Home » Antarctica » Pole Position January 7, 2004

Seven people reside year round at Arctowski, a Polish station. Researchers here study penguins, the food web, glaciers, and oceanography. The station was built in 1973 and is legendary for its hospitality. They have a tiny gift shop, also a little Catholic shrine. Arctowski even stamps your passports for more proof you've been to Antarctica.

Pole Position January 7, 2004

Ttrealtravels
2005-12-25 00:07:53

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Seven people reside year round at Arctowski, a Polish station. Researchers here study penguins, the food web, glaciers, and oceanography. The station was built in 1973 and is legendary for its hospitality. They have a tiny gift shop, also a little Catholic shrine. Arctowski even stamps your passports for more proof you've been to Antarctica.

We toured the cozy little house and were impressed by how warm and comfy it was. But it's extremely isolated, and I know I could not spend the long, cold, six-month winter night there. I just don't have what it takes. The gentleman who greeted us said this would be his first Antarctic winter, and he looked forward to the challenge.

Keep Off the Grass

Antarctic Hair Grass flourishes all around the station. This grass is one of the two flowering plants on the continent. All of us were so used to walking on grass at home that, at first, we didn't realize how special Antarctic grass is. These diminutive plants grow in the harshest conditions on Earth, so we must not step on it and make its life more difficult.

The environs are scattered with century-old whale bones, left from when this spot was a whaling station. Enormous vertebrae and rib bones lay bleached on the rocks.

The Arctowski Adelie rookery is closed to the public and reserved for scientific research. But penguins can't read the "keep out" signs, so they wander down to the beach to check out the tourists.