My Antarctic Adventure

I quickly realized that Antarctica is unlike any other place on Earth. Have you ever been to a place where penguins outnumber people? Or where a piece of ice bigger than a building might float past you at any time?

Leaving from the southern tip of Argentina, we sailed through the Drake Passage. Large waves—some nearly 12 meters (39 feet) high—rocked the ship. It’s hard to believe that the explorer Ernest Shackleton sailed through the same water in a tiny lifeboat in 1916.

We spent a week exploring the Antarctic Peninsula. We also stopped at the island of South Georgia, the same place Shackleton landed to get help for his stranded crew. Here are a few of the coolest things I got to see on this amazing continent.

Our trip began at the start of summer in Earth’s Southern Hemisphere. But in Antarctica, even summer is chilly. Temperatures stayed around -5°C (23°F). We wore many layers of clothing to stay warm.

The ice and snow reflect sunlight, so we always wore sunscreen and often sunglasses. Because of Antarctica’s latitude, on some summer days, the sun doesn’t set at all!

Five penguin species live on the continent of Antarctica, and we saw four: chinstraps, gentoos, macaronis, and Adélies. My favorites were the Adélies. They are the smallest Antarctic penguins—and so cute!

Penguins live mostly in the ocean. They come on land in the summer to breed. We watched male gentoo penguins build nests out of rocks. We even spotted a few eggs!