Welcome Visitors!
While a campus visit is always best for seeing up close and personal what life in Antarctica is all about, for now, feel free to use our "Introduction to Antarctica" resources provided online- for learning all about our wonderful land at the bottom of the world. If you are planning a campus visit, meanwhile, be sure to take advantage of UANT-sponsored rentals and lodging.
Victoria Land, Antarctica:
Land of Romance
There are many options a tourist in Antarctica has nowadays. For accomodations on the UANT University Peak campus, please register at Navoyka Hall (link). To take care of getting to and from the continent, UANT recommends only reputable carriers such as Australia's Antarctica Flights corporation (see video).
Sightseeing
Victoria Land has many relics and sights to see, including the Byrd Monument (right), which commemorates the expedition by Byrd, and his grand statement for the future seen through Antarctic eyes: "I am hopeful that Antarctica in its symbolic robe of white will shine forth as a continent of peace as nations working together there in the cause of science set an example for the international community."
Churches
Victoria
Land's frozen wastelands are graced with the most beautiful churches
as well, built in the age-old style brimming over with a sense of
spiritual wholeness that attracts tens of visitors every year. The
St. Maximus monestary (left), situated twenty kilometers from University
Peak on another mountaintop, Echmiadzin Peak, is normally
pointed to for its stunning colour and depiction of the astronomical
zodiac blended with Christian symbology. The largest Christian structure
in Antarctica is open summers all day and night for prayer.
Outside
McMurdo, explorers find The Chapel of the Snows, in the distance
near the base of Erebus. Its outer colours blend with the surroundings
and its famed stained glass draws people from all over Antarctica.
It is the only depiction known in stained glass of the continent.
In this land, on which people have the ever-present feeling of the
powers of nature, many people are welcomed into Chapel of the Snows,
which is an inter-denominational building, although it regularly
holds Catholic mass. Prof. Zykov of UANT described the feeling as
one of "motion, change and helplessness, which upon reflection
leads to an empowerment. 
As
one begins to understand that nature is a constant flux, and that
God (as universal creator) has designed the cosmos to change all
the time, one begins to see that people must, as actors trapped
within this flux, devise and energize their own powers, as a mighty
leviathan, to stand up to the forces of nature and its changing
order." Every building in Antarctica is a symbol of this understanding,
built as they were against the elements of the harshest environment
on the surface of the Earth's biosphere.
Further
afield, other churches await the ambitious traveler, and they are
certainly worth the trip. The Sw. Ivan Rilsky chapel lies near the
Arctowski campus, and was built by Bulgarian Antarctic scientists.
Its hard, geometric, metallic look testifies to the resiliance of
explorers and people who work and live in this area. Sw. John of
Rila is the English translation of Ivan Rilski, a patron saint of
Bulgaria.
Another
splendid church is located nearby, it is the Trinity Church, built
with the backing of Patriarch Alexius II, and with donations
from all across Russia. Wood from Siberia that knows how to survive
in the cold climates, was brought to Antarctica and used in the
construction of the church. Like the Icebox Sports Arena, it was
totally constructed first in another place, in Russia, and then
shipped in pieces to Antarctica, where it was reconstructed by Russian
students, scientists and explorers here. It is 15 meters high.
Campus Heating Grid Frontier
UANT's
heating grid has itself become a touristic site, as visitors wander
through the campus foliage, swim in the thermal lakes and drink
running water... and wonder what makes it all go. They are led to
the Tesla Plant and then to the campus' frontier itself. Many visitors
have called it a work of art without rival- a "Great Wall"
not meant to keep out people, but bad weather.
Campus Thermal Lakes
The
biggest draw on the UANT campus are the thermal lakes, called geothermal
pools, with hundreds of non-student visitors last year. Heated naturally
by the Tesla Plant, the water temperatures never fall below 28 C.
Blanketed by steam on a constant basis, the thermal lakes are noted
for their soothing vapours. For more on-campus sites to see
while in Victoria Land, please see the University Peak Campus
website.
Campus Walk
When
Campus Walk opened in 2003, it proved both a success and dissapointment.
Its purpose and reason for construction was to lure a greater number
of non-UANT students to campus, which did not happen. It did, however,
become the most popular place to promenade for students themselves.
This means that tourist visitors can have the opportunity to experience
student life without ever leaving the relative comfort of the Campus
Heating Grid.
Camping
Victoria
Land has many beautiful places to camp, and some groups that arrive
at the UANT campus go together to the most popular sites and historical
markers off campus. Campsites are set up off the beaten track, and
food is brought for the journey, which can be, "a life-changing
experience," especially for the young. Bring your blankets
and head out into the unknown, undiscovered, pristine, Antarctica.
Hiking
Hiking
is as popular as ever with students and non-students and professors
alike. Following historical routes or carving out one of one's own,
people are increasingly using the UANT campus as a base of operations
for their explorations of Victoria Land. Living for days and nights
in total isolation from the rest of the world, the experience of
hiking in Antarctica alone had been described by adventurers as
like, "being on the Moon- there's just nothing- nothing but
wind, snow and sky- magnificient desolation in white." When
hiking, be sure to bring warm clothes and food for the entire trip.
When
unsure of the terrain, some visitors have taken an aboriginal tourist
guide on their trek. This practice is recommended but no UANT authorized
body is able to accept payment for this kind of independent activity.
Choose your guide wisely.
Aboriginal tribesmen have good track records
Care in Traveling
It is no secret that Victoria Land has obsticles to travel that apply to few places outside Siberia, Scandinavia, Greenland and northern Canada on the Northern Six. When using machinery to get somewhere, especially something with an internal combustion engine, like a car or truck, be very careful not to turn it off for long periods of time when outside the campus heating grid. If emergency conditions arise, call the nearest UANT outreach centre.
Bike Frozen in Car Frozen in Boat Frozen in
