Ever dreamed about visiting the white continent? Well, if you are neither a scientist nor a soldier now you can, thanks to various cruise lines that will get you there, to Antarctica and back.

Get more information about cruises and sea travel thorough this link; if you feel like going in a cruice now, don't let any more time pass by; just do it! Life is the only cruise where we all have a one way ticket.

Antarctica is very, very far away and inaccessible, except for a few countries. The southernmost part of Argentina and Chile lies closer to the Antarctic Peninsula than to Buenos Aires or Santiago de Chile.

These two countries, along with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa constitute the neighbourhood of the white continent, and most expeditions and excursions to the area depart from cities located in this influence area. At Marambio and Frei research bases, belonging to Argentina and Chile, respectively, it is possible to land on hard runways using conventionally-equipped aircraft; no skids needed.

From Rio Gallegos, Punta Arenas, Rio Grande and Ushuaia it is possible to hitch a ride in an aircraft or get on board a cruise to Antarctica. The vessels used for such voyages are specially prepared for the kind of navigation required in such cold and turbulent seas; a lot of attention is paid to safety in all respects, and there are always icebreakers, mainly Argentine, present in the region, just in case.

Navigation is pretty fast and direct thorough the Drake passage; the catch is that the South Atlantic makes the North Sea look like a pond by comparison. It will certainly entertain you and your fellow passengers, especially after dinner. At Frei research base, as well as at Esperanza, an Argentine town there, people actually live the whole year there. ``Argentina in particular, has had permanent bases with full year round occupation without interruption since 1904, and semi-permanent installations since 1824, when whale hunters first began visiting the new continent. The most interesting aspect of Antarctica - aside from the research going on there - is the pristine, untamed environment which will likely remain as such due to the extreme difficulties presented by the climate in order to establish permanent industries. It is perhaps in order to remember that Antarctica can be a dangerous and unforgiving place.

Tourist presence is frowned by same organisations, because numbers are on the increase and there are hypotheses stating that such a thing may actually harm the delicate environmental balance, so it is likely that some limitations on the number of people allowed to go may appear over the horizon. So, if you are thinking about Antarctica, the best moment to visit it may be now; in the future, it may get harder.

In our view, the oddest individual trying to reach the sixth continent was a U.S. citizen that a few years ago successfully hijacked an airliner in order to reroute it to the Argentine Antarctic Sector, because in his view it was 'the land of freedom.' He ceased and desisted when the plane's commander told him that with their Boeing 757 they would only be able to reach Rio Gallegos, in Patagonia.

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