Argentine Antarctica: the white desert at the end of the world

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Today is Argentine’s Antarctica Day and that means this post goes to her. If you believe that you know Argentina, but you’ve never heard of this celebration, don’t worry because even today many native people are still unaware of the festivity. Come on stop blaming yourself for believing that the world ended in Ushuaia and for thinking that the photos of Argentine Patagonia couldn’t be beat. You’re not born knowing!

From Argentina to Antarctica

The most common option is to go to Antarctica Argentina by boat from the impressive city of Ushuaia. You can choose from three boats: cruise ship, sailboat and supply ship. The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators has a list of operators that travel to Antarctica and caters to both cruise ships and sailing ships. Supply ships transport personnel and material to the scientific bases, sounds exciting!

Do people live in Argentine Antarctica

The human presence is reduced to the scientific bases where research tasks are developed, obviously. The Argentine Antarctic has 6 permanent bases and 7 summer bases, making a total of 13. According to the last record, Antarctica in winter is inhabited by 177 people and in summer by 417. We dare say that you will see fewer people than when you decided to do the Minitrekking in Perito Moreno.

What to visit in Argentine Antarctica

You find life in Antarctica very interesting and you regret not being able to dedicate yourself to research and spend years there. The only thing we can offer you are some plans to do in Antarctica so you can spend some unforgettable days when you go to visit Argentine Antarctica and then you can tell your friends about them when you get back your sweet home.

Icebergs in Paradise Bay

Paradise Bay was named by the whalers who worked in the area at the beginning of the 20th century. The name they chose has an explanation: they were fascinated by the impressive icebergs and the reflections of the surrounding mountains and found no other word that better defined the island. Here, as in the rest of Antarctica, the icebergs have no name, but they are just as impressive as the glaciers of Argentine Patagonia.

Antarctica animals

Starting with the smallest ones, there are zooplankton and krill. Maybe it’s not what you were thinking of reading, but the first links in the trophic chain deserve to have a space, don’t you think? Before moving on to the larger animals, remember the charm of the penguins, it is not enough to see the penguins in Puerto Madryn!

Come on, let’s get down to business. You will be able to see seals: crabeater, Weddell, and Ross seals. Maybe you’ll get one of them, but we don’t think so. There is also the leopard seal, imagine how beautiful it is. We cannot forget the orcas, the blue whales, humpback whales, and some others. If you can tell them apart, it’s because you’ve been very close, lucky you!

Lemaire Channel

The Lemaire Channel offers extraordinary views. The pale pink sky and the glaciers slowly advancing from the mountains to the sea is a landscape hardly comparable. But this does not end here, because in the Lemaire Channel takes place one of the most impressive natural phenomena: the Lemaire Channel Columns, the result of a process as interesting as the Perito Moreno detachment.

Antarctica Museum

The Antarctica Museum ‘Patrulla Soberanía’ was inaugurated on August 29, 2003 at the Mirambio Antarctic Base. The exhibition has thematic panels that explain in a didactic way the evolution of the history of the Argentine Air Force in Antarctica, the actions prior to the construction of the first ground runway of the Base and its subsequent execution and the development of the Marambio Antarctic Base.

Penguins in Cuverville Island

Cuverville Island is located at the entrance to the Errera Channel. The island is a 252-meter-high rock with a long pebble beach on its shore. Some 6.500 pairs of Papua penguins live on Cuverville Island, the largest colony on the Antarctic Peninsula! In addition to seeing penguins, on Cuverville Island you can enjoy the views offered by stranded icebergs and the Minke whales that frequent the Errera Channel.