Archive > The Amazing Race All Stars Spoilers/Speculation
Antarctica ..
georgiapeach:
Interesting ICE Facts...
Bergy Bits and Growlers
Very small chunks of floating ice that rise only about 1 meter / 3 feet out of the water are called "growlers". When trapped air escapes as the iceberg melts, it sometimes makes a sound like the growl of an animal, and that's how growlers got their name.
Small icebergs, rising between 1-4 meters / 3-13 feet out of the water are called "bergy bits". These may be small icebergs in the latter stages of melting, iceberg fragments, or pieces of floebergs or hummocked ice.
Bergy bits may sound cute, but they can still be dangerous to ships because they are harder to see than large icebergs.
A "floeberg" is a massive piece of sea ice composed of hummocks (ice that rises up because of the pressure of ice floes jamming and crushing against each other) that has separated from the ice pack. It may typically protrude up to 5 meters / 16 feet above sea level.
As the ice pack is frozen sea / salt water, floebergs - unlike true icebergs - are not frozen freshwater and would not make good ice cubes for your drink.
( Links: Icebergs, Source of Icebergs
puddin:
--- Quote from: apskip on January 19, 2007, 01:33:50 PM ---I have turned my attention to legs beyond the first one, specifically to legs 2, 3, and 4. Leg 2 should be a trip to the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. There are 3 possible airports there: Arica, Iquique, Antofagasta. The highest probability (by a small amount) of these three goes to Antofagasta, which is a mere 600 miles by road from Santiago. That opens up the possibility of a long bus or self-drive trip to begin leg 3; it also might be a flight to Santiago. The rest of leg three will be a flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas, Chile. The most logical next step is a flight to King George Island(Isla Rey Jorge), which is 100 miles off the Antarctic Peninsula, and overnight there followed by a return to Punta Arenas. Given the times and distances involved this could mean a double leg. For leg 4, from Punta Arenas there is a 3 times per week one hour LAN flight or a twice per week 11 3/4 hour bus involving crossing the Straight of Magellan to get to Tierra del Fuego and Ushuaia, Argentina. The one thing that is certain (beacuse van Munster said so) is a trip to the bottom of South America. That is Cape Horn, Chile, a national park on an island and it is about 125 miles south of Ushuaia. The teams would have to do that by boat or helicopter. After returning to Ushuaia, then you can fly out to get to southern Africa. My guess is that the flights connect through Buenos Aires.
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--- Quote from: georgiapeach on January 26, 2007, 02:43:53 PM ---
--- Quote ---The connection Equator to Tropic of Capricorn to maybe Antarctic Circle (South 66 degrees 33' 39") would be a whiz-bang start to AR11.
--- End quote ---
I'm all for that! :yess: I'll be so disappointed if they don't go to Antarctica (or south pole or whatever Bertram called it)
That blog sounds like something I would LOVE to read--can you provide a link to that? (Feel free to send me a message if you need help doing that--it took me ages to learn and I just about drove puddin crazy with questions while I learned... :js:)
Tropic of Capricorn in Chile--it is near our hand!
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--- Quote from: georgiapeach on January 26, 2007, 03:17:49 PM --- El Mitad del Mundo "Middle of the Earth" Equator monument--just north of Quito
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Chateau d If on January 26, 2007, 03:19:46 PM ---Looks like you beat me to it Peach :lol: Look no shadows! Its 12 noon at the equator. ;D
MITAD DEL MUNDO
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--- Quote from: Chateau d If on January 26, 2007, 03:21:42 PM ---I have heard that it is actually 18 seconds of arc south of the equator! Ref.
And, using GE, I got that the monument was too far south by 787 feet.
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--- Quote from: apskip on February 01, 2007, 04:46:01 PM ---ANTARCTICA
Today's weekly travel issue of Newsday.com contained a really good article "Over Antarctica" about the flight that 33 passengers of a cruise ship took from Puntas Arenas Chile down over King George Island and selected parts (unidentified) of the Antarctic Peninsula. This summary of travel options at the end of the article may interest you:
Our Antarctic flyover out of Punta Arenas, Chile, was offered as an extra-cost excursion to passengers of the Norwegian Crown ship (ncl.com) that sails from November through March between Buenos Aires and Santiago, Chile. Price of the excursion: $1,599 (all prices in this story are subject to change).
These programs are limited to cruise passengers, but there are options for civilians. Among those we found:
Aerovias DAP (011-56-61-223340; aeroviasdap.cl), a Chilean airline serving Patagonia, offers one-day flightseeing and a two-day, one-night program that includes an overnight at a base on King George Island, one of the islands off the coast of continental Antarctica.
Upside to King George Island: It's popular with penguins and technically qualifies as "Antarctica," if you're keeping score. Downside: When you're there (the "season" is December through March), its usual lack of ice and snow won't match your image of Antarctica.
Price of that flyover (subject to change) is $2,300; the overnight version is $2,950. Depending on demand, the aircraft can be an eight-seat Beechcraft or a 40-passenger plane. Other points: Hefty non-refundable deposits are required, and passengers are advised to plan on spending several nights in Punta Arenas (not a bad place to spend several nights, under these circumstances) to allow for alternate dates in case the weather doesn't cooperate.
"It's amazing," Isabel, a reservationist in the Punta Arenas office who made the trip in March 2006, said of the experience. "And you can see the penguins very close."
An option that combines the flight, which eliminates the days and potential discomfort associated with crossing the Drake Passage by ship, with a ship-based expedition is offered by AntarcticaXXI (011-56-61-228783; antarcticaxxi.com), also based in Punta Arenas.
This program flies passengers in a 50-seat plane to King George Island, where they board an expedition vessel (limit: 46 passengers) and off they go.
Prices for the seven-day program start at $7,100 per person, double occupancy.
Flyovers from New Zealand, nearest gateway after South America, ended after a 1979 flight crashed into 13,200-foot Mt. Erebus on the continent, killing 257 passengers and crew. But Antarctica flightseeing from the region resumed in 1994, and these days there are two flights annually, both from Australia -- one out of Sydney and a second leaving from Sydney with a stop in Melbourne. The most recent was on New Year's Eve, and the next is scheduled for Feb. 7. These are 12-hour flights -- four hours to Antarctica, four over the continent and four back -- aboard a Qantas Boeing 747, with prices based on seat location. Prices: from $713 for a seat you probably don't want to $4,126 for First Class and a guaranteed window seat during prime time. Food and bar included. Details: Australia-based Croydon Travel (011-61-3-9725-8555; antarcticaflights.com.au).
Now, if you're really serious about this Antarctica thing and can afford the cost of seriousness, there's a U.S.-owned company that operates out of Punta Arenas with programs that fly you into the interior: Adventure Network International (adventure-network.com). Among its programs: an Ice Marathon. Price: $15,000. A seven- or eight-day adventure that will get you to the South Pole and back runs a tidy $33,500. There are more options. A Wilmette, Ill., agency that features adventure travel, Northwest Passage (800-732-7328; nwpassage.com), can answer questions.
Most other access to Antarctica is via ship out of (or at least stopping in) Ushuaia, Argentina, in vessels ranging from luxury cruisers to small-ship expeditions utilizing converted Russian icebreakers. Prices are all over the map.
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georgiapeach:
Puddin--great idea to put this all in one thread!
But the discussion started WAY back on page 16--right after the Guidos were spotted in Ushuaia.
I'll help bring stuff over tomorrow if you want--but can you put them in chronological order? And you want all references to Antarctica?
puddin:
:groan: that far back :lol:? peach if you want to help that would be great... :tup: ..doesn't have to be everything just the interesting stuff, links, facts .. etc.
Chateau d If:
I don't know if this has been noted yet but here is a city map of Ushuaia.
You can find the location of the internet 'coffee' :lol:
--- Quote ---The locutario where the pics were taken was at the corner of 25 de Mayo and San Martin in Ushuaia.
--- End quote ---
It is near the bus drop off as well as the main city pier. So a boat drop off is also a possibility.
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