« Good Reasons You Should Choose The Best Shipping Spain Company | Home | Information And Tips On The Travel Distance Calculator »
Do You Dream Of Going To Antarctica?
By CruiseDirector | September 2, 2010
With approximately seventy thousand pairs, they are quite a sight, slipping about on a small rookery, in their snug tuxedos. As a person looking for antarctica travel you should visit that site.
They constantly preen as they defend their chick’s nest from an unwanted neighbor, the chick hunting skuas and threat of a seal. Brown down-covered young chicks clamor about, thrusting their beaks into their mothers’ mouths for undigested fish.
Penguins work around the clock to feed their chicks. When one parent comes back from the ocean with fish, a ritual of pecks and bows takes place before the other heads off for their turn in the sea.
Contrary to expectations, penguins aren’t cute. Penguins are noisy and foul-smelling but fascinating. Visitors to the Antarctic still come to stand amongst them and actually keep returning because they fascinated. The landscape of Antarctica, vast and frozen, really is like the end of the Earth. Visit this site for further information on antarctic travel.
There’s a lot more to see in the Antarctic than penguins. There is an astonishingly beautiful landscape of icebergs resembling dragons and mythical being and glaciers with spires as tall as those found on European cathedrals and there are seals, albatross, dolphins, whales, and icebergs.
This wonderful place has had very few visitors so far, so few that all of them put together might not even fill a football stadium. Antarctica leaves us wondering if there is any other place on Earth that is holier than this. Getting there is part of the adventure. Although this trip is a bit costly, it certainly gives you your money’s worth. From the U.S., the journey to Antarctica has two legs; a 20-hour flight to Ushuaia in Argentina or Punta Arenas in Chile, Cape Town in South Africa, or Christchurch in New Zealand followed by a sea voyage to the icy continent. It is through these ports that most of the passengers embark on their journey to Antarctica in expedition cruise ships. This happens to be the only option for reaching Antarctica despite a travel of several days through rough seas.
Larger than the U.S. and Mexico combined, continental Antarctica is surrounded by ice shelves forming a surface bigger than North America, Europe and Greenland combined. Antarctica holds 70 percent of Earth’s fresh water and this two miles thick mass of ice exerts massive pressure on the surface of the Earth.
There is a wide variety of itineraries and a choice of nine ships on cruises between February 10 and 18. Ships carrying 75 to 200 passengers are the norm and only one ship carries 400 passengers. The flavor on these voyages is predominantly that of learning about Antarctica’s vast natural beauty.
Zodiac rafts take passengers to seal colonies, penguin rookeries and to research stations where scientists are busy studying the several mysteries of life in Antarctica.
The task of maintaining the research stations is handled by the U.S., Argentina, Chile, China, Russia and a few other parties who are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty. The Antarctic Treaty has succeeded in keeping the continent free from commercial and nuclear activity and has so far retained it as an environmentally insulated laboratory. While some research stations do not favor allowing visitors, others are very upbeat about receiving them.
The work areas, recreational facilities, the church and a school are all part of Argentina’s Esperanza station at Hope Bay and are open for the tourists to visit at will. Resident meteorologists, military personnel, children, team dogs, and penguins, are friendly and accommodating.
Teniente Marsh station is a base built by Chile on King George’s Island and it has everything from a provisions shop to a restaurant and surprisingly even a post office. In the same neighborhood, you can buy T-shirts, souvenirs and curios at China’s Great Wall Station. Barring a few ships allowed at certain specific times, no other ships are allowed anywhere close to the United States’ Palmer Station base in Anvers Island. Residential areas and laboratories are out of bounds for tourists.
Topics: Caribbean Cruise | No Comments »