Antarctica ? The Final Frontier

Your stare becomes locked as you observe their great numbers, seventy thousand or more breeding pairs all happily waddling around on their mile square rookery of mud and rock, wearing their tidily pressed tuxedos.

They constantly preen as they defend their pebble made nests from an unwanted neighbor, the seal hunting skuas and big clumsy seals. Brown, fluffy downed chicks constantly clamor, placing their heads into their parents’ beaks for any food that they have. antarctica travel information is only a click away.

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.

Penguins are not as cute as they seem. Penguins are noisy and foul-smelling but fascinating. But they draw large numbers of visitors to Antarctica every year to stand amidst them. It really is a vast frozen continent at the end of the world.

People visit for other reasons too. There are whales, dolphins, seals, albatross and other sea birds and an astonishingly beautiful land and seascape of icebergs resembling dragons and other mythical creatures and glaciers with spires as tall as those found on the cathedrals of Europe. If you’re looking to learn about antarctica vacations, visit their site for more details.

This wonderland has had so few visitors till date that the crowd at a typical football match might be far larger in number. A visit to Antarctica is like life?s best dream fulfilled, with nothing left to be desired. The first part of the adventure is the journey to Antarctica. Although a bit expensive, this trip gives you your money?s worth because of its exclusive and exciting nature. A 20-hour flight to Ushuaia in Argentina or Punta Arenas in Chile, Cape Town in South Africa, or Christchurch in New Zealand needs to be endured before beginning the onward voyage by sea to Antarctica. These ports are alternatives to each other and people can choose to proceed to Antarctica by certified cruise ships from any of these ports. This happens to be the only option for reaching Antarctica despite a travel of several days through rough seas.

The visible part of Antarctica is as we see in maps, is roughly the size of the U.S. and Mexico put together; but considering the icy shelves adjoining the continent, the area is actually the double of that.While it holds over 70 percent of Earth?s fresh water this couple of miles thick mass of ice exerts tremendous pressure on the Earth?s surface.

There is a wide variety of itineraries and a choice of nine ships on cruises between February 10 and 18. There is only one ship that carries 400 passengers while all the others are small and carry between 75 and 200 passengers. Rather than fun and frolic, the mood on these ships is one of learning, with natural science and history lectures and slide shows about Antarctica.

Scientists busy unraveling the mysteries of Antarctica, penguins and their vast rookeries and swathes of seals in their colonies is what awaits passengers when they make landings using zodiac rafts.

Research stations are maintained by the U.S., Argentina, Chile, China, Russia and other parties to the Antarctic Treaty. The Antarctic Treaty is the international agreement that preserves Antarctica as a border-free, commerce-free, nuclear-free, environmentally protected science laboratory. Tourists are seen as a nuisance by some research stations while at a few places they are most welcome.

Hope Bay is virtually a small town full of orange-colored bungalows that constitute Argentina?s Esperanza station in which tourists are free to visit work areas, recreational facilities, the church and a school. Everyone and everything around including the military personnel, their team dogs, the meteorologists, the children and even the penguins seem to be enjoying each other?s company.

Chile’s Teniente Marsh station, which boasts of a convenience store, a restaurant and even a post office, is located on King George?s Island and is the biggest of the nine bases on that island. 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. 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. Living quarters and research areas are extremely sensitive areas and are inaccessible to tourists.