If you really want to get away from it all, think about a cruise to Antarctica.

Underneath the ice at the South Pole is a land mass that used to be much nearer the equator, where it was forested with a normal variety of animal life. AS the continent drifted south, at a rate of centimetres a century, the species living there evolved to cope with the changing climate.

Those animals still live there. The continent, or at least the Southern Ocean surrounding it are teeming with wildlife. This is the only place on Earth where wild animals have not learnt to be afraid of humans, meaning that you can get really close to these animals in their natural habitat.

This area may not be inhabited by many people but there is an enormous variety of wildlife, including various species of whales, seals and sea-lions. You will see Rockhopper penguins, Magellanic penguins, Adelie, Chinstrap, Gentoo and King penguins. For those interested in flying birds there are Albatross, Kelp Gulls and Terns.

Most people are interested in seeing Orca, killer whales, and this is certainly an impressive species, especially when seen in family groups.

An Antarctic cruise will enable you to see the Antarctic coastline and visit some of the islands of the Southern Ocean. Many of these islands have only a very small human population, others are uninhabited (by people anyway.) The silence away from the ship is simply stunning.

Visit the graves of some of the early Antarctic explorers such as Shackleton and venture amongst the islands and icebergs in a Rigid Inflatable Zodiac Boat (RIB).

That’s just the activities OFF the ship. Of course you have the normal exciting cruise ship lifestyle on board, with all luxuries available. No ordinary cruise this, though. You will have so much to tell people when you return home from your out of the ordinary holiday to the Earth’s least known continent at the end of the world.