How to get to Antarctica

pcruciatti · August 25, 2004

Hi everyone,

i`m a amateur photographer and backpacker from italy and i am

planning a trip to Antarctica.

Does any one knows how to get there?

which companies organize trips to Antarctica?

Which kind of trips?

The cost....?

I will appreciate any suggestions or personal experiences.

Thanks a lot

Piero

david_richert · August 25, 2004

Just Head South :)

marshall · August 25, 2004

David's right, but he forgot to mention that you'll need good swim fins and some endurance.

Antartica's expensive. But you can check with places like iexplore.com to start identifying tour providers. Good luck.

eric friedemann · August 25, 2004

Mike Reichman's taking a tour group down there in December of next year, departing from Argentina:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/workshops/antarctic-preliminary.shtml

nomade · August 25, 2004

I'm argentinian. I was in Ushuaia -the shouthernst city- in January 1996. By that time, a trip cost was of around U$3000 and took 30 days.

Keep in mind that you have only a window of few weeks to reach Antarctica, since outside it, sea is covered by ice and no trip is available for normal traveller. The best are the southern hemisphere summer months, specially January and February.

I don't know the details but surely a surf on the web would give you some information. For example, check this one:

http://www.antarcticacruises.com.ar/english.html

or this one in spanish (if you're italian you won't have problem with the language):

http://www.patagonia.com.ar/tdelfuego/antartida/antartidacontinente.php

Hope to see the shots soon!

tom_swanson · August 25, 2004

First of all don't try driving there. Secondly that Luminous Landscape package looks remarkably cool. They have a whole boat and will do workshops on and off it.

If I had $10k to spend on a vacation I'd go for it.

phule · August 25, 2004

I believe the Galen Rowell book "Poles Apart: Parallel Visions of the Arctic and Antarctic" has information about how they got there. If I recall they had more access than most.

Jerry_ · August 25, 2004

You might inquire if the Italian membership of the United Nations has any scientific involvement in the Antarctic mission. You, if very lucky, might be 'invited' as a research assistant if you can convince those in charge that you are willing to work for travel.

bob_champoux · August 25, 2004

Piero,

Following up on Gerald's response, Italian universities and scientific research institutions perform work (research) in Antarctica through the Italian National Program for Antarctic Research.

There is one Italian base in Antarctica called Terra Nova. It's located on the continent below New Zealand. Most of the folks there are researchers but there may be support personnel (cooking, maintenance, etc.) that also work there. You can find out more here:

http://www.pnra.it/

The site is in Italian which excludes me from repeating anything from the site. But, through contact info there, you may be able to find out about support positions or make contacts with researchers.

Some of the major benefits of working versus being a tourist in Antarctica is that you are there for a much longer period of time and see more. The Italian base is located in a great spot also. In addition, you get paid, get a free flight down and back with stop overs in New Zealand (another beautiful area on the globe) and get to pass through McMurdo, the United States base where it's a different view of the continent than what's offered at Terra Nova.

Well worth looking into.

Cheers,

k._rivkin · August 25, 2004

A lot of people go to Antarctica to work. Italians are hired not only by italian but also by the american station (alaskians seemed more of a logical choise to me, but hey - the guy who monitors my friend's recording equipment is italian).

People who are needed - from cooks and construction workers to scientists. The pay is very good. They work there half a year during summer months, then most of them goes home, and a few stay to monitor the equipment.

Antartica is a major scientific center.

Ok, those who know more, oh let them correct me.

louie · August 26, 2004

Piero,

I've actually booked a trip to Antarctica myself for January of 2005. There are a few ways of getting to Antarctica.

One way is to work for one of the research stations on the continent. There are a number of websites that have job listings for the various research stations. This requires a several month committment, so it's not something for just a regular tourist.

Another way is to charter a plane into Antarctica. This is what climbers and adventurers do for Antarctica. The downside to this is that it's enormously expensive. ANI runs this, and I think their rates start at $30,000 USD. Here's a link: http://www.adventure-network.com/index.asp

The most popular way of getting to Antarctica is to take a cruise on a converted Russian icebreaker. These cruises run the gamut of quick trips to the Antarctica Peninsula to full circumnavigations. The prices range from $2500 to $30,000 and up. Bear in mind that it's best to make your arrangements a year in advance. I've heard that you can score a last minute trip in Ushuaia, but you'll likely have to spend some time hanging out there.

Since I'm not swimming in cash, I'm going for a mid-range option of $3795 for a 12-day trip (not including airfare to Ushuaia). You can get trips for as low as $2500 in November/Early December and in late January/ early March. These are the shoulder months.

There aren't really a lot of ships that ply Antarctic waters, but they're chartered by various companies. Groups like Joseph Van Os, Cheeseman's, or National Geographic will sometimes charter an entire boat for a trip that they run.

From my research, it looks like Cheeseman's is the best for a photographic tour, but they're a lot of money. It looks like a good value though since you're out there longer. Here's a link:

http://www.cheesemans.com/antarctica2005.html

I'd suggest you start with some research. First, there are the articles on photo.net about Antarctica:

http://www.photo.net/learn/nature/antarctica

http://www.photo.net/learn/nature/polking

You should also just do a regular search on photo.net for Antarctica.

There's a few trip reports I've found that give a good description about what these cruises are like:

http://www.cinenet.net/~mhnadel/travel/antarctica.html

http://www.cinenet.net/~mhnadel/travel/guy.html

And this one, which is one of the best I've seen and photography-specific:

http://rescomp.stanford.edu/~stanj/Travel/Antarctica/index.html

Some general sites on Antarctica:

http://www.coolantarctica.com/index.html