Expedition In Antarctica

It is a real spectacle to observe the impeccable tuxedo wearers, as they slide about a small muddy rookery in their great numbers.

They clean themselves obsessively, and scare away neighbors who encroach by their nests, and fend off troublesome, chick threatening seals and skuas. The chicks, scrambling around forcing their beaks into their parents’ mouths for predigested food.

Penguin parents are constantly feeding their young. When one parent returns from the ocean with food, a ritual of pecks and bows ensues before the mate heads off for their turn at sea.

Penguins are not really that cute. Being able to stand amidst them, draws numbers of visitors to the Antarctic each year. All the same, being able to stand amidst them, draws numbers of visitors to the Antarctic each year. The continent is at the ends of the Earth.

Penguins aren’t Antarctica’s only attraction. There are dolphins, seals, whales, albatross and other sea birds and a beautiful landscape of icebergs that resemble great beasts and mythical creatures and glaciers with spires as tall as those on the churches of Europe.

Then, there’s the thrill of visiting a remote wonderland where fewer people than it takes to fill a football stadium have been before. Antarctica is simply divine. The adventure begins right when you begin your journey to reach there. Despite being expensive, this trip is very special, thrilling and unusual. Travelers from the U.S. have to first fly 20 hours to one of four places that are relatively close to Antarctica; Ushuaia in Argentina Punta Arenas in Chile, Cape Town in South Africa, or Christchurch in New Zealand. These ports are alternatives to each other and people can choose to proceed to Antarctica by certified cruise ships from any of these ports. The only way to reach the big icy continent is by enduring a journey of several days through rough seas.

Although the visible part of Antarctica must be the size of the U.S. and Mexico, if we add the area of the ice shelves around it, it is about thrice the size. A two miles thick slab of ice, this continent exerts a huge amount of pressure on the Earth?s surface.

Come February 10, tour operators will be offering a choice of nine ships and a variety of itineraries right through February 18. A single ship that carries 400 passengers is the lone exception while all the others range in capacity from 75 to 200 passengers. The ambiance on board these ships is conducive to gaining knowledge about Antarctica?s history and natural beauty.

Zodiac rafts are used to take passengers to research units where they can see scientists studying every aspect of Antarctica, penguins busy nesting in their rookeries and vast seal colonies.

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. Thanks to the Antarctic Treaty, participating countries have resisted the temptation of using Antarctica for commercial or nuclear activities and have maintained it as a borderless region used purely for scientific activities. Some research facilities see the arrival of visitors as a sort of encroachment on their territory while at many other locations they actually encourage such visits.

Tourists are free to wander all over Argentina?s Esperanza station at Hope Bay comprising a research centre, recreational area, The scientific community, the armed forces, their dog squad, children and the penguins all seem to be extremely friendly with one another.

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. In the same neighborhood, you can buy T-shirts, souvenirs and curios at China’s Great Wall Station. Only selected ships are allowed at specified times to halt at Palmer Station, the largest U.S. base at Anvers Island. Tourists are not permitted inside laboratories and residential areas.

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