Take a Holiday on the Antarctic Islands
Going somewhere truly unusual is becoming increasingly difficult as more and more destinations are opening their doors for business. But I think it’s safe to say that the Antarctic will probably never emerge as a mainstream holiday spot!
However, according to igougo the French Antarctic islands allow a small dribble of tourists each year and might be your best opportunity of getting a flavour of Antarctic life.
Officially owned by several countries the islands have no airports and are arrived at by voyage on a scientific ship, which departs from Reunion Island four times a year. The ship only accepts 14 visitors on each trip with the rest of the ships passengers made up of scientists, support personnel and relatives of those who have family members living on the islands. It’s safe to say that you’re not going to get a luxury cruise but what you do get is the opportunity to see locations rarely visited by human beings and which harbour a rich diversity of wildlife that includes various species of penguin, seals, whales, orca, albatross and breathtaking scenery to boot.
From beginning to end the round trip totals 29 days and is broken up by hops from Reunion to Crozet onto Kerguelen, Saint Paul (which is uninhabited), Amsterdam and then back to Reunion.
Each of the islands is pretty unique and described as follows:
Crozet which has a small scientific population at the Alfred Faure base is accessed via a helicopter. The island enjoys a thriving population of nesting Albatross and a number of large penguin colonies.
Kerguelen is a sizeable archipelago composed of 400 islands. There is a scientific base called Port aux Français and is considered the most important of the French Antarctic Islands. Penguins and elephant seal are prolific in this location and orca are regular visitors to the waters surrounding Kerguelen.
Amsterdam has a small scientific base called Martin de Vivies. The island has a prolific seal population which is largely unfamiliar with humans, allowing relatively close up encounters.
Saint Paul sits in a volcanic cone with a caldera and has a surface of 7 square kilometres. It is positioned 54km from Amsterdam Island. Saint Paul, has a large seal population and there are thousands of Rockhopper penguins which are alternatively known as crested penguins, because of the brightly coloured plumage on their heads.
All in all this trip would be an awesome experience for anybody with a sense of adventure.
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