Day 7 of Antarctica Cruise – February 7, 2025

Part of the beauty of Antarctica lies in its untouched pristineness. I’m well aware that tourists like me could potentially damage that. So it was reassuring to find that tourism to Antarctica is highly regulated. Only one boat at a time is allowed to anchor at each location. Only 100 people can set foot on the land at a time. On land, we were allowed to only stand or walk. No sitting down, no kneeling, not even crouching to get a better camera angle (to avoid the risk of falling), no placing backpacks or clothing on the snow. Boots and walking sticks were disinfected every time we got in and out of the zodiac to prevent introduction of pests or non-native species. Penguins always have the right of way, no matter what. If a whale got too close, we backed off. Our guides were very conscientious about monitoring to make sure all rules were being adhered to.

But in one spot which had little wildlife, Portal Point, the restrictions were less stringent, and we immediately threw ourselves into polar play. There were snow angels, snowmen, snowball fights, and just all-around snow fun. The only thing missing were sleds!

Some 20 years ago, in a blog called India Ink I started back in 2003, I created a different snowman theme each year. My Antarctic snowman, though minimalist, made a fine addition to that collection. (A link to some of my previous snowmen is here. This is an old, archived blog that is no longer in use, but the pictures are still available.)