Taking the Kids: Visiting Antarctica
Who needs a sled! In Antarctica, they're superfluous -- for both humans and penguins. The Chinstrap penguins we watch (so named because of their black markings that resemble a chin strap) effortlessly slide down a big ice floe into the water amid the floating chunks of ice, leaving tracks just like skiers on a powder day.
The 34 kids that are part of the Abercrombie and Kent family trip here, sailing on the 200-passenger Le Boreal, take their cue from the animals, sliding down the slushy hill (yes, it was warmer in Antarctica than in the Northeast) on their backsides, trudging back up so they could do it again at the bottom of the world in Neko Harbour.
"The best day of my life and that's only a little exaggeration," said Conrad Kistler, 12, from Orange County, California.
It's an Instagram-worthy day -- blue skies, water so clear we can see penguins diving, glaciers all around and, of course, the bountiful wildlife. We even witnessed glacier calves, solid ice hitting the sea with a large "boom!"
During this trip, we walked amid thousands of penguins (we saw five species) not bothered by our presence and fur seals who were. The huge elephant seals ignored us, as did the humpback whales we watched from zodiacs. They were too busy feeding to pay attention to the paparazzi snapping their photos.
Surprisingly on this trip, which lasted a little over two weeks, the teens hardly missed Wi-Fi. It's very difficult and expensive to connect here. They explained that it was too stressful to keep up with their friends on social media and, said Sean Jacobson, 15, from San Diego, the enforced break from constant texting and posting was "relaxing."
Besides, he added, "There was always something new to see and something to do." There were onboard lectures offered by Antarctica expert naturalists and historians and an excellent Young Explorers program where you had an opportunity to dissect a squid one day, identify seabirds from the deck another day and watch Orca whales from the bridge with the always enthusiastic captain the kids dubbed "Captain Wow."
Kids learned to drive a zodiac, put out fires at the Falklands Island fire station with affable firefighters and to play harmonicas with Canadian "Harmonica Mike" Stevens, who tours the world playing. In the downtime, kids could be found playing video games or teaching each other new card games with newfound friends from across the world -- Moscow to Melbourne, Australia, Shanghai to Chicago to New York. I've never seen so many teens and tweens so engaged. Antarctica has been in the news lately. There are reports that a massive ice shelf the size of Delaware -- one of Antarctica's largest -- is about to break off from the most northern major ice shelf in Antarctica, fundamentally changing the landscape of the peninsula.
At the same time, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators, formed 25 years ago to promote safe and environmentally responsible travel here, reports that tourism here is increasing, with 44,000 visitors expected this year. Just as significant, visitors are skewing younger and they're interested in more active pursuits.
That was evident aboard Le Boreal, a PONANT luxury ship. A trip that once was the purview of wealthy retirees is now is attracting well-heeled millennial families that are no longer willing to wait to take bucket list excursions. More than half the kids onboard, like Kevin Taylor, 12, from suburban Chicago, were visiting their seventh continent.
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