Owned by no one, visited by a few, Antarctica is the world’s coldest, windiest and wildest continent.
The awe-inspiring sights of Antarctica are amongst the most beautiful and captivating in the world, where you can see the clearest sky, the bluest sea, the most dazzling snow and the most radiant sunshine, yet it is also a place of stunning desolation.
Wildlife of Antarctica
In the endless days of an austral summer, icebergs drift slowly by as whales flip their tails above glassy seas, seals bask on icy shelves, penguins chatter in vast communities and man’s presence is seen only rarely, in the abandoned shelters of polar explorers, military bases, scientific research stations and whaling stations rusting in the sun.
Visiting what is possibly the world’s ultimate travel frontier is a truly unforgettable and enriching experience.
History of Antarctica
Antarctica’s existence was theorised by the ancient Greeks, who argued that the world would tip over if there wasn’t a large mass of land to the south. Little did they realise that the White Continent’s landmass was larger than Australia or Europe, spreading out over the sea in shelves of ice the size of France and Spain.
Antarctica wasn’t actually seen until 1820, and the early tales of wildlife with no fear of man quickly sparked an animal gold-rush, with whalers and sealhunters setting up smoky settlements on the Antarctic coast. The interior remained a mystery, an unearthly ice desert with, at its heart, the South Pole.
At the turn of the 20th century the race to the Pole saw some of the world’s most heroic feats of exploration and endurance, timber ships, tweed jackets and packs of huskies, sepia-lit in the dawn of the media age. Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton are amongst those whose feats of endurance and gentlemanly heroism still resonate today.
Popular Places to visit in Antarctica
Reaching out from Antarctica like a beckoning hand, the Antarctic Peninsula is a spectacular range of jagged mountain peaks, draped in glaciers that calve icebergs into the sea.
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Two mountain ranges stretch 170 kilometres across the sea to make up the long, narrow island of South Georgia, which in some places is as little as two kilometres across.
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Other countries in The Polar Regions:
The Arctic