Antarctica travel guide

Captain James Cook was the first to cross the Antarctic Circle, in 1773, but he never sighted land. Throughout the 19th century, discoveries were made all around the continent – active volcanoes, the floating Ross Ice Shelf, the Antarctic Peninsula and the South Shetlands. But the explorers didn’t just discover land – they discovered wildlife.

Millions of seal pelts were taken from the islands, elephant seals were slaughtered for their blubber and southern right whales lured whaling ships to these tempestuous waters. Arguably, it was the search for new sealing grounds, not for geographical glory, that spurred the southern discoveries.

The Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration began in the late 1890s – two eventful decades with Scott, Amundsen, de Gerlache and Shackleton as the polar protagonists. The use of dogs and sleds and the calculation of the South Pole encouraged further voyages, and ambitions soon turned to setting foot on the pole. Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott each led expeditions, with Scott’s fateful mission reaching the South Pole on 17 January 1912 – only to realise that Amundsen had arrived just over a month before. Crestfallen and cursed with abominable weather, all five expedition members died on their return journey.

Shackleton narrowly avoided a similar fate in 1914, when he attempted the first crossing of the Antarctic continent, but became stuck in the advancing ice. In the most extraordinary of all Antarctic voyages, the crew abandoned ship, crossed the ice on sleds and sailed to the barren Elephant Island in the lifeboats they had dragged with them. Shackleton then crudely adapted a lifeboat to sail 1,300km across treacherous seas to South Georgia. His frostbitten men were rescued from Elephant Island over four months later. All 28 expedition members miraculously survived.

By the mid 20th century, flags were being planted and ripped out across Antarctica as various nations squabbled over this uninhabited land, attempting to establish bases and grab territory on an epic scale. The signing of the Antarctic Treaty in 1959 declared Antarctica a “scientific preserve”, banning military and mining activity to prevent the risk of armed conflict. While various nations claim slices of land, Antarctica has no government and is basically open to all for scientific and tourism purposes.

Many people have played a role in shaping the human history of Antarctica, but with the exception of a couple of preserved huts and abandoned whaling stations, little evidence remains of these once-great struggles. Scientists live in handful of research stations year-round, but outside of these isolated laboratories, Antarctica remains uninhabited – and peaceful.

Read more about life in Antarctica.