Antarctica - a land of superlatives and extremes, Antarctica is without a doubt one of the most awe-inspiring places on Earth. The fifth-largest continent, it is the highest, most arid, and most isolated. More than 99 percent of it is covered in ice. It is the least explored and least inhabited; yet people are drawn to this place again and again.

Navigate around an iceberg on a Zodiac expedition and gaze in awe as 18-foot, 4.5-ton elephant seals haul themselves out of the water and gather on icy banks as southern albatrosses soars overhead. Ready your camera for a king or royal penguin encounter in a colony of thousands upon thousands of nesting birds and their fluffy, bewildered chicks. Antarctica! Antarctica’s glaciers, massive rivers of ice, crunch, grind and calve their way into the sea. Gargantuan towers of ice the size of city blocks glow in shades of pink, violet, and baby blue. Humpback whales gracefully loop through the frigid water in search of a meal of krill.Antarctica is not easy; in fact, it has to be earned: its isolation requires a lengthy flight—unless you happen to live in one of the gateway towns, like Stanley, Hobart, or Ushuaia—just to board the ship. Then there is the matter of the sea itself. Even in the sturdy confidence and relative comfort of an expedition ship or icebreaker, crossing the Drake Passage south of Argentina’s Cape Horn can be a seafaring adventure in itself.

Antarctica cruises are truly one of the last great adventures. Leave tourist crowds—and indeed, the whole world—behind. Come see more than the tip of the iceberg: venture to terra incognita austral is, the unknown southern land.