Polar

How do you pack for a trip to Antarctica, one of the coldest, windiest, driest, remotest places on earth?

The Polar Plunge – leaping off a ship into the freezing waters below – has become an Antarctic rite of passage. This is what it looks like.

At home in Brixton, I am not a morning person in the slightest. So it came as a surprise that I was happily settling into life at sea, and the early starts that came with it.

You might think the highest, driest, coldest and most remote continent in the world would be immune to overtourism. But it’s not.

So you wanna go on a polar expedition? First thing you need to know is that it will change your life.

Not that these stunning vistas could ever get old, but if you are after a way to break up all that sightseeing, there are a number of ways to stay entertained onboard an Antarctic ship.

While Iceland attracts over two million tourists a year, Greenland only sees about 33,000, making it one of the planet’s least visited places.

The scouts spotted a polar bear, so plans changed. And not for the first time today.

Pounding heart in my throat, I raced up the stairs two at a time with my camera clutched to my chest, and burst onto the deck to find every soul onboard (even the chefs) braced against the railing. At first I thought it was a joke. There was nothing. But those with high-grade telescopic lenses could see the bear, and he was moving.