Top 13 Destinations in Antarctica according to Lonely Planet 13. McMurdo Station McMurdo Station is a U.S. Antarctic research center located on the southern tip of Ross Island. The station is the largest community in Antarctica, capable of supporting up to 1,258 residents, and serves as the United States Antarctic science facility. All personnel and cargo going to or coming from Amundsen--Scott South Pole Station first pass through McMurdo. 12. Cape Denison Cape Denison is a rocky point at the head of Commonwealth Bay in Antarctica. It was discovered in 1912 by the Australasian Antarctic Expedition under Douglas Mawson, who named it for Sir Hugh Denison of Sydney, a patron of the expedition. The cape was the site of the expedition's main base. Called by Mawson "the windiest place on Earth", the site experiences fierce katabatic winds. 11. Whale Encounters One of the major pay-offs of the long passage across the Southern Ocean is the chance to spot migrating whales circulating through krill-rich waters. Once nearer to land, if you're in a Zodiac, calling it whale-watching doesn't do it justice: you could be close enough to get a 'whale bath'. 10. Charlotte Bay & Cuverville Island Charlotte Bay is a bay on the west coast of the Antarctic Peninsula indenting the west coast of Graham Land in a southeast direction for 12 nautical miles, between Reclus Peninsula and Cape Murray. Its head is fed by Renard Glacier, Krebs Glacier and Bozhinov Glacier. 9. Antarctic Museum at Port Lockroy Port Lockroy is a natural harbour on the north-western shore of Wiencke Island in Palmer Archipelago of the British Antarctic Territory. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations for cruise-ship passengers in Antarctica. Proceeds from the small souvenir shop fund the upkeep of the site and other historic sites and monuments in Antarctica. 8. Deception Island Deception Island has one of the safest harbours in Antarctica. The island is the caldera of an active volcano, which caused serious damage to the local scientific stations in 1967 and 1969. The island previously held a whaling station; it is now a tourist destination and scientific outpost. 7. Grytviken, South Georgia Grytviken is a settlement in the British territory of South Georgia in the South Atlantic. It is the best harbour on the island, consisting of a bay within a bay. The site is quite sheltered, provides a substantial area of flat land suitable for building, and has a good supply of fresh water. 6. Paradise Harbor Paradise Harbor is a wide embayment behind Lemaire and Bryde Islands in Antarctica, indenting the west coast of Graham Land between Duthiers and Leniz Points. The name was first applied by whalers operating in the vicinity and was in use by 1920. It is one of only two harbors used for cruise ships to stop on the continent. 5. Shackleton's Hut When Shackleton went into McMurdo Sound in 1908, having failed to land on King Edward VII Land, he decided to build a hut at Cape Royds, a small promontory twenty-three miles north of Hut Point where Scott had stayed during the Discovery Expedition. The whole shore party lived in this hut through the winter of 1908. 4. Cape Evans Cape Evans is a rocky cape on the west side of Ross Island, forming the north side of the entrance to Erebus Bay. Scott's Hut hut has been designated a Historic Site or Monument, following a proposal by New Zealand and the United Kingdom to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. 3. Cruising the Lemaire Channel Lemaire Channel is a strait off Antarctica, between Kiev Peninsula in the mainland's Graham Land and Booth Island. Nicknamed "Kodak Gap" by some, it is one of the top tourist destinations in Antarctica; steep cliffs hem in the iceberg-filled passage, which is 11 km long and just 1,600 metres wide at its narrowest point. 2. Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station The Amundsen--Scott South Pole Station is a US scientific research station at the Geographic South Pole, the southernmost place on the Earth. The station is located on the high plateau of Antarctica at an elevation of 2,835 metres above sea level. 1. Meeting the Penguins When you first lay eyes on these ever-anthropomorphized birds, you'll know you've arrived in the Antarctic. From the tiny tuxedo-clad Adélie and the bushy-browed macaroni, to the world's largest penguin, the fabulously debonair emperor, the Antarctic offers a chance to see these unique creatures on their own turf: sea, ice and shore. SUBSCRIBE http://www.youtube.com/videovoyagetv?sub_confirmation=1 CONNECT Website: http://videovoyage.tv Google+: http://google.com/+videovoyagetv Twitter: http://twitter.com/videovoyagetv Instagram: http://instagram.com/videovoyagetv Tumblr: http://videovoyagetv.tumblr.com Facebook: http://facebook.com/videovoyagetv YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/videovoyagetv

• published: 15 Sep 2014
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