Polar

2 essays filed from Polar.

A small zodiac approaches a cathedral of blue ice in an Antarctic bay.

Ushuaia, Antarctica

Antarctica: ten days on the seventh continent

Antarctica is the most genuinely empty continent on earth. The only realistic access is by ship across the Drake Passage from Ushuaia, Argentina. The 10-day cruise — penguins, ice, the Drake itself, the cold ocean — is one of the most distinctive trips available in modern travel.

December 30, 2024

Coloured wooden houses of Longyearbyen below Arctic mountains.

Polar

Longyearbyen, Norway

Svalbard: the polar archipelago and the bears that live there

Svalbard is the High Arctic — a Norwegian archipelago at 78° north, with more polar bears than people, a small settlement at Longyearbyen, and a coastline accessible only by sea. The Arctic in its more genuine form, with the difficulties that implies.

July 12, 2024