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Braving the Antarctica

By: bejamin schwrtz

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Seventy thousand pairs of penguins, a nation of thigh-high birds, impeccably attired in feather tuxedos, strut and slide busily about the slippery surface of their rocky, mud-covered mile-square rookery.

They preen continuously and shoo any neighbors that approach their pebble built nests whilst fending off the seals and skuas that are after their chicks. Fluffy brown down-covered babies clamor incessantly, thrusting their heads high into their parents' gullets for pre-digested food.

The parents are constantly feeding 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 actually aren't really very cute. Being able to stand amidst them, draws numbers of visitors to the Antarctic each year. Visitors to the Antarctic still come to stand amongst them and actually keep returning because they fascinated. The vast frozen landscape of the Antarctic really is like the edge of the world.

Visitors come to see other things 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.

Not too many people have been there before and this is what makes a trip to this place most exciting. If a church is a divine place of worship, Antarctica is holier still. Getting to this place from where you are is a thrilling experience in itself. Because it is so exotic and exciting, you seem to get more than the money you spend on this trip. 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 present a choice for people to get on to ice-rated expedition ships for their journey to Antarctica. Withstanding days of travel in rough seas, this is by far the only way passengers can reach the big icy continent.

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. 70 percent of the Earth's fresh water lies within this icy mass that has a thickness of two miles and puts a huge amount of pressure on the Earth's surface.

This February, from the 10th to the 18th, a total of nine vessels will be operating different tours to Antarctica. Ships carrying 75 to 200 passengers are the norm and only one ship carries 400 passengers. They are less formal than larger cruise vessels plying Caribbean or Mediterranean waters; instead of casinos, they feature lectures and slide shows about Antarctica's natural science and history.

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.

Signatories to the Antarctic Treaty, which include the U.S., Argentina, Chile, China, and Russia besides a few other agencies, look after the upkeep of the research stations. 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 where Argentina has its Esperanza station that looks like a small town full of orange-colored bungalows that have work areas as well as recreational facilities, a church and a school and tourists are allowed to freely move around throughout the entire facility. The scientific community, the armed forces, their dog squad, children and the penguins all seem to be extremely friendly with one another.

On King George's Island, Chile has its Teniente Marsh station which happens to be the biggest bas on that island and, surprisingly, has a post office besides a restaurant and a convenience store. China's Great Wall Station is a good place to go and buy T-shirts, curios, stuffed penguins and a lot more. Anvers Island houses the United States' Palmer Station and only certain ships are allowed to come anywhere close. Tourists are not granted access to living quarters and research areas.

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