Nestled among the South Shetland Islands is Deception Island, easily recognised on a map by its horseshoe shape. Its collapsed volcanic caldera is breached at Neptune's Bellows and makes for one of the world's safest natural harbours, despite the volcano's periodic eruptions. Ships enter the relatively calm waters of Port Forster (12km/7.5mi wide) through the caldera's breach that is surrounded by snow-covered hills that reach 580m (1900ft). The island has an interesting history - it was a base for several early exploratory missions - and is still a disputed territory between the Argentinians and the British, however nowadays they seem to get along.The volcano is still very active and its eruptions have caused evacuations and considerable damage to the stations there (during the 1920-21 whaling season the harbour water boiled and stripped the paint off the ships' hulls). The most recent eruption was in 1991-92.Part of what brings the tourist ships here is that the volcanic activity thermally heats the waters of Pendulum Cove (so-called because of the British pendulum and magnetism experiments held there last century) and you can take a dip. It's not deep enough for swimming and most tourists don the togs more for the photograph and the story afterwards than for breaststroking. You do have to be careful, however, because if you move even a metre from the warm water you might find your skin blistering from a near-boiling patch or goosebumping from an unheated patch. There are large colonies of chinstrap penguins on the exterior coast, but few marine animals enter the harbour because there are numerous volcanic vents that heat the water to several degrees above the sea surrounding the island.

Paradise Harbor, on the Antarctic Peninsula, is one of Antarctica's most visited areas and 'zodiac cruising' (aboard small inflatables) among the icebergs that calve off the glacier at the harbour's head has become very popular. No landings are made on these cruises, but the glaciers and mountains reflect beautifully in the water and the serene scene is a highlight for many visitors.

The Dry Valleys are from north to south Victoria, Wright and Taylor, and they are unusual in as much as no rain has fallen there for at least two million years. They have no ice or snow either because the air is too dry for any to exist (ice-free spaces in the Antarctic are called oases). They are enormous, desolate places covering around 3000 sq km (1170 sq mi) and were first happened upon by Robert Scott in December 1903. He wrote '...we have seen no living thing, not even a moss or a lichen...it certainly is the valley of the dead; even the great glacier that once pushed through it has withered away'.Despite their appearance, however, the valleys support some of the most unusual life-forms on the planet. In 1978 American biologists discovered algae, fungi and bacteria growing inside the rocks of the Dry Valleys. These endolithic life-forms grow in air pockets within porous rocks and feed off light, carbon dioxide and moisture that penetrate the rock. The otherworldliness of the landscape is accentuated by the bizarre sculptured rock forms that abound, and these are called ventifacts, shaped by the ever-present wind that buffs the windward sides to a highly polished gleam. (Scientists believe that the Dry Valleys are the nearest earthly equivalent to the landscape of Mars, and NASA did much research there before launching the Viking mission to Mars.)

The Lemaire Channel is a spectacular sight with enormous sheer cliffs falling straight into the sea. It's a narrow channel flanked by the Antarctic Peninsula on one side and Booth Island on the other. So photogenic is the channel that it's nicknamed 'Kodak Gap', and it's only once you're well within it that a way through is visible. Unfortunately, ice can sometimes obscure the path and ships need to retreat and sail around Booth Island. At the northern end of Lemaire Channel are a pair of tall, rounded and often snow-capped peaks known as Una's Tits that are also popular with holiday snappers. The channel was first navigated by Belgian explorer de Gerlache during his 1898 expedition aboard Belgica, and, curiously, named it after the Belgian explorer Charles Lemaire, who explored parts of the Congo.

There are about two million chinstrap penguins on Zavodovski Island in the South Sandwich Islands, making it one of the largest penguin colonies in the world. Since 1982, tourists have been going there to behold this extraordinary ornithological sight. The chinstraps look like white dots against the black volcanic earth, covering every conceivable patch of dry land and disappearing up the mountain into the mist.