Antarctica: See and do
Antarctica is an amazing place just to look at, with its enormous calving glaciers, icebergs the size of cities, penguin colonies and towering snow-clad mountains. But even just standing there looking is going to involve exertion on your part, elaborate preparation, and a degree of risk. The distinction between seeing and doing is a fine one in many locations, and here it vanishes altogether.
In that spirit, the prime thing for you to do in Antarctica is come home safe. Don't do anything, not even just standing there, without having that in mind. How are the sea conditions and the weather? How is your body faring? What about the other people in your group, is everyone accounted for? And what if, what if, what if?
The southern aurora, but not in summer. You need full darkness to see it, but in summer the sky is bright even if the sun has briefly dipped below the horizon. You may have more chance on the homeward sailing, as your latitude decreases and the nights lengthen. The same applies to other dark sky sights such as meteors.
The midnight sun in midsummer, but only within the Antarctic circle; most of the Peninsula and all of the Antarctic Islands lie north of it. Actually you're going to get fed up with the sun, since it's broad daylight at 02:00 when you need your sleep.
Deception Island, one of the South Shetland Islands, is a remarkable natural amphitheatre with an equally remarkable show within. It's an active volcano, last erupting in 1970, and the deception is that it looks like a normal mountainous island. But its flanks are just the rim of a great flooded caldera, entered via the narrow channel "Neptune's Bellows" into a sheltered natural harbour. Its main sights are the scenery, a large colony of chinstrap penguins, geothermal hot springs (so you can swim in Antarctica), and the remains of an old whaling station and bases wrecked by eruptions.
Lemaire Channel is a spectacular section of coastline along the Peninsula. It narrows to 1.6 km, and cruise ships sail through a canyon of cliffs and towering ice. Its waters are remarkably still and populated by whales. It's close to other attractions such as Port Lockroy, Cierva Cove and Paradise Bay so it's on many cruise itineraries, but the channel is sometimes blocked by icebergs, so the ship has to back up and seek another route.
Old camps and bases that have been abandoned. Some (such as on Paulet Island) were refuges built by shipwreck survivors, others (as on Deception, above) were summer camps for whaling and sealing. Port Lockroy on the Peninsula was the main British base until they moved to Rothera. It's been converted into a museum. There's a particularly rich collection on Ross Island, as this was historically the main base for exploration towards the pole.
Penguins are the signature beasts of Antarctica, yet most penguin species live much further north.
Emperor penguins (Aptenodytes forsteri) are the 1.2 m creature that stays and breeds here during the harsh winter. …