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A Different Place Every Single Time

By: Antonio Wall

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In considering travel plans do you favor places kept as raw as possible without many tourists? Traveling to the ends of the earth is done by tourists in the aim of being the first ones to reach a particular location. Coming from New Zealand and South America, the sightseers will be meeting in the ice laden Antarctic continent.

Founded in 1820 was this continent where only a few sealers, explorers, and scientists have been to. With an ice blanket as thick as 7,000 feet there are only a few places to travel to on the partially ice free coast even if it is as big as the United States and Mexico put together. Other than having to sail the stormiest seas, they too have to be in ships that can withstand the impact from ice to get there. Everyday there are 24 hours of sun and above freezing temperatures seldom happen.

One hardy group of 14 men and 12 women becomes the first group of tourists to venture South of the Antarctic Circle and the first to visit the historic McMurdo Sound area, 2,000 miles south of and New Zealand. Long ago, British explorers faced unexplainable hardship and death in this area which is now the home of 800 sailors and scientists who are part of a US navy facility. Summer south of the equator means winter in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.

Since 1957, only two airline stewardesses were the only women to set foot on this place. Even so, the Navymen at McMurdo Station still greeted them without any kind of enthusiasm when the women arrived. This is for the simple reason that the sailors did not favor any interruptions to their capacity not to look at women for so long.

The same lack of excitement from McMurdo personnel applies to the tourist ships that are to be expected come January and February. How the sailors, civilian technicians, and the scientists see it is that all of them were selected for this job because of their skills. Having more people in Antarctica takes the edge off of everything. For all of the trips there is a red parka, kodachrome, mittens, and warm pants but things like laundry, seasick pills, tips, and drinks come extra.

American scientists and US Navy personnel were the only occupants of Antarctica since 1955. On the continent and adjacent islands are nine other scientific stations from other nations. What is the Navy's attitude toward the tourist invasion? For the commander of naval forces in Antarctica, they cannot restrict people from visiting because they have no territorial claim. When it comes to their stations, they can allow or disallow people from coming.

Entry is only permitted to the self supporting. Due to a well equipped ship they encounter no such problems. Everyone is expected to take the necessary precautions. Standards for safety are met based on the travel agency's operational plan.

Wandering around the base here, tourists can see Antarctica's first nuclear power reactor, visit the ship's store or post exchange, attend services at the Chapel of the Snows, or have a few drinks at a number of enlisted men's clubs and an officers' club. Bird watchers, hikers, and conservationists comprise the tourist group, and so this makes trips to where the seals, skua gulls, and killer whales live a treat as well as penguin rookeries and some may even be headed off to where the early explorers settled.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

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