Agents discover Antarctica with G Adventures

Antarctica is a wild, unpredictable place – and that’s how G Adventures likes it.

“In Antarctica, you always either have the beautiful, bright sunshine, or else it’s windy as hell,” Osi Shahaf, onboard naturalist for G Adventures, told guests at the tour operator’s Antarctica Travel Talk in Toronto last night.

“I go there several times a year, and I always fall in love with it all over again.”

The event, which included presentations by Shahaf as well as Onboard Historian Scott MacPhail on the nature of the expeditions, included agents as well as their clients – something that Richard Heller, director of marine operations, said is vital when it comes to explaining the essence of an Antarctic trip.

“It’s almost an inexplicable feeling, being there,” he told PAX following Shahaf and MacPhail’s talk, which covered everything from glaciers to packing tips.

“It’s really hard for a travel advisor to sell such an emotional experience when they haven’t been there, so having our facilitators come and retell their adventures firsthand to agents and their clients really helps.”

Fast becoming a bucket list item for worldly travellers with a hunger for brag-worthy memories, Antarctica’s wild fauna and wilder weather is an unpredictable assortment of once-in-a-lifetime moments, and doesn’t adhere well to schedules – which is perfect for a small group adventure tour company like G.

“We work with the same value system as we do with all our trips,” Heller continued. “We offer passengers a more relaxed environment, and really focus on the experience.”

Unlike other five-star, all-inclusive cruise ship operations which tend to look inward at climbing walls and set meal times, Heller explained that G Adventures’ Antarctic expeditions tends to look outward.

“Of course we have programs and entertainment on board too,” he said. “But if there’s an opportunity to see wildlife outside the ship, screw mealtime! We’ll adjust the programme around what’s happening, because we’re all about giving guests the best possible experience that we can.”

Armed with a significantly small ratio of 14 facilitators and up to 130 passengers, G Adventures' ship feature onboard marine biologists, ornithologists, historians, naturalists and geologists to lead excursions and expert talks.

The tour operator also makes use of state-of-the-art zodiacs to reach the mainland, so guests can enjoy pre-booked excursions such as camping, kayaking and wildlife viewing at sea level.

G Adventures' Richard Heller

Although G has been sailing to the region since 2004, the ship was outfitted with new engines last year, which according to MacPhail, makes the famously treacherous Drake’s Passage considerably more bearable.

“The speed of our ship gets us through it faster, and allows for more time viewing wildlife and ice formations,” he told the assembled, adding that the weather is another assumption that a lot of pre-Antarctic travellers get wrong.

“In some months, it’s almost like t-shirt weather,” he said, explaining that temperatures can range from minus two degrees to between five and 10 degrees.

Even so, the G team is big on safety, and provides waterproof and windproof parkas and boots for the windier – and wetter – parts of the trip.

Expeditions are available in 11- to 22-day durations, with the voyage season spanning from late October to late March, a timeframe which Shahaf said provides a wide variety in traveller experience.

“Looking for a pristine white scene?” she asked. “Go in October. Want up-close wildlife encounters where penguin chicks waddle up to your feet? Go in March.”

According to Heller, the average demographic for G’s Antarctic voyages isn’t limited to age. Instead, he suggested agents look at clients who have travelled with G Adventures a few times before, and are perhaps looking for an entirely new, never-before-seen adventure, done the G way.

“The vibe is so chill and relaxed,” Elke Hinson, a travel agent with Merit Travel said, taking a moment to step up and share her own recent experience on a G Antarctic voyage. “The crew is so passionate and fun, but they’re also really communicative about safety and what’s going on.”

If an agent-to-agent endorsement for an easygoing onboard experience wasn’t enough, Shahaf’s candidly enthusiastic expression of Antarctica as a remote, untouched place that hasn’t been “screwed up” by humans yet lent its own brand of credibility – as did MacPhail’s lenient attitude on impromptu whale watching.

“If you want to beat the buffet line,” he joked, “just yell ‘whale!’ Everyone will run to the window.”