Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 (IANS) Leisure travel seems to have come of age in Kerala. Fourteen Keralites, including three women, are all set for an exciting 11-day vacation trip to Antarctica in March.

K.C. Chandrahasan, who heads Kerala Travels Interserve, the sole agents from the country with 30 seats to Antarctica, describes the sojourn as a once in a lifetime experience. He took the trip himself last year.

'There will be two departures from Ushuaia in Argentina on March 5 and 15. The bookings were opened in November. And to my biggest surprise we got inquiries from across the country and presently we have 14 confirmed bookings, all from Kerala,' he told IANS.

Three women aged 61, 55 and 27 years, respectively, are among the travellers.

The Norwegian ship M/V Plancius begins its journey from Ushuaia and can take 110 passengers. It has 17 crew members.

'On the third day, the ship reaches Antarctica and from there in batches of 15, they are taken for one-night camping at the southern-most tip of the world in Ushuaia, which is a zero carbon area,' said Chandrahasan.

The cost of the trip would be Rs.4.80 lakh per person, after a 20 percent discount for Indians.

'Barring heart patients, all are welcome on the trip. The temperature when I went there last year same time was minus six degrees Celsius. The required clothing will be provided by the operators,' added Chandrahasan.

Over the years, Chandrahasan has organized the Tiger Trail, a two-night stay in the Periyar Tiger Reserve, hosted popular pop singer Paul McCartney for almost a week taking him to several tourist places in the state and since the past three years runs the Lullaby campaign at Varkala where tourists spend time at anganwadis.