Overnight camping in Antarctica was a dream come true! In my case, I went on an expedition cruise to Antarctica with a company that offered overnight camping on the 7th continent. Camping on the Antarctic Peninsula was an exhilarating experience with nature. How many people get to sleep on ice at Antarctica? Probably not many!
We had a briefing at the boat about expectations and the "do's and don'ts" during the camping trip. They had two options for sleeping arrangements, a tent or a bivvy sack under the open sky. My 2 good friends and I chose a tent because we knew we wanted to catch at least a little bit of sleep, and since it was during the "summer" in Antarctica, we were getting sunlight all night long (photo below). My other good friend (along with many others) chose to sleep in a bivvy sack right under the sky.
The expedition group pre-set up the tents for us. While the people sleeping on bivvys had to dig their own holes to reduce the amount of wind while sleeping. It truly looked like they were digging their own graves ;-). The experience started after dinner on the ship, the camping group took us ashore by zodiac to spend the night on the ice.
What to pack and what to wear for the camping?
Food was not allowed on shore (Antarctic regulations), only emergency rations, survival gear, any necessary medicine, our cameras and drinking water; therefore, we did not have much with us. The ship was close by (not visible though) in case of any emergencies.
The company provided us with the tents, boots and good sleeping bags (appropriate for the cold temperatures). I wore warm comfortable clothes in layers with hats, gloves and socks appropriate for the cold, windy and icy weather. We even took our parkas off while sleeping (in our sleeping bags) and we slept very good in our tents. The people in the bivvys were a bit colder than us.
If you need a full list on what to pack for an Antarctica Cruise, please go to this post: https://www.extraordinarywanderlust.com/post/what-to-pack-for-an-antarctica-cruise
If you are wondering how we went to the bathroom, we were certainly not allowed to just dig a hole like you would in a typical camping trip. The crew brought portable toilets which certainly had to go back to the ship afterwards. So you can imagine we tried to avoid those as much as physically possible.
The following morning we were picked up early in time to return for breakfast at the ship. We spent just under 10 hours ashore during this experience.
#OceanwideExpeditions
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