Useful information

Eco-system, climate change are familiar words to the Lost Continent i.e Antarctica as well as the rest of the world. I was pleasantly surprised aboard the new expedition vessel MS Fram which was on its second voyage to the SouthShetlandsIslands and the Antarctic Peninsula. It is not a cruise but an expedition where itineraries are flexible according to weather, sea and ice conditions. What I appreciated was the safety measures aboard the Norwegian vessel, the onboard lecturers in history, biology, ornithology and geology which gently introduced you and taught you about this great wilderness while at sea.

The scenery is magnificent and ever changing during this short season, the same as the wildlife. The austral daylight allows you to enjoy hours out on the top deck or the observation lounge to spot whales, penguins, birds, seals but the excitement is be taken ashore, all warmly dresed, to observe the behaviour of penguin colonies, to take photos and then return to the vessel to use the main facilities.

You can remove yourself from the real world or can link to the internet and have an experience of a lifetime. Mountains, waters, ice, remote research stations are unique and you relive the history of expeditions of Captain Scott, Amundsen and Shackleton, but in greater comfort. As comprehensive travel and health insurance is mandatory, I recommend you go when you are reasonably fit to enjoy Antarctica. Those amusing penguins entertain so many people and let’s hope that they breed for ever and that the ice does not melt too fast.