Recreational Holidays

The Sun 24/7

What are you in to, raw vacation spots without as many tourists as the conventional areas? Traveling to the ends of the earth is done by tourists in the aim of being the first ones to reach a particular location. Ice laden Antarctica on the bottom of the world is where sightseers from New Zealand and South America will join.

The only people able to reach the continent found in 1820 were sealers, scientists, and some explorers. Limited traveling occurs to the places on the partially ice free coast of the continent as big as the United States and Mexico combined with a 7,000 foot thick ice blanket. Part of getting there involves sailing through stormy seas not to mention riding in ships that are strong enough for ice impact. Seldom does the temperature go above freezing and there are also 24 hours of sunlight every day.

Reaching the south of the Antarctic Circle for the very first time is the group of 14 men and 12 women and they were also able to go the Mcmurdo Sound area, 2,000 miles south of and New Zealand. With a US Navy facility already existing in this location, about 800 sailors and scientists are staying where British explorers in the past have settled and faced inexplicable hardship and death. Summer south of the equator means winter in the Northern Hemisphere and vice versa.

After landing in 1957, two airline stewardesses were the first and only women to come here. However, there were no celebrations from the Navymen at McMurdo Station when the women arrived on the continent. Actually, the sailors did not appreciate having this affect what they could boast about back home which was not needing to look at women.

Those from McMurdo are not as eager to see the arrival of tourist ships in January and February. It is the viewpoint of the civilian technicians, scientists, and sailors that what they have been selected to accomplish pertains to highly special tasks. Everything from the romance to the edge of Antarctica may be lost to tourists. This kind of trip means extra services of drinks, tips, laundry, and seasick pills that can be obtained other than the warm pants, kodachrome, mittens, and red parka supplied by the travel service.

Starting in 1955, only US Navy personnel and American scientists have been in Antarctica. Other than this, nine nations maintain scientific stations here as well as on the nearby islands. For the Navy, what will the tourists do? Without territorial claim, the commander of naval forces in Antarctica said that they could not say who can and who cannot come here. Still, they have control when it comes to their stations.

Restricted from entry are those who are not self supporting. Having a well equipped ship rids them of such problems. It is with safety precautions that people aboard are secured. Standards for safety are met based on the travel agency’s operational plan.

For a visitor, after visiting the first nuclear power reactor in Antarctica, he could then go to the ship’s store and post exchange, have a few drinks at the enlisted clubs, or even go the Chapel of the Snows and attend service. A number of them are conservationists, hikers, and avid bird watchers, and so trips to penguin rookeries and where seals, skua gulls, and killer whales stay are on the list plus a visit to where the early explorers settled in.

Here is further info on arctic trip. Detailed artic cruise resources can be found there.