For you Antarctica fans....

[dorothyinAus]

Jul 18, 2015 16:16:21 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

That looks incredible. But aside from the cost (which I'm sure is crazy high), I'm now concerned about the environmental impact of going there on vacation based on some recent posts. I really, really want to go though.

This is exactly why I can't go to Antarctica.  I want to.  I want to see it and experience it, but the idea of being part of tourist-caused damage, even unintentional tourist-caused damage, in such an unspoiled part of the world really bothers me.  Sometime, hopefully soon, we, as a society, are going to have to face the fact that the cost to the environment is too great for the money earned and stop allowing tours to these places.

[GilliC]

Apparently it's €62,000/person to go to the South Pole:
www.white-desert.com/dates/

I found a few old write-ups from Condé Nast and BBC:
www.cntraveller.com/news/2010/july/white-desert-emperor--mountain-trip-to-antarctica
www.bbc.com/travel/story/20130924-camp-with-penguins-in-antarctica

I was a bit concerned that I didn't see any mention of their being a member of IAATO, but I checked IAATO's directory, and they are listed.

Personally, I don't think I'd want to stay anywhere that fancy if I was making a trip like that. It seems strange to me to want to visit one of the most remote wilderness locations in the world but to still have all of the comforts of other locations.

[GilliC]

Jul 20, 2015 12:13:49 GMT -5 @sfgal530 said:

Jul 20, 2015 11:03:07 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Apparently it's €62,000/person to go to the South Pole:
www.white-desert.com/dates/

I found a few old write-ups from Condé Nast and BBC:
www.cntraveller.com/news/2010/july/white-desert-emperor--mountain-trip-to-antarctica
www.bbc.com/travel/story/20130924-camp-with-penguins-in-antarctica

I was a bit concerned that I didn't see any mention of their being a member of IAATO, but I checked IAATO's directory, and they are listed.

Personally, I don't think I'd want to stay anywhere that fancy if I was making a trip like that. It seems strange to me to want to visit one of the most remote wilderness locations in the world but to still have all of the comforts of other locations.

Are there other ways to legitimately stay on the continent for an extended period of time?  Because that is the appeal to me (well, and the trip to see an Emperor penguin colony... and I guess saying I was at the South Pole would be cool, but I don't care that much).  I loved the cruise, but you didn't spend all that much time on land, comparatively, and all we really did was look at penguins, hike a bit, take some photos, etc.  This sounds much more interesting to me, being able to actually spend days exploring the interior.

There are companies that arrange expedition trips to the pole, backcountry skiing, climbing, etc. In addition to organizing an expedition, there are some seasonal base camps. For example:
www.adventure-network.com/our-locations