Antarctica: December 2001

By Dr Khalid Siddiqui
Ohio

There were unregulated tours (Argentine/Chile naval cruises and Pan Am sightseeing flights) to Antarctica between 1957 and 1966.

Lars-Eric Lindbald, a Swedish-American explorer, started the first organized privately-run and commercially-planned Antarctic trips for tourists in 1966 on his The Little Red Ship. His model introduced new features: small groups; naturist and scientist guides; daily lectures onboard; landing on shore by inflated boats; education on conservation.

In 1991, 100 tour companies formed an organization, International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO). It set strict operational guidelines: one guide per 20 tourists; not more than 100 passengers ashore at one time; no food ashore; no souvenirs collected; and mandatory boot cleaning before and after landing. Antarctic tourism is considered ‘the most regulated tourism on Earth’.

Incidentally in December of the same year, the USSR collapsed. Russia ended up with many more icebreakers than it needed. The big tourism companies took advantage of this opportunity and bought many of those surplus icebreakers at dirt cheap price. The ships were ideal to be used in the iceberg infested Antarctic waters. They were converted into cruise liners. Deck was remodeled and converted into cabins. This, in turn, resulted in a substantial increase in the number of tourists. The tours were offered only during two peak summer months – December and January. 

Some interesting information on Antarctica: It is the driest, coldest, windiest and highest continent; has the largest desert in the world; some parts have not received rain for 2 million years; there are no reptiles; no time zone; holds 90% of world’s fresh water; one boy was born in Antarctica in 1977; in 1961, a Soviet doctor at an Antarctic station performed an appendectomy on himself; Chile has a civilian city, Villa Las Estrellas, in Antarctica with a school, hospital, hostel, post office, internet, TV and telephone coverage.

Argentina: Ushuaia

My son, Sameer, and I traveled to Antarctica in December 2001. Travelers from all over the world arrived at the Ushuaia airport in Argentina sometime in the morning on the day of departure. Ushuaia is the most southerly city in the world. Our luggage went straight to our designated cabin on the ship. The tourists were offered an optional trip to see Louis Marital Glacier up close.

https://youtu.be/Usbmnt7wytQ

We decided to take it.  We were driven by a bus to a cable car station from where the chairlifts ran to the base of the glacier. On the bus we met a very enthusiastic geologist, Dr Louis Detofsky (“Dr D”). He was very much into the rocks. He would pick up a small piece of rock, examine it under a magnifying glass, and if found worth keeping, write down the time and location on a piece of stick-on paper, tape it to the rock, and save it in a pouch hooked onto his belt. At the cable car station, he decided not to take the cable car because it had gotten very cold and windy, and all his warm clothing was in the luggage that was taken to the ship. He showed me a small pebble which he had picked up from a pile of rocks. He requested me to bring a special pebble, similar to the one in his hand, from the base of the glacier. He handed me the pebble for comparison. We got into the cable car.

https://youtu.be/E9nFJyz55k8

The wind suddenly picked up. Despite our warm clothing, it felt uncomfortable and cold. At the other end, we got off the cable car, took a few pictures, and quickly got on the returning cable car. Halfway through I realized that I had forgotten to look for the stone for Dr D. Too bad, but there was no going back in that weather. When we arrived at the station, we didn’t see Dr D. He was inside the building having lunch. I quickly went down to the pile of pebbles and picked up a rock which appeared similar to the sample stone. Soon he came out. He took the stone and examined it under the magnifying glass. To my relief, he said that it was exactly what he had been looking for! He wrote the date etc. on the piece of stick-on paper, stuck it to the stone and slipped it into the pouch. Both of us were happy.

https://youtu.be/aQ_IILvM9Eg

In the evening, we got on board the ship Akademik Ioffe run by Peregrine Adventures. It was a refurbished Russian icebreaker. It carried 68 passengers.

https://youtu.be/BZZIkwFzeuc

The crew members were Russian, the guides Australian, and the service staff Argentinian. (To be continued)