My Antarctic stats
- Ships inspected: Silver Endeavour, Seaventure, Greg Mortimer, Hondius and Plancius
- Antarctic activities tested: Citizen Science
- Polar plunges braved: 1
- Began working in travel: 2015
Swoop says
The Drake Passage crossing to Antarctica is a birder's dream – even just leaving the dock in Ushuaia and sailing down the Beagle Channel had me out on deck soaking up the sightings of black-browed albatross and giant petrels.
Colin Fraser Antarctica Consultant
My top 5 Antarctic experiences
- Arriving in Antarctic waters early, letting us visit the iconic Elephant Island and getting a rare sighting of a blue whale in the process!
- Experiencing the electric buzz on the ship when our expedition team pulled back the curtain during an introductory lecture to reveal a mile-long tabular iceberg straight in front of us
- Having the Captain park the ship right next to a swathe of sea ice so we could walk on it – completely unexpected
- Getting so excited when a minke whale popped up about 20 metres (66 feet) from my ship that I accidentally pocket-called my dad
- Reaching the top of the caldera on Penguin Island. On a clear day, there is no place more beautiful than Antarctica
Making it to my seventh continent
My photos of Antarctica
A porpoising chinstrap penguin
Kayaking around Melchior Islands
The myriad hues of an iceberg
A fur seal on Gaston Island
Hiking on Half Moon Island
Looking out across the South Shetlands
A hard day's work in Antarctica
Zooming in on Antarctica from the deck
More about me
- I started my career as a specialist in tailor-made holidays, eventually moving on to organising business travel for high-profile clients
- I’ve also worked as a photographer specialising in nature, editorial and e-commerce shoots, and currently volunteer as a director at a community darkroom in Bristol
- I'm never far away from my next birdwatching holiday – although my wife, Kemi, sometimes needs some convincing to come along
- My love of wildlife has taken me across the globe, seeing favourites like the resplendent quetzal in Costa Rica, the picathartes in Ghana, and more recently, the Nile Valley sunbird in Egypt. Of course, I particularly enjoyed all the birds I witnessed in Antarctica
Out on deck
My top advice? Go to Antarctica with an open mind and enjoy the itinerary changes you'll inevitably encounter. Don’t spend time worrying about what you might or might not see, because it'll definitely be amazing.
Colin Fraser Antarctic Sales Consultant
What our customers think of Colin
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