The beauty, grandeur, complexity and savagery of Antarctica are almost impossible to convey in words and pictures.

It's hard to explain the awe-inspiring sight of a 20-ton humpback whale launching himself completely out of the water and disappearing out of sight again. Or to convey the feeling of being in the silent and surreal presence of icebergs that have been wandering aimlessly for centuries in Antarctic currents.

NBC News/ Kevin Burke

Neko Harbor in the Antarctic Peninsula.

Same goes for the sight of 100,000 King penguins and their chicks congregating on a beach the size of two football fields. Or trying to verbalize what it's like seeing looming glaciers teetering precariously on the edge of collapse and destruction. Or the sight of a hungry leopard seal taunting a raft full of tourists.

NBC News/ Kevin Burke

Gentoo Penguin in the Antarctic Peninsula.

I have traveled to the Antarctic Peninsula in pursuit of a life-long goal to see as much of the planet as time allows, and to explore a place that few people ever get to experience.

NBC News/ Kevin Burke

Ice Arch in the Gerlache Strait that runs through the Antarctic Peninsula.

My impressions of this vast frontier at the bottom of the earth are still fresh and forming. At this point the only thing I'm certain of is that this will not be my last visit to the seventh continent.