Antarctica Travel Guide, Educative Discovery. The Attractiveness of the Earth, and Variety of its Nature. A Book. Although legend had told of a vast southern land referred to as Terra Australis since the 1st century AD, the first sighting of Antarctica is invariably attributed to Imperial Russian Navy captain Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen in 1820, with Captain James Cook having missing the continent by only 75 miles in 1773. The first landing was made in 1821 by American sealer John Davis, with samples of local flora and fauna taken in 1840 by the crew of the Jules Dumont d'Urville expedition. Tourism in Antarctica started in the 1950s with 500 lonely soles traveling from Chile and Argentina. These days, about 40,000 people a year make the trek to the natural, unspoiled beauty of the world's most southern continent. At twice the size of Australia, this land of ice, snow, rock and water, and vast wilderness gives many visitors a feeling of insignificance due to the sheer enormity of Antarctica. Add to this the adventure of getting here across the Southern Ocean and you have the trip of a lifetime and a wonderful feeling of accomplishment. A Book titled "Antarctica Tourism and Wildlife" has the entire information on Antarctica environment.