Tours to Antarctica to be offered at the 16th Davao Mega Travel Sale
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/11 February)– Traveling to Antarctica is now within reach for some Mindanawons interested in visiting Earth’s southernmost continent, as tour packages featuring cruise expeditions, sightseeing, and wildlife encounters in the ice-covered polar desert will be offered at the 16th Davao Mega Travel Sale (DMTS) in Davao City from February 27 to March 1.
In an interview at the sidelines of Wednesdays Media Forum at the Habi at Kape, Pia Lourdes D. Partoza, past president of the Davao Travel Agencies Association and exhibitor of the DMTS, said three operators offering the Antarctica Tour packages will be flying from Manila to participate in the three-day travel sale at the Abreeza Mall here.
She said that Antarctica is a new destination offered by tour operators and has been attracting several Filipino travelers with a special interest in the continent and its nature, as well as those who want to visit places not usually reached by regular travelers.
During the trip, she said travelers can expect excursions along the shores of Earth’s fifth-largest continent, as well as sightseeing of icebergs, and encounters with penguins and seals in their natural habitat.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the continent is the coldest place on the planet, with a temperature averaging 34.4 Celcius during winter. NASA said it has six months of daylight in the summer and six months of darkness in the winter.
It said the continent, which is made up mostly of glaciers, ice shelves, and icebergs, is considered a “desert because it receives very little rain or snowfall,” and has no trees or bushes.
“The only plants that can survive the extreme cold are lichens, mosses, and algae,” it said.
Partoza said that reaching Antarctica depends on the tour packages, but some tours include travel to the United States and onward to South America before embarking on Antarctica.
Some tours, she said, include cruises to Brazil and Argentina.
But traveling to Antarctica is not cheap. She said tour packages may cost between P800,000 and P1.2 million per individual.
“It’s not a regular thing for Filipinos, but only for those with a special interest. Number 1, it’s not cheap, and hindi lahat gusto ang nature (not everyone likes nature),” she said.
A total of 27 exhibitors will participate in the travel sale in Davao, with some tour operators offering new travel destinations to countries in Central Asia, including Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan, as well as tour packages to the usual destinations of Filipino travellers, such as Europe, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Bangkok in Thailand, and Vietnam. (Antonio L. Colina IV)
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