Gadling

In recent years, one of the most popular destinations for adventure travelers has been Antarctica. The lure of visiting one of the most remote, and rugged places on the planet is a strong one for travelers who have already trekked, paddled, and climbed their way across the other six continents. But for the less adventurous traveler, it can be difficult to understand why someone would even want to venture so far south, and spend their vacation in an arctic environment.

U.K. newspaper The Independent is here to help both kinds of travelers with their guide to Antarctica, which is a well written and comprehensive look at what it's like to travel in and around the frozen continent, starting with the question "Why?". The article notes that last year just 38,200 people made the trip, most aboard luxury cruise ships, and part of the draw is that so few people get the opportunity to experience the stunningly beautiful, but desolate landscapes that are the hallmark of the place.

The travel guide also discusses such topics as the best places to begin your Antarctic voyage, recommending New Zealand, although Chile is a popular starting point as well. Readers are also given an overview of the terrain and what they can expected while cruising the icy waters of the Southern Ocean. The Independent even addresses the issues with ships running aground in recent years, noting that while there have been some high profile incidences, they remain rare, and steps have been taken to ensure the safety of tourists in the region.

This is an excellent article for those who are interested in making the trip to the southern end of the world or for those that just want to know what that type of voyage entails. Be prepared however, as there are few bargains when it comes to traveling to Antarctica.

November marks the beginning of the tourist season in the icy waters off the coast of Antarctica. It is mid-spring down south, and travelers with a sense of adventure, and plenty of cash, are heading to the frozen continent to get the opportunity to visit one of the last true frontiers on the planet, and possibly get a glimpse of Emperor Penguins while they're in the neighborhood too.

The past few years have been challenging ones for Antarctic cruise ships. In 2007, the MS Explorer sunk after hitting an iceberg, and last year two more ships ran aground while maneuvering through the treacherous waters. Fortunately no one was hurt in those incidences, although the sinking of the Explorer did create an ecological disaster when tens of thousands of gallons of fuel were released into the water.

With the 2009 tourist season barely underway, there has already been in incident in the Weddell Sea, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, where a Russian icebreaker called the Captain Khlebnikov became trapped by ice for the better part of two days. The ship, which carries roughly 100 passengers, found itself stuck behind large icebergs when winds shifted, causing the ice to close all access to open waters. While the boat was never in any real danger, it was unable to continue along its intended route, preventing those aboard from following their intended itinerary.

Polar explorer Eric Larsen has just begun an epic adventure that will literally take him to the ends of the Earth over the course of the next year. Eric has set out on his Save The Poles Expedition, in which he plans to travel to the "three poles" within one calendar year. Those poles include the North and South of course, but also the summit of Everest, which is often referred to as the third pole in adventure circles.

The purpose behind Eric's Save The Poles campaign is to promote the use of alternative, clean energy sources as a method to reduce our carbon emissions. The environments in which he'll be traveling are fragile ones, and they are all being dramatically effected by global climate change in some profound ways. Larsen hopes that during his year-long journey he'll be able to collect data that helps demonstrate just how these places are changing.

The expedition officially got underway this week, when Eric, and two companions, set out from Patriot Hills in Antarctica for the South Pole. This will be the first leg of his journey, which is expected to take roughly 40 days, covering approximately 500 miles on skis. In the spring, he'll turn his sights north, and go after his second goal, the North Pole, which is another major arctic undertaking, but one that will be quite different from his Antarctic travels in some significant ways. Finally, next fall, he'll make his bid for the summit of Everest, during the post-monsoon climbing season, hoping to reach the summit of the highest mountain on Earth.

You can join Eric on his expedition by following along on his blog, where he has already made several audio dispatches from Antarctica, and he'll be keeping us abreast of his progress at every stage of the adventure.

Ever wanted to try a 100 year old Scotch chilled to perfection? Than listen up, this story is for you!

According to this article from the BBC, the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust has announced plans to retrieve a pair of crates buried in the Antarctic ice following a failed attempted to reach the South Pole more than a century ago. The crates contain bottles of McKinlay and Co whiskey, and were first discovered back in 2006 beneath the remains of a hut built to shelter explorers from the harsh polar climate. That expedition, led by Ernest Shackleton, came within 97 miles of reaching the Pole before turning back, leaving equipment and supplies, including the whiskey, behind to lighten their load and speed their progress.

The Trust hopes to recover the whiskey, and restore the bottles, before placing them in another one of Shackleton's huts located on Cape Royd. The organization is slowly rebuilding that hut so that it exactly resembles the condition it was in when the famed explorer and his team set off on their epic journey.

Of course, the Trust isn't the only one interested in recovering the crates from the ice. Whyte and Mackay, the distiller that now owns the McKinlay whiskey brand, hopes to get their hands on a bottle as well. This particular blend has been out of circulation for decades, and they would like the opportunity to recreate it and beginning selling it again too.

Shackleton was one of the foremost polar explores of his day, and at the time of the expedition, he was locked in a desperate race to become the first man to reach the South Pole. He would eventually lose that race to Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, but his exploits in the Antarctic would continue for years to come. In 1914 his ship, the Endurance, became trapped in the pack ice, and Shackleton and his crew spent 10 months at the mercy of the shifting ice. Eventually, the ship was crushed, and all hands were forced to abandon ship. It would be another five months before they were rescued, but not a single life was lost on the expedition, making it one of the greatest survival stories of all times, and cementing Shackleton's place in exploration history.

Way out west, in the Black Range Mountains of New Mexico, there is a quiet little ranch tucked away in the thick pine trees, where cowboys still ride the trails and rustic bunkhouses give guests a place to lay their head at the end of a busy day. That place is the Geronimo Trails Guest Ranch, an adventure resort that lets us live out our wild west dreams on horseback in a pristine setting.

Located four hours from both El Paso and Albuquerque, Geronimo Trails falls well off the grid. The ranch is 85 miles form the nearest stop light, with all power generated through the use of solar panels and water supplied from nearby streams. The area is so remote, that visitors may as well turn off their cell phones when they arrive, as coverage ends 70 miles back down the road.

This eco-conscious approach helps to give the ranch a quiet, serene setting, allowing guests to rest and soak in the rustic atmosphere. And when they're done relaxing, there are plenty of things to do as well. Situated on one of New Mexico's designated scenic byways, Geronimo Trail gives access to plenty of outdoor adventure. Whether you're on horseback or hiking on foot, you'll be able to follow in the footsteps of Billy the Kid, Butch and Sundance, and even Geronimo himself, while exploring mountain meadows and beautiful, wide open vistas. There are even Native American ruins to discover, with ancient cliff dwellings and caves with wall paintings to give travelers a glimpse into what this part of America was once like, before the settlers came west.

The World Heritage Sites are some of the most amazing places on the planet. The list, maintained by UNESCO, spotlights places from around the globe that hold particular cultural or natural significance. Many of the places on the list are amongst the top tourist attractions in the world, so what better way to do them honor, then to replicate them with Legos?

Eco-friendly website Environmental Graffiti has an amazing gallery of some of the most famous sites in the world remade through the use of the popular interlocking bricks. Some of the places that get the Lego treatment include the Acropolis, found in Athens, Greece and the Great Pyramid of Giza, complete with Sphinx, from Cairo, Egypt. Red Square in Moscow, the Statue of Liberty, and even the Taj Mahal, amongst others, are impressively recreated using the iconic toy.

The amount of work that must have gone into these recreations is quite impressive, as the smallest details have been painstakingly added to the models. Personally, I think I'm most impressed by the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but each of them is a work of art in its own right. Perhaps Lego should make a new "World Heritage Series" so that we can all recreate our favorite places when we get home from our travels.

The only privately owned Antarctic base opened for the 2009 season a few days ago, allowing explorers, scientists, mountaineers, and adventure travelers, access to the frozen continent for the first time since January. Commonly known as Patriot Hills, the base is operated by Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions (ALE), a company that supports the adventurous men and women who are traveling to the South Pole or other locations on the Antarctic continent.

Traditionally, the base opens in November and remains open for approximately three months, allowing expeditions to come and go from Punta Arenas, Chile, a city found at the far tip of South America that is often used as the staging ground for adventurers heading to Antarctica. Patriot Hills sits at the edge of a rare, naturally occurring blue ice patch that serves as a runway for ALE's Twin Otter and Illushyn aircraft, which makes it the perfect place to shuttle visitors to and from the ice.

The travelers making the journey to Antarctica come for a number of reasons. Some will make the long, 500 mile journey to the South Pole on skis, while others will trek to nearby Vinson Massif to climb one of the seldom visited mountains there. Adventure travelers with enough money will also make a "last degree" journey to the Pole, beginning their journey at 89ºS and ending when the reach the bottom of the world.

Over the next few months, Patriot Hills will be a bustling community of explorers coming and going from a variety of places in Antarctica. The tent-city will serve as a base of operations for a number of interesting and unique expeditions, all coming to visit one of the last true frontiers on Earth.

National Geographic Adventure's annual "Best of Adventure" issue has become an end of the year tradition, highlighting some of the most daring, inspiring, and down right audacious adventures from the previous 12 months. In a magazine that celebrates bold initiatives, this issue, more than any other, salutes those on the cutting edge of exploration.

This year, the magazine is taking a little different approach in their selection process, allowing all of us to have a say in who ultimately wins. The list of nominees has been narrowed down to ten very worthy candidates, each with their own personal profiles that includes photos and videos that explain why they have made the short list. We're asked to rate each of the adventurers on a scale of one to ten, using our own personal criteria as to how worthy they are of being named Adventurer of the Year.

The list of finalists is a diverse group and includes such nominees as BASE jumper Dean Potter, who leapt off the Eiger earlier this year, sailing safely to the ground in a wing suit, and adventure travelers Stephen Bouey and Steven Shoppman, who racked up 77,000 miles circling the globe, passing through 69 countries in the process. Other potential winners include scientist Katey Walter who is studying global warming in Siberia, and Marc Hoffmeister, who led a team of injured vets to the summit of Denali.

The Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station has been conducting research in Antarctica for more than 50 years, and it has been the southernmost continually inhabited place on Earth over that period. For more than 30 of those years, the iconic image of the place has been that of a giant geodesic dome towering more than five stories above the ice. But now, the dome has been decommissioned, and is scheduled for demolition soon, which has spawned calls from former residents of the station to save what has been called an important piece of American history.

According to this story in the New York Times, a portion of the dome is set to be disassembled and sent back to the States as part of a museum that is currently under construction in California. But most of the structure will be cut into pieces and scrapped. But critics of the plan say that the entire dome should be brought home and rebuilt as a monument to U.S. exploration in Antarctica. To do so would require each piece to be disassembled by hand, bolt by bolt, and shipped stateside to be reassembled, at an estimated cost of more than $500,000, far beyond the budget allowed for the operation.

Taking a hot air balloon ride over the Valley of the Kings near Luxor, Egypt has become a "must do" for travelers visiting the ancient temples and tombs of that region. The morning skies have often been filled with the colorful balloons as they drift slowly over the desert landscapes below. But that all changed back in April, when a balloon crashed, and the government was forced to put a halt to all flights.

The crash occurred when a pilot set off in less than ideal weather conditions and without permission from the control tower. High winds pushed the balloon off course, and it ended up colliding with a cell phone tower, before slamming to the ground, injuring the 16 passengers on board, and forcing the Egyptian Tourism Board to ground all flights pending an investigation.

This week, after six months on the ground, the balloons once again took to the air. The pilots have all gone through extensive safety training and each of the companies operating the balloons were required to introduce new safety measures as well. Furthermore, the world's first hot air balloon airport was created not far from town, and all flights take off from that spot now.

Egypt is notoriously protective of their tourism industry, and with good reason. Much of the country's income is based on travelers feeling safe and comfortable, and any threat to that safety can harm the industry as a whole. As a result, the government is quick to step in and enforce regulations when necessary, as was once again demonstrated here.

[via Daily Mail]