When Antarctica becomes the subject of conversation so do elephant seals, penguins, icebergs, and albatrosses. 3.3 billion gallons of frozen water in 3 tons of ice plus 10 pounds of tiny baby fur seals never fail to be disappointing especially for a continent on earth that is so dry, high, and windy.

Even if Antarctica is known to be a land of frozen wastes and also a land of uneventful expeditions, this did not dishearten two well traveled teachers to choose such a location to spend the Christmas holiday. Never having seen Antarctica up close, these teachers are in the quest to finally visit this somewhat remarkable vacation destination. Considering the amount of time they spent on this idea for a vacation they even read about the explorer in a travel magazine. Get in touch with this resource if you have a desire to find out about antarctic cruise.

What the women found out was the necessity of preparation. Three pairs of socks one of them wool worn under 15 pound rubber boots, insulated underwear worn under a regular set of clothes, a parka, and seamless and waterproof rubberized pants and slicker comprises the ensemble needed for a day in Antarctica. Two pairs of gloves, one waterproof, complete the costume.

Never mind cold feet, frostbite still remained to be a problem. Southern Hemisphere summers are like this. Even though the ice was warming up to about a point above the freezing point and travel could be done on the breaking ice pack still the water was at 32 degrees. In one Antarctic research station came a thermometer reading of 47 degrees for an air temperature measurement.Snowstorms and sleet storms confronted the explorer in the evening after the sun had shined directly on it for the entire day.

As added information for the women, they were told about the unpredictable weather and how winds affect day to day itineraries. Not only did they stay on the southern ice cap for 24 days but they were also unable to experience the 84 below wind chill as what happened last Christmas in their hometown. To get a closer look on antarctica trip visit this site.

Feared but passed was the Drake Passage. Plenty of ships have not been able to overcome the passage that runs from Cape Horn on the tip of South America and the Antarctic Peninsula. As the Explorer traveled 48 hours across the passage, the women strapped themselves in for sleep using their bunk seat belts. Resulting to bruises after being bounced around was one lady.

Numerous penguins surfaced. You could even walk up to them not to mention their nests. You could see how penguins do nothing but fuss. Watching them was satisfying. There were also the seals. Open mouthed scooting around was their game. Especially with their babies a seal can bite you for getting too close.

All throughout the trip was pure bliss. Everything from the sky to the water were gorgeous shades of blue. There were intensely huge icebergs that could probably measure up to three stories high as they floated along with some carrying penguins. During the 1960s, the old whaling stations they saw were all closed down for 20 years now. Although there was no plane ride included they saw the huts left by the early explorers in the South Pole, some of the huts even had old canned food left behind.

From Punta Arenas on the south end of Chile to the Shetland Islands, to Antarctica, to the South Orkneys, to South Georgia, and then to the Falklands and back was their route. For the two, this was indeed an unusual Christmas holiday.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!