100 Places Every Woman Should Go

THE COLDEST, WINDIEST, AND MOST INHOSPITABLE PLACE ON Earth, Antarctica has captured the imagination of adventurers since its “discovery” in the early nineteenth century. Most nations operating bases here banned women until fairly recently (1969, in the case of the United States). Even today, women are a minority on the White Continent.

The best way to visit Antarctica is to land a job in your nation’s base camp. In the United States, Raytheon Polar Service holds a job fair every April in Denver, Colorado. Take a stack of resumes and apply for anything you are remotely qualified for—including human resources, engineering, toilet scrubbing, or dishwashing. Jobs usually last four or five months, are well paid, and include all the equipment needed for surviving the climate.

Or just take a cruise. Tourist ships operate during Antarctica’s summer, November to March, and are booked a good year in advance. Last-minute cancellations do occur, however, and if you spend enough time at the travel agencies of Ushuaia (the southernmost city of Argentina), you might get lucky enough to fill a space. A typical twelve-day cruise runs anywhere from $3,000 to $7,000 and includes a bed in a cabin, meals, lectures, and outings on the Zodiac boats that maneuver between the icebergs. Don’t forget the gear: rubber boots, waterproof pants, a windproof parka, an assortment of fleece and thermals, anti-UV sunglasses, and some serious anti-nausea drugs for the 600-mile journey through the turbulent seas of Drake Passage.

Antarctica has experienced a tourist surge since the release of March of the Penguins, and the film stars don’t disappoint. “We went in January when the chicks were just a month old, and you would see them chasing after their moms crying ‛Feed me, feed me!’ and the mom would be like, ‛I fed you already, leave me alone!’ They were just a hoot. And if you sat down quietly, they’d come right up to you,” says polar traveler Jackie Yang. Other wildlife include humpback, killer, Menke, and sperm whales; crabeater and leopard seals; albatrosses; and petrels.

Equally wondrous is the scenery: lichens and moss grow along craggy rocks and glaciated mountains cast reflections into icy pools. Jackie was particularly taken with Deception Island, where a volcano had spewed lava rocks across a black sand beach. “It was like walking on the moon,” she remembers. “And in Pendulum Cove, the volcanic activity had made the water near the shoreline tepid, so we actually went swimming—in Antarctica!”