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 clean themselves obsessively, and scare away neighbors who encroach by their nests, and fend off troublesome, chick threatening seals and skuas. The chicks, with fluffy brown down, thrust their beaks into their parents’ for food.
The parents are constantly feeding their chicks. When the mother returns with fish from the ocean to a ritual of bows and pecks before the father the goes off for her turn in the icy waters.
Penguins are really not as cute as people believe. They are foul-smelling and noisy but also fascinating at the same time. But still, they’re fascinating and the opportunity to stand amongst them, close enough to be touched by their flippers, draws more numbers of tourists to visit the Antarctic. It really is the vast frozen continent at the bottom of the world.
Penguins aren’t the only attraction. There are other sea birds, albatross, dolphins, whales, seals, and beautiful icebergs that look like mythical creatures and glaciers.
Not too many people have been there before and this is what makes a trip to this place most exciting. A visit to Antarctica is like life?s best dream fulfilled, with nothing left to be desired. The adventure begins right when you begin your journey to reach there. Though a bit on the costlier side, this trip is extremely fascinating. Depending on where in Antarctica they want to reach, travelers need to first take a 20-hour flight to Ushuaia in Argentina, or Punta Arenas in Chile, Cape Town in South Africa, or Christchurch in New Zealand. These are alternative points of embarkation where they board ice-rated expedition cruise ships. Despite the journey lasting several days and the seas being rough, for passengers this is the only option as of now.
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. A two miles thick slab of ice, this continent exerts a huge amount of pressure on the Earth?s surface.
A choice of nine ships and exciting itineraries will be on offer for tourists wanting to visit Antarctica 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.
The ships use zodiac rafts to land passengers near penguin rookeries and seal colonies or put them ashore at Antarctic research stations where scientists study everything from what keeps Antarctic fish from freezing to how the hole in the ozone layer causes global warming.
Research stations are maintained by the U.S., Argentina, Chile, China, Russia and other parties to the Antarctic Treaty. The basic purpose of the Antarctic Treaty is to keep the continent free from nuclear and commercial activity and to use it as a borderless laboratory. A few research stations actually welcome visitors but others feel this hinders their normal functioning.
At Hope Bay, on a frozen plain, there are numerous orange-colored pre-fabricated bungalows that form Argentina?s Esperanza station where tourists can roam about in work areas as well as recreational facilities, church and school. It feels so nice to see the scientific community as well as the military personnel completely at peace with all the animals in the neighborhood including the penguins.
King Georges Island has Teniente Marsh station, the largest base that has been set up by Chile, and it has facilities like provisions shop, restaurant and even a post office. 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. Living quarters and research areas are extremely sensitive areas and are inaccessible to tourists.
