Though there has been a decline on the number of travelers each year for Antarctica is not very easy to get to and neither is it a cheap area for travel. To get to the Antarctic Peninsula, tourists go to Ushuaia, the southernmost city found in Argentina, then they will have to go on a perilous 1,000 kilometer Drake Passage journey, where the roughest sea weather is known to be at, for about two days.
You will experience life lasting personal effects that are very profound with experiences like these. After being discovered in 1820, men have traveled these lands since the 1800s. However, it was only after the Antarctic Treaty which happened in 1959 that the first commercial voyages came as it positioned the White Continent as a natural reserve for science and peace.
But not until the death of the Iron Curtain in the 1990s, the evolution of the travel industry was not so overwhelming. But opportunists ranging from Russian ice rated expedition vessels and tour operators who renovated these for commercial travel sprouted suddenly as scientific programs were scarce. A seasoned world explorers, visitors have to be presented with something new and breathtaking. While there are people who seek thrill, aiming to be like the legendary man, Sir Ernest Shackleton, who had an endurance expedition in 1914, making his story the greatest survival tales in the history of expeditions.
Artists, photographers and nature lovers shall truly fall in love with the magnificence of Antarctica, from its glorious landscapes and the chance it gives to people to kayak around giant icebergs and glaciers. Apart from the penguins and seals, here is where you will find whale species from humpback, killer up to the minke variety. The circumpolar north is where the polar bears are so you will not be able to see them here.
Without any docks and harbor developments, zodiacs, tiny rubber inflated boats had to come in and bring people to the coast. Get your camera ready as you may now kayak against icebergs, stand with penguins and even hike with them. You could try the naturalists’ knowledge as they stand around you if you ask them questions about the region’s history, wildlife, marine animals even up to its glaciology.
Thanks to the countless lectures while he was aboard a 5 star cruise liner for eight days followed by three more days at Buenos Aires, he got to learn so much about the local landscapes and of course, wildlife. Another amazing and unforgettable highlight of his journey were his trips to penguin rookeries with some naturalists. These curious short legged birds walked to him without any trepidation, ready with a show.
But not everyone is as enthralled with Antarctic travel. Tourism, for many conservation experts is a big problems as with the growing number of tourists threatening the continent’s delicate ecosystem, population is reduced after the disruption of the wildlife breeding processes. It is noteworthy how the global alliance of Antarctic tour operators have adopted voluntary standards set to battle the adverse environmental impact tourism causes to this region. The region should remain pristine as long as there are good operational and environmental practices in place, and all companies and all visitors and natural programs comply.
He is quick to add how sad it is that today, most television shows make people believe that animals, especially the multitudes of penguins that find home in Antarctica, are just there to entertain and delight u, further adding to the problem. When animals get used to people being around, they’re not wary. A very long time that they are disassociated from each other poses several threats. But other nature advocates are quite skeptical. Allowing people to visit Antarctica, he argues, helps develop sensitivity for the continent.
