Stepping onto Antarctic soil is unlike anything else. The silence hits you first. Not quiet — genuine silence. No birds, no wind rustling leaves, no traffic. Just the crunch of your boots on snow that’s been here for millennia. We landed at Cuverville Island, home to a massive gentoo penguin colony. Thousands of them, unafraid, waddling past like we were the strange ones invading their neighborhood.
First Steps on the White Continent