Antarctica tourism. How to get to Antarctica
To keep Antarctica's unique natural environment intact, restrictive regulations were introduced to protect the environment from intensive human encroachment, allowing only a certain number of passengers (up to 100 people) to disembark at a time. After all, every person who sets foot on the ice continent brings with him bacteria that are alien to its ecosystem and dangerous to the living organisms inhabiting it. Today, liners entering Antarctic waters are equipped with special equipment to minimize possible threats.
There are two ways to get to Antarctica: fly by plane and sail by ship.
PLANE FROM CHILE
The most popular air route to the icy continent begins in the Chilean city of Punta Arenas. Airplane excursions to the shores of Antarctica can be one- or two-day. Two-day tours include an overnight stay at the Chilean Frei station. Theoretically, Russian tourists can spend the night at the Russian Bellingshausen station, located nearby, having previously agreed with scientists through the AARI.
Flights to Antarctica are operated by the Chilean airline DAP on Beechcraft King Air 100 (6-seat) or BAE-146 (60-seat) aircraft. The cost of one-day and two-day trips can be found on the airline's website. A review of a two-day trip to Antarctica in exactly this way can be read here.
You can buy a combined water-air tour to Antarctica from Punta Arenas at Goway Travel - one of the largest travel agencies in Latin America. The plane with tourists departs from Punta Arenas, flies over Cape Horn and the Drake Passage, and after a couple of hours arrives at King George Island - the largest of the South Shetland Islands. From there, tourists get to the icy continent on board a sea vessel, thereby saving a lot of time.
You can get to Punta Arenas from Santiago on South American airlines such as Lan Airlines or Skyairline. The most convenient way to get to Santiago from Russia is with Air France and Iberia flights via Paris and Madrid, respectively.
FLIGHT FROM SOUTH AFRICA
Another air route to Antarctica is from Cape Town, South Africa. The flights are organized by the Russian company ALCI (Antarctic Logistics Center International) in Cape Town, with which many Russian travel companies cooperate. The flights are carried out by Il-76TD aircraft, the travel time is 6 hours, the final point of the route is the Russian Antarctic station Novolazarevskaya, next to which a snow-ice runway was built back in 1980.
PLANE FROM AUSTRALIA
There are also air flights to Antarctica from Australia. Air communication with Antarctica was established under the auspices of the government's Australian Antarctic Division so that scientists and participants in research expeditions could reach the continent. From the island of Tasmania in the Antarctic summer (from mid-October to mid-March), a regular flight (Airbus A319-115LR aircraft with tail number VH-VHD) flies from the city of Hobart to the ice strip named after. Wilkins 70 km southeast of the Antarctic Casey station. Airplane travel time is 4.5 hours.
Thus, only scientists and various specialists who get a job at Antarctic stations can travel by plane from Australia to Antarctica.
For ordinary tourists who want to get to Antarctica by air from Australia, only “sightseeing” excursions are available. They involve flights over the surface of Antarctica without landing, accompanied by a thematic lecture by a specialist from the Australian Antarctic Division. The flight lasts around 12–13 hours. The cost of the pleasure is $1000–6000, depending on the chosen class of service and the location (closer to the window or further away). The flights are operated by a non-governmental company, Croydon Travel’s Antarctica.
EXPEDITIONAL CRUISE SHIPS AND THEIR TYPES
The sea route can be accomplished using an expedition cruise on specially equipped liners. This route is the most popular; it has a fairly long history: the first Antarctic tourists were taken on board by Soviet icebreakers, which were left without government funding during the split of the USSR. In this way, research ships financed their own scientific programs. These icebreakers can still be found in Antarctica today, they are called large and small ice-class expedition vessels. Originally designed for scientific purposes, they were converted to carry passengers.
Travel on such ships will not be luxurious; the environment on them is subordinated to only one goal - to get to know the amazing Antarctic world as much as possible. The lack of certain comfort will be more than compensated for by the very special “family” atmosphere that reigns there. A big plus will also be the maneuverability of these ships, which will allow them to enter narrow straits, make frequent landings, and get to secluded fjords.
Examples of such ships are the Clipper Adventurer for 122 passengers (cruise cost around $4,700), Polar Star for 105 passengers (from $9,600), Ushuaia for 84 passengers (from $4,300), and Antarctic Dream. for 84 passengers (from $6900).
Some expedition ships are equipped with special equipment that allows them to optionally provide their passengers with some active entertainment services: kayaking, rock climbing, cross-country skiing, diving.Such ships are “Akademik Sergey Vavilov” for 104 passengers (cruise cost from $3,900), “Ocean Nova” for 73 passengers (from $5,600), “Plancius” for 114 passengers (from $4,000), etc.
The next type of cruise ships is luxury expedition ships . They combine the comfort of the interior, corresponding to the level of a 4-5* hotel, with the uniqueness of the routes and a fair amount of maneuverability. Among them, the most popular are National Geographic Explorer for 148 passengers (from $10,580), Prince Albert II for 132 passengers (from $8,760), Le Boreal I for 224 passengers (from 4,675 euros) and Le Boreal II "for 199 passengers (from $8895), "L"Astral" for 224 passengers (from 2550 euros).
And finally, the lords of ice and snow - icebreakers. These powerful ships, equipped with helicopters, offer their passengers the maximum possible range of activities: flying over the Antarctic coast, landing at almost any desired location and much more. The most famous Antarctic icebreaker is the Kapitan Khlebnikov for 112 passengers. The cost of a cruise on it varies from 9,900 to 38,000 dollars, depending on the duration of the cruise, program and accommodation conditions.
Since there are no piers or moorings in Antarctica, the liners enter glacial bays, where rubber boats (inflatable boats) of the Zodiac type, and sometimes kayaks, are used to disembark tourists. Each boat is accompanied by an experienced expert guide who will tell you a lot of interesting things about the pioneers of Antarctica and the unique geology and life forms found here.
Cruises operate from different places: from Argentina, from Chile, from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa.
Before I had time to post it, questions started pouring in. And, almost everyone is interested in the same thing (we present the question in Dud’s tone): “HOW MUCH did it cost?”
Well, if you're interested, let me tell you - I live on one-two-thirds of my salary, and I have nothing to hide.
Brief digression: In this post I will talk about my understanding of the Antarctic tourism industry in general, as well as about the specific operator I traveled with, Poseidon Expeditions. Some of the things I write about here were told to me by Poseidon employees, whom I have no reason not to trust, but still they are interested in presenting their company in the best light. Some may even think that this post is an advertisement. To my great regret, this is not the case (but, dear Poseidon employees, if you are reading it, it is not too late to pay me for it!)
So, the price of my excursion was $13,085.00 per person(yes, it's in US dollars). True, this is not quite what I paid.
When initially searching for a cruise, I had a fairly specific date frame - at work we have a week off around Christmas and New Year, so it was important to go at that time. And all my searches for these numbers showed different travel agencies selling the same trip from Poseidon Expeditions. At the same time, some guys in Russia, Russia Discovery, had prices that were significantly lower than others, so I decided to book through them.
True, they soon wrote to me that they had sent prices for last year cruise, but this time everything was more expensive (the difference was about 3-4 thousand dollars per person!) As an apology, Russia Discovery offered me a five percent discount.
The "new" price was $13,085.00, and since I was booking for two, the total came out to $26,190.00. After the discount provided to me, it turned out to be $24,880.50, but the agency immediately asked for two percent on top of this amount “for converting currency into dollars.” At the same time, my willingness to pay in dollars did not help, and in the end I paid $25,378.00 for two.
For this money we were given a separate cabin for two, with a separate sofa, all amenities and a large window (but without a balcony). The price included three (sometimes half) meals a day, but you had to pay extra for alcohol. In the end, we were offered to leave a tip to the staff at our discretion, about $200 per passenger.
Flights to Ushuaia, visas to Argentina and other expenses were not included in the trip, so I think, taking all this into account, the cost was closer to $30,000.
I was very pleased with the trip - by pure chance, we came across Poseidon, which sails to Antarctica on a small ship, Sea Spirit (in the title photo of this post). I didn't know this before, but the fewer passengers on board, the better, since according to the rules of Antarctic tourism, the operator is not allowed to disembark more than a hundred passengers at a time. Vessels that carry 200, 300, or more passengers are forced to disembark in “shifts,” meaning not everyone has the opportunity to go ashore every time.
We had 117 tourists on board, of which 17 desperate people paid for an additional service - kayaking in Antarctic waters. During each disembarkation, they had the opportunity to paddle offshore while other passengers disembarked and photographed the penguins.
As soon as the first 17 people from the land party froze and returned to the ship, the kayakers were allowed to land on land and also film the living creatures. This way, everyone on the trip had the opportunity to make every disembarkation, which would have been difficult on a larger ship.
In short, I was pleased with Poseidon and the ship, although of course just thinking about how much it all cost makes me a little dizzy. This trip was the second most expensive expense in 38 years of life.
By the way, next year Poseidon's prices are going up! Here's what the situation looks like for the same cruise in the winter of 2018-2019:
As you can see, you can save money here if you are ready to live with three people in one cabin - it is, however, spacious enough for this. But if you want to pay much less, you can book an excursion a month earlier, in November - December 2018. Here the prices are immediately much lower:
In general, the New Year's cruise is always the most expensive - due to the winter holidays, demand increases greatly. But, as they explained to me, this is your best chance not to end up in the company of rich pensioners. For example, on our excursion there were a lot of people aged from 20 to 40, while the youngest passenger on the next swim was about 50 years old.
And let's not forget about the weather: we were told that the Drake Passage was calmer around New Year's, while a couple of weeks before our expedition the situation looked like this:
On the other hand, if you are not afraid of pensioners, seasickness, and unnecessary neighbors, then you can safely take tickets for next November, and you will pay twice as much as I did! As I understand it, you can always ask the Poseidons and their travel agencies for a discount. After all, trying is not torture.
But you can travel with other operators. For example, there are options where you are dropped by plane on the southern side of the Drake Passage, so you can avoid a couple of days of pitching in each direction. But such excursions usually cost a couple of thousand dollars more.
Here is a breakdown of the minimum prices per day for different destinations (must be multiplied by 10 to get the total cost of the trip).
There are also rumors that if you have a lot of time and little money, you can fly to Ushuaia and sit there waiting for an unsold excursion. The last seats on such ships are allegedly sold at serious discounts. We even saw agencies in the city that advertise "Last minute Antarctic cruises".
However, as far as I understand, the most significant discounts are given on more expensive tickets, and the discount on cheap tickets is relatively small. At the same time, accommodation in Ushuaia is not cheap at all - this is really the end of the world, where everything is designed for extreme tourists. But they say that some lucky ones managed to snag an excursion to the southern continent for $4,000.
The main question after all this, of course, is whether the trip is worth that kind of money?
"What?!" he was indignant, “Five hundred bucks? Yes, for that kind of money in Amsterdam, you know how many times I can...”
I’m certainly not one of those who can afford this every year (I still live on one-two-thirds of my salary), but I don’t regret at all that I spent some of my modest savings on this unique trip. ...
How to get to Antarctica
There are two ways to get to Antarctica: on a tour package or as part of an expedition, becoming a professional polar explorer. Nizhny Novgorod traveler Nail MUKHAMADIEV, choosing the second option, visited Antarctica three times.
Price issue
Becoming an Antarctic tourist is not difficult. Cold safari among the southern ice is offered by numerous travel companies. The choice of paid expeditions is large: “Classic cruise to Antarctica”, “Visiting the Emperor Penguins”, “Luxury Antarctica”. For cruises, ice-class hydrographic vessels (most often Russian) are chartered, which temporarily become pleasure vessels.
The best time for such cruises is January, the height of the Antarctic summer. Most often, the program includes an inspection of coastal stations and penguin colonies. This is enough to satisfy the curiosity of tourists. Most extreme sports fans are from the USA and Western Europe. They have been everywhere, seen everything, and Antarctica for them is the last undiscovered continent, terra incognita.
You can get to the southern mainland in different ways: from Argentine Ushuaia, Chilean Punta Arenas, South African Cape Town, Australian Sydney. The pleasure is not cheap, but there are different options available. There are one- and two-day trips to Antarctica. Longer cruises cost from $3,200 to tens of thousands of dollars, depending on the program and service. For example, for Russians “Antarctic Dream” for 11 days will cost $5,800. Additionally, air travel Moscow - Buenos Aires - Ushuaia and back ($2000) and ground infrastructure services are paid. The most expensive forced marches into the interior of the continent. A seven-day tour with a flight to the South Pole will cost $40,000 per person. A 25-day route covering the last 111 km to the South Pole on skis will cost $54,000. For the lucky ones, souvenir shops are opened at the Pole, selling badges, T-shirts, and stamps. In total, Antarctica has a dozen attractions available to non-professional polar explorers.
What attracts the South Pole
Antarctica has a lot of unique things, says Nail Mukhamadiev.
First. This is the coldest continent, which contains 90% of all land ice, as well as 80% of the world's fresh water reserves. Only 4% of Antarctica is ice-free. Its reserves are enough to cover the entire land with a layer 160 m thick. Antarctic icebergs are amazing in size. In the spring of 2008, an ice block with an area of 570 square meters broke off from the Wilkins shelf. km, which is about half of Moscow.
Second. Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth. Due to powerful glaciers, the average height of the continent's surface above sea level (2.3 km) is the highest among other parts of the land.
Third. Antarctica has a special status: it does not belong to anyone. There are no authorities, borders or even fences.
Fourth. There is a version that the legendary Atlantis was located on the site of present-day Antarctica.
Fifth. There are hypotheses that this lifeless territory, which was part of the giant continent Gondwana millions of years ago, is the cradle of human civilization.
But Nail Mukhamadiev has little faith in the fourth and fifth versions.
The only thing that is known for sure: so far not a single person can call Antarctica their homeland.
Closed club"
“It’s more difficult to get to Antarctica as part of an expedition. Considering that candidates for the expedition members are selected at the St. Petersburg Institute of the Arctic and Antarctic, the direct organizer of the expedition, then I was lucky that I, a nonresident, came to the court, says Nail Mukhamadiev. “My friend from Nizhny Novgorod Vyacheslav, a highly qualified welder, whose profession is in great demand in Antarctica, even with my recommendation, could not become a member of the expedition on the first try.”
The Russian community in Antarctica is not the most representative, despite the fact that there are now five Russian stations operating there: Bellingshausen, Novolazarevskaya, Vostok, Mirny and Progress. The Mirny team consisted of 37 people, and at five of our stations there were about a hundred. The largest American landing. The number of personnel at their stations reaches several thousand people during the season. They say that even branches of American banks operate on the sixth continent. Cleaners are also sent there. In general, almost all countries are represented in Antarctica. Chileans are not forbidden to take their families for the winter.
Nail Mukhamadiev went on his third Antarctic expedition as a leading environmental engineer. The presence of an ecologist at polar stations is mandatory. The main task of the specialist is to prevent fuel spills and current contamination of the territory. Because human waste could disrupt the unique Antarctic ecosystem, countries on the sixth continent have signed an agreement to adhere to strict environmental standards. For example, regulations require that waste be removed; not a single drop, not a single crumb should be unutilized. True, despite the fact that the agreement prohibits open burning of garbage, this point is not followed by everyone, including Russians.
One of the tasks of an ecologist is to protect penguins from the annoying attention of humans. Everyone strives to take a photo with the indigenous inhabitant of the mainland, and the birds get scared and lose their eggs, which threatens to reduce their population. Nail Mukhamadiev had to form small groups for photo sessions.
There are about 15 species of penguins in nature; in Antarctica there are emperor, king, chinstrap, adelie and others. The Imperial stands out for its color, article, size and popularity. The height of penguins reaches 1.2 m, weight 40 kg. Representatives of this species are the southernmost inhabitants of Antarctica (for this continent, “southernmost” means “most frost-resistant”). Penguins have cleverly adapted to life in Antarctica. Birds are able to store each other’s heat by flocking in flocks called “turtles,” which allows them to exist in conditions where the difference in body temperature and the environment is tens of degrees. Inside the flock of penguins the temperature is maintained at +20°C, while “outside” it is down to -30°C. At the same time, the birds constantly move from the edge to the center and back so that everyone has time to warm up.
Mukhamadiev had to master several more specialties in Antarctica. He worked as the commander of a search and rescue team, and the commander of a team to overcome emergencies, and the commandant of the House of Geophysicists, and the head of the hand-to-hand combat section, and even the chief judge of the “Peace Olympics”. The most important part-time job is as a diesel engine driver. The diesel engine is considered the heart of the base. If a diesel engine stalls, the consequences can be catastrophic.
The worst thing is laziness
Nail Mukhamadiev celebrated his 55th birthday in Antarctica. The gifts were themed: mugs, thermoses, envelopes with special cancellation marks. On holidays, red caviar and juice are served. Strictly with drinking during the winter. Of course, prohibition is a long way off, but a bottle of vodka costs one and a half months per person - clearly not by Russian standards, the polar explorer believes. There was no particular suffering from forced sobriety. Three bodybuilding and hand-to-hand combat training sessions a week left no time for boredom. Moreover, during the year he never violated his class schedule. If you miss one or two workouts, laziness overcomes you. This is the worst thing in Antarctica. To survive in cold, wild places, you need to harden not only your body, but also your psyche.
Fishing also helped. On the sixth continent, icefish, gobies and notothenia are excellently caught. “It used to be that I didn’t go to the canteen for weeks because I ate only the catch. I’m ready to eat fish in any form!”
Earth in the porthole
It’s good that the road to Antarctica is long and passes through lands no less interesting than the end point. After all, when traveling, not only the result is important, but also the process, the polar explorer is convinced. The Russian expeditionary vessel's two-month journey to the southern continent included visits to Bremerhaven, Germany, and Cape Town, South Africa, where the crew replenished fuel and provisions. When, finally, after all these difficult crossings, the greatest icy desert of the Earth appeared before the team, the traveler came up with a quatrain.
The ocean swell under the ice is barely visible, Our wake is not subject to breaks. 4000 m for us to fall to the bottom, And 14,000 km to home.
“I especially remember the way back. For the first time in the history of Russian exploration of Antarctica, the ship carrying winterers from Mirny headed for the shores of Australia. I could only dream of traveling to the Green Continent, and I regard visiting Australia as a gift of fate. I walked around Melbourne, Sydney, and then saw the entire continent from the plane. The next planned landing is in Bangkok. It is quite unusual to end up in Thailand after Antarctica. And at London Heathrow Airport we managed to meet Vasily Lanov, who flew to England to celebrate his 70th birthday.
If you happen to go to Antarctica for the fourth time, it would be nice to climb Erebus, the southernmost active volcano on our planet. True, it is quite far from Mirny.”
P.S. After reading this material, you might think that Antarctica is a resort. Alas. For polar explorers, this means isolation from the mainland, the same team, constant winds, cold and work...
Elena BORMATOVA
Sources:
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What are World Leaders Hiding About Antarctica?
The ban on visiting Antarctica for civilians has been extended for another 35 years, and all polar scientists have been replaced by specialized specialists from the special services.
At the same time, this continent is regularly visited by leaders of major powers, as well as leaders of religious denominations. A logical question arises: what did scientists find there and who are the world leaders meeting there?
Ten high-profile trips to Antarctica.
In the south of the globe there is a practically unexplored giant continent - Antarctica. Under the seemingly impenetrable, many-kilometer layer of ice, endless secrets are hidden that excite the minds of scientists.
So, even today no one can explain the Wilkes Land anomaly - an impact crater that is visible even from space. And of course, the mysteries of Antarctica attract numerous expeditions.
The loudest and most mysterious visits to Antarctica from 1939 to 2017:
Expansion of Antarctica: Operation New Swabia.
In 1939, the Third Reich sent an expedition to Antarctica. Yes, it's true: the Nazis really tried to establish a base on the frozen continent. But no one knows for sure why this is so. It is unclear how Hitler intended to gain scientific or economic benefit from establishing a base in such a cold, lifeless, and resource-poor location.
However, the lack of evidence has not stopped the world from speculating further about the story. After the Nazi surrender in 1945, two German submarines arrived in Argentina with full crews. Although people may never know what their mission was before Hitler's collapse, many wondered what goals the German U-boats in this part of the Southern Hemisphere might have had other than visiting Antarctica.
Expansion of Antarctica: Operation Tabarin.
The Germans were not the only nation to become interested in the icy continent during World War II. In 1943, at the height of the war, the British government sent an expedition to Antarctica called Operation Tabarin.
Why surveillance of the whaling fleets in this region was considered so important as to justify sending a modern warship with a full complement of sailors to a region that was as far removed from the war zones as possible remains a mystery.
One can only assume that the importance of a reinforced British presence in Antarctica may have been justified by rumors of a Nazi base on the frozen continent. All that scientists know for sure today is that the expedition survived two winters and was considered incredibly successful.
An unusual expedition to Antarctica: Operation Highjump.
In 1946, with the psychological horrors of World War II still fresh in the minds of the American people, a U.S. Navy expedition of 13 battleships and 33 aircraft was sent to Antarctica. Operation Highjump was led by Admiral Richard Byrd, already famous for his solo flights over the icy continent.
The official purpose of the mission was to train for work in permanent ice conditions and to establish a more stable American presence in Antarctica. This is not hard to believe given the hypothetical upcoming conflict with the Soviet Union, which was expected to involve a land battle in Siberian conditions.
However, in subsequent years there was no end to speculation that the real purpose of Operation Highjump was to eradicate the legendary Antarctic Nazi base. Also extremely controversial is the fact why the Americans returned home with such heavy losses.
Prince Harry's unusual journey to Antarctica.
Let's move on to modern times. In 2013, Prince Harry, fifth in line to the British throne, led an expedition to the South Pole. The purpose of this adventure in the eternal ice ended in fact with 12 wounded servicemen and women accompanying Harry on an event that was originally planned as a "recreational and competitive" trek across one of the continent's sections.
But upon arrival on the continent, the team decided that the terrain along the 320-kilometer route to the center of Antarctica was too difficult for competition, and they should just try to reach the pole “in high spirits.” Apart from the abandonment of the competitive aspect, there is nothing strange about this expedition. However, it sets a precedent for the permanent presence of high-ranking dignitaries in Antarctica.
An unusual journey to Antarctica by Patriarch Kirill.
In February 2016, the heads of the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches met for the first time since the Great Schism, an event that split the church into east and west nearly 1,000 years ago. The historic meeting in Cuba between Patriarch Kirill and Pope Francis was seen by many as the beginning of a new era for Christianity, although no one could say why, in the last 1,000 years, the two most powerful men in Christendom decided to meet then.
Naturally, much speculation arose, especially when a few days after this historic meeting it was announced that Patriarch Kirill would join the crew of the Russian naval vessel Admiral Vladimirsky for a trip to the South Pole. This announcement became especially intriguing when it became known that the Admiral Vladimirsky made an unprecedented stop in the Saudi port of Jeddah on its way to Antarctica.
At the time, Russia and Saudi Arabia were bitter economic rivals in the oil market, so it was difficult to understand what a Russian ship might need in the port closest to Mecca. Patriarch Kirill's only stated reason for going to Antarctica is that he wanted to pray in a tiny Orthodox church that was erected on the icy continent several decades ago.
An unusual journey to Antarctica by Tom Hanks.
Russia's religious leader is not the only famous person to show interest in the remote Trinity Orthodox Church in recent years.
During his brief visit to Antarctica in February 2016, American actor Tom Hanks, who converted to Orthodoxy before marrying Rita Wilson, made a special visit to the tiny temple built of wood.
An unusual expedition to Antarctica by the New Zealand Minister of Defense.
Although New Zealand is not the closest country to Antarctica (Chile and Argentina can rival it in this regard), its government plays an important role in the events taking place in the land of ice and snow. In fact, the New Zealand Defense Force has a permanent presence in Antarctica, where they protect personnel at Scott Base and McMurdo Station (from whom, other than penguins, it is unclear).
In February 2017, Defense Minister Ron Mark made a regular visit to brave New Zealanders patrolling the icy wastes. He subsequently described his journey as having "opened his eyes to many things."
An unusual journey to Antarctica by former US Secretary of State John Kerry.
On November 8, 2016, elections were held in the United States, resulting in Donald Trump becoming president. But there is one US citizen who believed that there was something much more interesting in the world that day than the greatest electoral embarrassment in US history. He was America's highest-ranking diplomat at the time and became the highest-ranking U.S. official ever to visit Antarctica.
We are talking about former Secretary of State John Kerry. Instead of cheering on his favorite candidate, John Kerry spent Election Day in Antarctica. But why did Kerry just go on an extremely expensive taxpayer funded trip instead of being in the White House.
Nobody knows this. Michael Rubin of the conservative think tank AEI notes that, in addition to being wasteful, Kerry's trip to the South Pole also seems pointless because there are no other diplomats in Antarctica to negotiate.
An unusual journey to Antarctica by astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
One of the first people to set foot on the Moon also decided to visit the most deserted place on Earth. Buzz Aldrin went to the South Pole at the end of November 2016. Although 86-year-old Aldrin received special training and medical consultations before the expedition, he eventually became ill along the way (altitude sickness) and Aldrin had to be urgently evacuated to Christchurch, New Zealand.
But the whole story is riddled with questions from beginning to end: if the elderly Aldrin was prone to altitude sickness, why did doctors even allow him onto the Antarctic plateau, located at an altitude of 3,000 meters above sea level. Why NASA's second deputy director visited the South Pole a day before Aldrin and just weeks after John Kerry. There are many questions.
Map of Antarctica drawn in 1513 by Turkish admiral Piri Reis.
Perhaps the reason for all these strange, high-profile visits to Antarctica is hidden in the past. Thanks to the use of satellite imagery, the art of cartography has become almost infallible. But until the early 1900s, inaccuracies in cartography were commonplace.
However, there is one map from over 500 years ago that appears to show part of the Antarctic coastline in extreme detail. There is only one “but”: there is no ice on it. Drawn in 1513 by Turkish admiral Piri Reis, this unique map was discovered in 1929 before modern cartographic sketches of Antarctica were made.
Although Admiral Reis was certainly a great explorer, he admitted that he based his maps on older sources. In any case, only recently, thanks to the advent of seismic instruments and satellites, data on the complete coincidence of the map and the coastline of Antarctica, hidden under kilometers of ice, was confirmed.
Rumor has it that Obama also made a voyage to Antarctica and left there in sadness...
There is also a lot of information about the visit of Patriarch Kirill, mainly in the foreign press. In the comments under my video on YouTube (link to the video below) there are links to these materials.
Excursions to the South Pole are a new tourist trend.
The club of travelers who have visited polar latitudes thanks to tours from tour operators is expanding every year. An extreme cruise to the Sixth Continent is a unique opportunity to see the interesting world of icebergs and glaciers. Travel company Russia Discovery is the first tour operator in Russia offering both group and individual tours to Antarctica from Moscow.
Exploration of Antarctica continues to this day.Plants and animals living in ice-free Antarctic oases are being actively studied, and scientists are monitoring sea level changes.Antarctica is also open to walking and sea excursion tours.
The Antarctic Peninsula offers ski trips to the South Pole, excursions to the land of Queen Maud, the opportunity to be on board an expedition ship and other unique tourism offers.
You can:
Cross the Drake Passage, connecting the Antarctic Peninsula to South America.
Visit the polar stations of the South Pole.
Admire the beauty of the Arctic and Antarctic mountain ranges. The largest mountain range of the Antarctic Peninsula is Wilson, 4897 m above sea level.
Get acquainted with the amazing fauna of the Antarctic continent.
Will visit near subglacial lakes. Currently, Lake Vostok near the scientific station is considered the largest. Here at one time the lowest temperature on planet Earth was recorded.
Excursion tours to Antarctica
The travel agency offers travel in four unique destinations:
Crossing the Antarctic Circle (ship cruise from Cape Horn in the Drake Passage to the central point of the Southern Hemisphere).
East Antarctica: in the footsteps of Mawson. Expedition to the adjacent islands of the Southern mainland - Snarr and Auckland. Many operating polar stations are located here.
Whale Safari is a popular Antarctic itinerary. You will be able to see the remains of the whaling bases of West Antarctica.
Express tours on a luxury ship along the west coast of Antarctica.
Any expedition to Antarctica includes air travel, accommodation on a ship, excursions with the possibility of photo and video filming.
The goal of our company is to organize the most comfortable trip to Antarctica. Send a request to the manager to find out how much a particular tourist route costs. You can book a cruise to Antarctica online by indicating the month of your trip. When booking early, it is possible to pay for the travel agency's services in installments.
The most beautiful places on the White Continent are waiting for you!
