South America and Antarctica

ANTARCTICA / SOUTH AMERICA - DAY 10-14 - ANTARCTICA
Blogs: Day 1-2 Iguazu and Itapu \| Day 3-4-5 Buenos Aires \| Day 6-8 Falklands \| Day 10-14 Antarctica \| Day 15-16 Ushuaia \| Day 17 Punta Arenas - Patagonia \| Day 21-23 Santiago \| Day 24 Valparaiso Click on pictures for larger version
	Today we arrived in Antarctica or otherwise known as THE Antarctic. Antarctica is the highest, driest, coldest, windiest and brightest of the seven continents. It is roughly the size of the United States and Mexico combined and is almost completely covered by a layer of ice that averages more than one mile in thickness, but is nearly three miles thick in places. This ice accumulated over millions of years through snowfall. Presently, the Antarctic ice sheet contains 90% of the ice on Earth and would raise sea levels worldwide by over 200 feet were it to melt. There are NO Polar Bears in the Antarctic. Also no dogs are allowed due to potential disease introduction, so leave that service pet behind!
Here's a video of our first sight of Antarctica

People get confused about the Arctic and the Antarctic. The arctic in the north is pure water and ice (no land) surround by land (Canada, Greenland, Etc.) Whereas the Antarctic is land surrounded by water.

Currently we have about 3 hours of "darkness" during the night. The sun only dips a couple degrees below the horizon, so it never really gets dark, but instead stays twilight for a couple hours and by 2.45 am the sun rises again.

This is the first time ever that the Coral Princess has been to Antarctica and it has now broken the record for being the longest ship EVER to visit Antarctica. The previously longest ship was 5 meters (15.5 feet) shorter.

This type of cruise to Antarctica attracts a very different kind of person to what you normally find on cruise ships. It's all well traveled people who have seen much of the world like us and want to get that final continent. Almost every person we have met on the cruise is a very seasoned traveler.
	Flat topped ice bergs are called Tabular Icebergs. They are essentially a large piece of ice that has broken off an ice shelf. This iceberg is 2 miles long. 1/2 mile wide and 840 feet high. Despite the size they are not recorded or allocated an ice island designation unless they are longer than 10 miles! Only 10% is above water, so it stretches 750 feet deep under water! Now we can see why the Titanic sank - that's like running a ship into the Hoover Dam wall!!
Here is a video I made themed "Icebergs"
Outside temperature was about 30 degrees (-1 C) plus wind chill so Wendy was not that happy! Difficult to believe it is the height of summer!	When an iceberg is blue those blue parts are super compressed ice from the bottom of the glacier and therefore very old. Compressed ice absorbs yellows and red light from the sun while reflecting the blue light.
This iceberg was about the same size as our cruise ship and just as tall.	This is a supply ship for one of the bases that is staffed year round
	There are currently 70 permanent research stations scattered across the continent of Antarctica, which represent 29 countries from every continent on Earth. We saw several during our trip including one of the three USA bases. No one country owns Antarctica, in 1959 a treaty was signed by all countries with an interest in Antarctica and the treaty says "in the interest of all mankind, Antarctica shall continue for ever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord." Many countries have claimed territorial rights to sections of this continent but none are recognized as being official. Keeping Antarctica pristine is a major goal. When we entered the area, the cruise ship was no longer allowed to serve coffee in paper cups, all straws, paper napkins and wooden stirring spoons were removed and smoking was limited to the indoor lounge only. Anything that might blow off the deck was banned.
Here is one of the bases, you can see the yellow buildings. Pretty sparse and basic. If you take a job in Antarctica you have to have your appendix and wisdom teeth removed first as there are no surgeons anywhere on the continent.	This is crazy, we saw a SAILBOAT in the distance! Who on earth would sail a catamaran to one of the most inhospitable areas in the world through the most dangerous seas!!

The mountains just go on and on forever, ranging between 4000 and 9000 feet high. Most of which no human has ever set foot on and probably never will.
	I fired up Google Maps and took this screen shot of where we were at the time. The weather changes in an instant from sunshine to overcast and back again.
Here is the final video entitled "Majestic Mountains"
	And it was because of this dramatic weather change that our Day 4 in Antarctica was spoiled by foggy weather, 20 foot seas and high winds. The ship could not get in close to the land and the fog prevented us from seeing anything, so the Captain decided to move on to our next destination - Cape Horn. So this was the final sight we had of Antarctica before the fog closed in completely.
And finally...
	The band Metallica played a concert on Antarctica on December 8, 2013, making it the first band to have played on all seven continents in one year. The name of the concert? "Freeze ‘em all."
	There are only two ATMs in all of Antarctica…but, there are seven Christian Churches. The ATM is at a USA base where almost 1000 people work during summer. It only dispenses USD and is often out of order! Also there is no time zone in Antarctica. The various bases operate on the time zone their country is in, or the closest time zone to their longitude location.