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There is an exhilarating new vacation destination, ideal for those individuals who are bored with the regular spots such as the Bahamas, Rome, Canada, Paris, Mexico, and Maldives, and that destination is Antarctica. Many people have been visiting Antarctica recently.  It’s sometimes referred to as the cold, dark continent down under. Up until recently Antarctica was one of the seven continents children in school learned about in books and then, like the rest of us, soon forgot about it. As a person looking for antarctica travel you should visit that site.

Tourists coming from New York can choose to fly into Buenos Aires.  They can also opt to fly directly into the world’s most southern city, Ushuaia, which is in Tierra del Fuego, Argentina. Two days are spent touring and training, then the voyagers head out for the Drake Passage. Drake Passage is 600 miles of rough and tumbles sea, certain to satisfy thrill seekers of all ages.

In early sailing times, any seaman who had lived through the passage could put one foot on the table when dinner was over. If the seaman had crossed the Antarctic Circle, he could put both feet on the table. Its a little-known fact that, even today, this tradition still continues.

The most courageous of travelers, who venture to Antarctica, have earned the right for more than just the opportunity to feed penguins, or leave his initials engraved in an iceberg. The Antarctic tour also makes stops at several U.S. and Argentine scientific stations that are set up to survey marine life, glacial biology, meteorology and earth movements. It is not surprising that these crew members and scientists, have much knowledge to share, and are eager to share information and companionship with visitors. When you would like to get more information on antarctica trip check out this site.

While on the tour, you will take part in a comprehensive course of scientific research, encompassing everything from geology to marine life. Tour participants will find out that one cubic foot of ocean on this frozen continent, houses more living entities, than any other water on the planet. Tour member will spend their nights aboard the ship, with daily outings by boat or foot into Antarctica. US winter And summer in Antarctica happen at the same time. Though the Antarctic summer temperatures can reach a high of thirty degrees above zero, it is still very cold because of the polar winds. Winters in Antarctica are unbelievably cold, but tour members are given everything that they need to brave the cold, including pants, parkas, and mittens.

You will have the chance to mingle with the sea leopards, penguins, and elephant seals, with these seals being quite a daunting creature, each one weighing in at as much as two and a half tons. You can see a whale graveyard, too. You may be tempted to take some whale bones are reminders of your trip, but tour guides don’t recommend this.  The overweight baggage fees are incredibly stiff on your return flights.

Crossing the Drake Passage is one of the toughest voyages on the planet.  It stretches from the tip of South America to Antarctica. In this 400 mile stretch of ocean, the weather is difficult, many currents collide and there is no land to temper the water. When I sailed off to Antarctica, I was only anticipating seeing penguins and the occasional iceberg. I didn’t really know what to expect since I had no real grasp of the topography. Never having been keen on geography, I wasn’t prepared for what Antarctica had in store. As a person looking for antarctica cruise you should visit that site.

We were prepared for Drake’s Passage’s fury, but our cruise was uneventful on the way there. We were thoroughly beaten by the Passage on the way home. On our initial morning in Antarctica we arose to a gray, but tranquil, sea.

We could make out hazy, gray-brown mountains blanketed in snow on the horizon and it was not long before we came across our first ice. Chunks of this ice bobbed in the gray sea like crystal marshmallows. I rushed outside into the freezing air after throwing on the red parka supplied by the ship.  I also grabbed my camera.

We?d run outside to see the penguins, dolphins or whales that anyone else had seen.  We also listened to the ship?s naturalist. Passing by the huge ice blocks in our tiny inflatable raft was truly thrilling.  We were finally on our way to shore. Not only could we see the rocky shoreline finally, but we saw several penguins at the water?s edge, seemingly considering whether to go for a swim or not. When you would like to get more information on Recommended Antarctica Cruises check out this site.

We were totally encircled by penguins. Paradise Harbor houses this little area of land which is shared by the gentoo penguins and a few researchers. They waddle purposefully about, looking as though they are rushing to complete their to-do lists. Some of them were standing atop rocks, observing the intruders in their red parkas who mingled amongst them while smiling and pointing at them. Most of these penguins had already been left by their parents, and were expected to fend for themselves. Some of the chicks had not come to terms with this yet. The birds eat krill from the ocean, and have had it regurgitated directly into their mouths by their parents until recently.

The penguins had also started molting. Most of the babies had cleaned up their coats, and were sporting the smooth, patterned feathers of their parents, but some still had a few clumps of fluffy gray down stuck to random parts of their body – like the tops of their heads, making them look like they were wearing fluffy hats. Heading back to ship, we went through ice floating on the bay. One seal stretched out on top small iceberg. As we passed by he gave a long, pink-tongued yawn as if to say that he didn’t care what we were up to and that our business was probably unimportant anyhow. was the perfect ending to a really wonderful day. |He gave us a giant tongue-filled yawn; maybe he was telling us how boring we were to see. |Maybe he was commenting on how boring we were when he gave us a giant yawn. |Evidently we bored him because he gave returned our stares with a huge yawn. |He yawned, exposing his enormous pink tongue. His lack of concern for our presence belied the unspoiled characteristic of this beautiful land where we’d spend a perfect day. |He presented us with a large, pink-tongued yawn, by which he could have been indicating just how impressed he was that we were there, but which certainly was an ideal manner of concluding our day. ]

The penguins immediately did their cutest trick. Who could withstand the very appealing penguin waddle? The formal look of their feathers combined with the orange webbed feet The penguins were more clean than others because this particular area had more rocks than dirt. They looked a bit like jaunty chipmunks because of the thin black line under their chins.

You cannot help but be stunned by the sheer volume as these three feet high, tuxedo wearing birds slip and slide their way around their mud caked rookery, with well over 100 thousand of them it’s not the sort of thing you tend to forget. You will gain a deeper understanding about antarctic cruises by checking out that resource.

Preening obsessively, they shoo away their neighbors that encroach on their nests and fend off any chick hunting seals and pesky skuas. Fluffy brown down-covered babies clamor incessantly, thrusting their heads high into their parents’ gullets for pre-digested food.

Penguin parents are constantly feeding their young. As one parent comes back with fish from the icy sea, a ritual takes place of bows and pecks and then the other heads to the ocean for their stint.

Penguins are not really that cute. Penguins are noisy, rude and foul-smelling. But visitors arrive to Antarctica every year to be able to stand with them. The Antarctic’s landscape, vast and frozen really is like the end of the world. Read this site if you want cruises to antartica information.

The Penguins aren’t the only thing people come to see. 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.

The number of people who have been to this exciting place before is smaller than the crowd at a typical football match. If someone is keen on finding the holiest place on Earth, it must be Antarctica. The journey is where the adventure begins. Because it is so exotic and exciting, you seem to get more than the money you spend on this trip. 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. Depending on their convenience, people can select any of these ports as their transit point and board ice-rated cruise ships. That’s still the only way to get there, and passengers endure several days of rough seas until they reach The Big Ice.

We all know from world maps that the continent of Antarctica is approximately the same size as the U.S. and Mexico combined; but an equal amount of area gets added if we consider the icy shelves all around it. 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.

Between February 10 and 18, with nine vessels plying, operators are offering a choice of itineraries. Except for one ship that carries 400 passengers, all the others carry a maximum of 200. Rather than enjoyment, the emphasis on these voyages is on learning the nuances of life in Antarctica.

Using zodiac rafts, passengers are taken to see scientists at work, penguins in their rookeries and vast colonies of seals.

Maintenance of the research stations is currently handled by the U.S., Argentina, Chile, China, Russia and a few other agencies who are parties to the Antarctic Treaty. Using Antarctica as an environmentally insulated laboratory, not having any territorial borders and keeping the entire continent free from commercial and nuclear activity is what participating nations agreed upon as a part of the Antarctic Treaty. Some of the research stations are very open in receiving travelers but others see it as interference.

Tourists are free to wander all over Argentina?s Esperanza station at Hope Bay comprising a research centre, recreational area, There seems to be a common bond of friendship connecting everyone from scientists to military personnel and from dogs and penguins to children.

Of the nine bases on King George?s Island, Chile’s Teniente Marsh station is the largest and has, besides other facilities, a provisions shop, a restaurant and even a small post office. Within walking distance is China’s Great Wall Station where you can buy T-shirts, stuffed penguins and many other items that are normally called curios. Anvers Island houses the United States’ Palmer Station and only certain ships are allowed to come anywhere close. Visitors are not given permission to enter laboratories and residential quarters.

Returning from the South Pole in 1912, Captain Robert Falcon Scott suffered a horrible death. He and his traveling companions succumbed to the cold and starved to death. His tragic end followed the bitter pill of relinquishing the title of first to the South Pole. His attempt at this competition ensured his status as national hero. This site teaches you about cruise travel to antarctica.

Because of several studies conducted through the years, we now know what types of severe conditions to expect when exploring Antarctica. During the winter the temperature can become as low as -90? celsius with the wind becoming as fiece as 67 hm an hour. In 1912, with little understanding of the devastating hazards the continent had in store for him, Scott was ill prepared for the task he was undertaking.

Scott would write letters to his wife while working in Polar regions to explain exactly how lonely it was in these areas. Even today, scientists that work in the region agree with the extreme isolation, despite the availability of vastly superior methods of communication. Scott’s death made his wife a widow and single mother to her young son.

His body and letters written for his wife weren’t discovered until many months after he died. Scott died 11 miles away from his supply post. The wife-made-widow of Captain Scott was waiting in New Zealand from him when she was made aware of his passing. As a person looking for trips to antarctica you should visit that site.

There is a lot historians can get out of the letters found on Scott’s body. The letters that were written during the first part of his journey spoke of his great health and he loved a hearty meal. His letters mentioned the cold, and his complaints about it, but he claimed the hot meals the team enjoyed kept the freezing temperatures away.

As the excursion progressed, though, and proper nutrition was growing scarce, Scott began to change his tune. He explained that the weather was getting even more brutal and showed no mercy. He and his men were only able to consume one hot meal with two days of cold food in order to move another 11 miles.

He was a true pioneer of travel to “new worlds” during his generation.  Unfortunately, though, his expedition seemed doomed from the beginning. Norwegian Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole ahead of Scott’s team. Amundsmen arrived at the South Pole on December 21, 1911 and Scott did not get there until January 18, 1912.

Before leaving on his final expedition, Scott was a national hero following his first expedition into the Antarctic regions from 1902-1904. The two other men with him, Lieutenant Henry Bowers and Dr. Edward Wilson held onto their beliefs of survival. Captain Lawrence Oats and Petty Officer Edgar Evans also did not survive.

While just twenty miles from the depot, the explorers needed to stow all provisions. They were not just running low on food but fuel as well. Scott wrote in his letters to his wife that she should remarry if he were to die, his letters described weathering temperatures 70? below zero in nothing but a tent.

In his final letters, he experienced no remorse at having taken the journey that killed him. He went so far as to say that it was an improvement to just sitting around at home all day. For generations now, Scott’s courage and determination have served as an inspiration for British youths.

And this although Scott’s expedition was unable to reach the south pole before Amundsmen’s team, missing the chance by a scant few weeks. Scott died on March 29, 1912. “Scott’s Last Expedition” is the book that was published in 1913, and it is Scott’s personal journal.