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Tags: Summer-Vacations-With-An-Edge / Antarctica Travel / Extreme Travel / Penguins / → All Tags
Summer Vacations With An Edge: A 2-Month Trek To The South Pole
If you're not quite ready for your summer vacation to end and you've got $60,000 burning a hole in your pocket, the professional travel planners at ekoVenture are ready to take you on a two-month adventure across Antarctica. The trip has a difficulty level of "strenuous" and the comfort level is rated as "bare bones," or, in other words: awesome.
If that last part doesn't give you an adequate sense of what you're in for, the trip overview begins with the following: "this unique expedition has the goal of arriving to the south pole unsupported, which means without any help or food caches from its beginning to its completion." On one hand, arriving at the south pole sounds mind-blowingly incredible. On the other hand, aren't "food caches" traditionally helpful things? Why would anyone want to give up on something with a name like "food caches"?
Tags: Animals / Penguins / Southwest Airlines / Airplane News / Sea World / → All Tags
Eep! Southwest Has Penguins On A Plane!
Everyone knows the phrase "when pigs fly," but how about killer whales? Southwest Airlines recently celebrated the opening of the new Manta Ride at SeaWorld, and as the official airline of the aquatic amusement park, they flew in with "Shamu One," one of their 737s painted up with the whale livery.
Don't be surprised if you see the belly of this whale flying overhead at more than one airport; Southwest has three of them in their fleet. As a matter of fact, of their 500-strong planes, about 12 of them sport festive paint jobs like the NBA's "Slam Dunk One." But for the Shamu One, the partnership with SeaWorld goes beyond the plane exterior.
Tags: Jaunted Field Trips / Embedded Travel Guides / Antarctica Travel / Cruises / Penguins / Luxury Travel / Jaunted Travel Videos / → All Tags
Luxury Ice Capades: You Asked For Penguins...
Matt Chesterton has returned to Jaunted with tales of his latest trip cruising around Antarctica. Every day this week, he'll be enlightening us on this luxury ice capades adventure. Enjoy.
Some people will travel thousands of miles in search of ‘fresh air’, by which they mean air that is entirely odorless. This makes no sense to me. I like the way the world smells; it keeps me grounded.
I particularly like the stench of the city. My neighborhood of Buenos Aires discharges a pungent mélange of diesel fumes, deep-fried churros, grilled sausages, burning tobacco, cheap perfume, tilo, stray dogs, and whatever it is that comes out of a 1970s automobile.
Antarctica, I was led to believe, was pristine, sterile and untainted. It would be like swimming in Evian. Happily, this is not the case. On our first excursion on the ice continent, my olfactory nerves were given the shock and awe treatment. The sea smells. The ice smells. Elephant seals – who seem to all intents and purposes to be coprophiles – really smell. And the whiff of penguin guano, which is to cow shit what cow shit is to Chanel, will stay with me forever. (As one of my shipmates, Frank, from Arizona, wisely observed, quoting Frank Zappa: "Don't eat the yellow snow.")
Tags: Animal Travel / Zoos / Penguins / → All Tags
Edinburgh Military Tattoo: Come for the Marching, Stay for the Penguin
The 2008 Edinburgh Military Tattoo is in full swing, with more than 200,000 people in town to watch military bands and display teams from the British Isles and around the world perform against the backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. This year's tattoo held a special honor for one resident of the Edinburgh Zoo, as a three-foot-tall penguin named Nils Olav received a knighthood from the Norwegian King's Guard.
Sir Olav, as he is now known, is actually the third in a distinguished line of penguins who have served as honorary members of the King's Guard. The unit has a long-held tradition of visiting the zoo while in town for the Tattoo, and couldn't help but be charmed by a tuxedoed young waterfowl who considered himself a kindred spirit to the uniformed soldiers. Olav I, who was named after Norway's then-king Olav, was first made an honorary member of the guard in 1972, and he and his replacements have garnered awards and accolades ever since.
As part of his knighthood ceremony, which was held on Friday at the zoo, Sir Olav reviewed the troops and waddled around to the sound of bagpipe music. And while he's a big deal in knightly circles, it doesn't take much to get an audience. Just drop by the Edinburgh Zoo's world-renowned penguin exhibit, which first started breeding these adorable birds in 1914. The Tattoo runs through August 23.
Related Stories:
· King Penguin Receives Norwegian Knighthood [msnbc]
· Edinburgh Zoo [Official Site]
· Edinburgh Military Tattoo [Official Site]
· Animal Travel Coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: mirror.co.uk]
