Advertisement
Published: March 26th 2011
"James Mercer - Journey Through the Past"
My Antarctica trip started with a long bus journey from Puerto Natales all the way down to Ushuaia. The boarder crossing from Chile into Argentina was a breeze with only a quick 20 minute delay. The Land Of Fire is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of a main island Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego divided between Chile and Argentina with an area of 48,100 km2 (18,572 sq mi), and a group of smaller islands including Cape Horn. The fairy trip from the mainland to Tierra Del Fuego is quick and if you have a keen eye you may spot some dolphins jumping around the fairy trying to get a glimps of the people!
Antarctica is an amazing place, here are some facts about the icy continent!
One of the biggest icebergs ever (possibly the biggest iceberg ever) broke free from the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica in 2000.
It was 295km (183 miles) long and 37km (23 miles) wide, with a surface area of 11,000 sq km (4,250 square miles) above water - and
10 times bigger below. It's similar in size to Gambia, Qatar, The Bahamas, or Connecticut.
A domestic deep freeze runs at about -20°C. The mean summer temperature on the great East Antarctica icecap is -30°C and mean winter temperature around -60°C.
The lowest ever temperature recorded was at the Russian Vostok station. It was - 89.6°C
Snow falling at the South Pole takes about 100 000 years to "flow" to the coast of Antarctica before it drops off the end as part of an iceberg.
Many Antarctic sea creatures including fish have antifreeze in their blood so they don't accidentally get frozen solid!
Antarctica is the only continent with no indigenous species of ants.
Area:
1.4 times bigger than the USA, 58 times bigger than the UK
Ice-free area 44,890 km2 17,330 miles2 (0.32% of total)
Largest Ice Shelves Ross ice shelf: (about the size of France) 510,680 km2 197,974 miles2
Ronne-Filchner ice shelf: (about the size of Spain) 439,920 km2 169,850 miles2
Highest 3 mountains: Mt. Vinson - 4,892 m / 16,050 ft Mt. Tyree - 4,852 m / 15,918 ft Mt. Shinn - 4,661 m / 15,292 ft
Antarctica has 70% of all the world's freshwater frozen as ice - and 90% of all the world's ice.
Maximum ice thickness: 4,776 m / 15,670ft
About 4,000 on scientific bases in the short summer 1,000 total in winter, around 30,000 summer tourists - and this place is 1.4 x bigger than the USA! There are NO permanent residents and NEVER has been a native population.
Antarctica was imagined by the ancient Greeks, but not even seen until 1820.
The first time anyone set foot on Antarctica was in 1821.
The first year-round occupation - overwintering - was in 1898.
The South Pole was first reached in 1911.
3 factors rule in Antarctica - cold, wind and altitude. Antarctica holds the world record for each of these three things.
Maximum recorded gust: 248.4 kmh / 154 mph
Emperor penguins, the biggest of the 17 penguin species, stand 3 to 4 feet tall and can weigh as much as 100 pounds! They are the only living species to reproduce during the harsh Antarctic winter. Without a nest, the male keeps the egg warm by holding it on his feet under an
abdominal fold of skin for 2 months! If the egg drops, it can freeze in seconds. Unbelievable! What a Dad!!
Ok, so some fun facts. Especially the one about the ants, unbelievable!
Our trip started from the port in Ushuaia aboard the Antarctic Dream. We sailed through the Beagle Channel and into the wild deep water spans that is the Drake Passage. We sailed the Drake for little over two days and when we awoke on the third morning we found ourselves surounded sailing around the Barrientos Islands. We made our first landing on the third day early in the morning and we were all eager to grab our first glimps of Penguins. We also bumped into a Leapord Seal!
In the afternoon we made our second landing of the trip in Deception Island. Deception Island is an island in South Shetland off the Antarctic Peninsula, which has one of the safest harbours in Antarctica. The island is the caldera of an active volcano, which caused serious damage to the local scientific stations in 1967 and 1969. The island previously held a whaling station; it is now a tourist destination and scientific outpost, with research bases being
run by Argentina and Spain. Various countries have previously asserted sovereignty, but it is now administered under the Antarctic Treaty System.
The next day we sailed the Errera Channel and landed on Cuverville Island. We experienced an amazing zodiac cruise that day in Andvord Bay. This zodiac cruise was one of the highlights of the trip and everyone was in a buzz as we started towards our first bonnified landing on the Antarctic continent. We did this at Base Gonzalez Videla, a Chilean research base.
The following day we sailed the Lemaire Channel and landed on Yalour Island! That afternoon we had another zodiac cruise amung beautiful blue majestic iceburgs! Another stunning and memorable zodiac cruise. The zody cruise was in and around Pleneau Island and Hovgaard Island.
Later that afternoon we landed on Port Lockroy, a British station complete with post office! It was originally a post for the British to keep an eye on the Nazi movement in the far south during WW2. After the war it was used for research and it was here where British scientist first discovered the hole in the ozone.
The following day we sailed the Gerlache strait and cruised
the Whilermina Bay aboard the Antarctic Dream. Here the clouds gave way for stunning blue sky. We sailed for hours looking for whales, seals and stunning iceburgs. This afternoon was the highlight of the trip for me. The scenery here was simply amazing, and beyond description. No camera on earth can truly grasps its beauty. That afternoon we had our third zodiac cruise in and around Enterprise Island where viewed a ship wreck dating back nearly a hundred years!
The following day we would have our last landing at Half Moon island. Curious name for an island, we thought it was more like a crescent moon shape! We boarded the Antarctic Dream and sailed off towards the Drake Passage. Our last views from the boat before arriving at port were that of the Cape Horn Islands and the Beagel Channel were Commerson´s dolphins escorted us in numbers!
The route goes by the name of Classic Antarctica, for all those looking to book a trip after reading my blogs and seeing the pictures. I think a trip to the Falkland Islands would be awesome to include!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.193s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 9; qc: 76; dbt: 0.1332s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
fred stock
non-member comment
Great holiday
Excellent write up Tim . A amazing adventure, 2 stock kids have been at the antartic, who would of thought. You look amazing. real viking, did you go swimming? Did you help the chef on the ship? Really miss you. Have a great time lov you DAD