for a mix of penguin feces and regurgitated krill. A better description? A mix of fermented seafood and vinegar that pierces your nasal cavities like ammonia.

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