"Sharrie's Antarctica Miracle" a Antarctica Travel Page by Sharrie

THIS PAGE IS DEDICATED
TO MY PARENTS & SIS
WHO HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLE!

ANTARCTICA was a dream.
A dream I knew one day would turned into reality.
Which day I had no idea.
The idea was implemented sometime last October...
I stocked up on winter wear while visiting in Toronto.
I had a vision it'd be the next Antarctica season then.
Which cruise? What day? I had no clue at all!
I went about traveling around Europe & America the next 2 months.
Upon my return from Spain in end Nov, I began to plan.
Looked around for a cruise ship. I much prefer going on an aircraft but as of now, nothing exists commercially.
So, cruise it shall be.

Found out Radisson Seven Seas Cruises has the shortest journey.
I can't afford to be on leave for a long stretch of time.
So, RSSC it shall be.
Alas, found out I needed a visa to enter Argentina.
Had to fly to Jakarta to get a visa.
God help me!
The Embassy took 3 weeks b4 it granted me a visa!
& they made me "worked" for it as well!
Ok, finally got the approval on Dec. 30!
Geez, I was scheduled to leave for L.A. on Jan. 10, 2004.
10 days to get everything in order.

Incredible it had been... the journey pre-Antarctica.
To me, it was even more incredible that everything finalised nicely in such a short period of time.
Guess what? I didn't even pay a single cent until Jan. 5 or 6!
Oh, it broke my heart when I knew how much I had to fork out.
If I live in the States, it's amounting to buying a new car!
So, finally I was scheduled to leave on the Jan. 14 cruise.
It was an amazing start for the year.
Rush was the very word associated with this trip.

But, this is only the beginning...
A trip evolves... without me realising what's to come to pass...

A great beginning to the year 2004.
A sense of accomplishment.
Success! - My last continent.
It's my dream to have set foot on all the 7 continents; if not every traveler's!

I tried to do the impossible - 1 step further.
To head for Antarctica & then back up north to the Arctic in a single trip!
It was not planned prior to departure...
It just turned out the way it was...
A miracle manifested!

I did it! 2 "poles" in a single journey!
What a feeling!

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Facts about Antarctica

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Area: 14 million sq km.
Population: 4,000 in summer to 1,000 in winter.

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Web Resources

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CIA World Factbook: Year 2003
Online Travel Guide: WorldTravelGuide.Net
Antarctica Destination Guide: Lonely Planet World Guide
Map of Antarctica: Lonelyplanet.com

We were very lucky... extremely lucky, according to Trip, our expedition leader.
We had phenomenal weather at the right time at the right place.
Everything was just the way it should be.

Amazing though it sounded & fantastic though it looked, the idea that I had made it to one of the most "remote" parts of the planet didn't hit home until I'm home!
It took me quite awhile b4 realising I've became one of those elite few who are very lucky to have seen something akin to a miracle in reality.
Whatever you see here... all these icebergs will never be seen again even if you were to travel there this week. It's gone forever... something else replace these but not in the same form ever again!
Hence, no 2 Antarctica trips will ever be the same!
That alone, in essence, made it so very precious!

Blue Ice - Well, this is as blue as we get on this trip.
I saw this wonderful "sculpture" on one of the coffee table books a few years back. I had a copy of it in my living room.
We didn't get to see it this trip.
We searched for it but didn't find any.
As I've said earlier, time does not exist here.
Nothing is permanent individually but rather in an entity.
You'll always find icebergs of different sizes & colors but there's no continuity in any of them.
It's a strange thing about time...
When one gets to this part of the world, the rest of the world no longer exists.
There's no communication with the rest of the world either.
Satallite phones don't work either.
I tried... it was Chinese New Year afterall.
Tried calling home but to no avail.

It's the part of the world where it doesn't belong.
Humanity does not belong here.
All else falls away... the elements dominate!
Trust me, when u encounter a 35 ft wave (which we did) or a 60 ft wave (which someone else's ship did), all you have & need is faith...