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 The Monte Cervantes is one of many ship-wrecks which litter the southern oceans. Before the Panama Canal, Cape Horn on continent`s southern tip was a busy place. This notoriously stormy place is where the Pacific, Atlantic and Antarctic oceans meet. Sailing down the Beagle Channel during sunset on-route to Antarctica. Tierra del Fuego, Argentina (12/2004). |
 Presently, the only effective way to visit Antarctic is a cruise. It takes 2 days to cross the Drake Passage from South America, then you spend 5 days roaming about the waters of the Antarctic Peninsula making a few zodiac landings per day. At first I thought I might be bored spending 9 days on a boat, but how wrong I was. The 9 days I spent gazing at magnificent scenery from the deck and mingling with the penguins on shore, is possibly the 9 best days in all my travels. Our fantastic ship, the Finnish built ice-breaker M/V Polar Star, in Paradise Bay, Antarctica. |
 After years of travelling you see a lot of things and are always looking for a new experience. An 87m long boat weighing 5000 tons parked on an ice shelf (after bashing its way through thousand of acres of ice) is a new experience ! The gang-way ramp was lowered and we just strolled onto the ice, and then on to the nearby land to meet some penguins. Its midnight and we are making our first landing on the Antarctic Peninsula, Port Lockroy. |
 The 3 features which dominated my Antarctica trip : ice, the penguin and our ship which took us to this fantastic place. Port Lockroy, Antarctic Peninsula. |
 Antarctica is a continent of superlatives. It is almost twice the size of USA, has zero population (indigenous people`s), is the driest, coldest, windiest continent. Antarctica has a lot of ice....90% of the worlds` supply. If it all melted, the world`s sea-level would rise by 60 metres ...man, wouldn`t that be a real mess !!! Antarctica is one of the few places which might change the way I view other sights of the world. It will be really hard to get impressed with any glacier from now on. |
 December at a latitude of 65 degrees south means virtually 24 hours of light. Its 2am now and this is the darkest it will get. Sunset turns into sunrise, so you get 4-5 hours of wonderfully colored skies. |
 The American Palmer Station is one of 50 - 60 permanent bases on the continent placed there by 44 different countries. Theoretically, they are scientific bases but in reality, most exists there as a presence just incase Antarctica yields a ton of oil or gold someday. Politics and greed have even come to Antarctica. The Palmer folks where happy we visited since our powerful ice-breaker cleared a nice path out of their ice-choked harbour. |  The crab-eater seal is one of many Antarctic species which hangs-out on the floating sea-ice. It has really bad hearing and sight, our 5000 ton ship would approach to about 50 metres before it figures out that its about to be run-over. But, the water is never far away and it always manages to swim-off in time. |
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| The penguin gets my vote as the more adorable animal I have seen. They walk, talk, jump, run, smack each other with their flippers, sit, sleep, scream and shit (all that brown and white crap on the rock). You can just sit there watching them for hours and not get bored. The Chin-Strap penguin is one of 4 penguin species I saw on Antarctica. There are 27 species world-wide and they only inhabit the Southern Hemisphere. |
 There is not a great variety of animal species in Antarctica (due to the harsh climate) but there is a great abundance of those who are up to living here. There is an estimated 5 million Penguins on the continent. Chin-Strap penguin taking a nap while standing up (hmmm, I wish I could do that !). |  The wandering albatross has the longest wing-span of all birds, 3.5 metres. Its a handsome bird and a persistent ship-follower gliding behind the stern for hours on end. They hardly ever flap their wings and glide gracefully over the ocean surface for thousands of miles on a single flight. |
 Like the Galapagos, Antarctica is one big happy family of animals who roam around without fear of man. The reason for this of course is, Antarctica has no significant human population. Only a handful of scientists and tourists have been here and only for the last 100 years or so. A lone Gentoo penguin stroll past a couple of 1/2 ton Elephant Seals. Hannah Point, South Shetland Islands. |
 My 10-day trip to Antarctica was technically a cruise (horror !) but classified as an expedition cruise. Firstly, the ship was a lot different from your typical cruise ship. It is an ice-breaker refitted for only 100 passengers. It has no 24 hour buffet, pool, jacuzzi, movie cinema, shopping mall, casino and all that rubbish. Secondly, we visited land a few times a day using zodiacs. |
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 The icebergs of Antarctica come in all shapes and sizes. They break off glaciers and are shaped beautifully by the lapping seas as they float away. Only one fifth of an iceberg is visible above the water and many of them were much larger than our ship. In 2002, an iceberg the size of Switzerland broke off the Weddell ice-shelf. Big ones can float around the southern oceans for up to 10 years before melting away. |
 A gentoo penguin couple (mum is nursing the eggs and dad is watching out for annoying tourists) on an island in Mikkelson Harbour, Antarctica. |
 Many people have said that the 7th continent is the most beautiful of all. Anyone who has seen Paradise Bay during a gorgeous Antarctic sunset would not disagree. Our beautiful planet has so many surprises. There are sights, sounds and images etched in my memory from my Antarctica trip which I know I will never experience again. I feel so lucky and fortunate to have visited this absolutely fabulous place. May, Dave and I in Paradise Bay, Antarctica (12/2004). |
| Subject: Antarctica | Date: Mon, 27 Dec 2004 |
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Huh...Antarctica ! Is it even possible to visit the 7th continent at the bottom of the planet ? Well, apparently it is. My 10-year "travelling project" has taken me to all kinds of wonderful places around the world. The 9 days I recently spent on Antarctica could be the finest of them all. Although it was never my intention to "bag continents", Antarctica is my 7th. I feel so lucky and fortunate to have somehow made it to these special places. Many people have called it the most beautiful continent of them all. I for one, will not totally disagree. Antarctica has wildlfie, majestic landscapes, skies and waters which simply does not exist anywhere else on earth. Nobody owns it or has exploited it. It is the only remaining pristine continent. Antarctica cost me a bomb...US$2400 inspite of a last-minute 50% discount, and I was already at the departure port-of-call, saving me the airfare. Oh well, its just money. Most people probably are wondering, what is there to see ? Antarctica has been a difficult place to photograph. Pictures cannot do justice to the majesty and grandness of this place. 2004 has been a fabulous year for me but strangely enough, I am really looking forward to 2005, the future beyond and a different life. Happy christmas and New Year to everyone. |
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