By Jeannie D
If someone had told me a year ago that I’d be heading to Antarctica, I would’ve assumed they were deep into a bottle of Stroh rum. Yet here I was, stepping onto a cargo plane bound for the most untouched place on Earth. The invitation had been last-minute, the kind you don’t overthink. “Babe, pack your bags—we’re going to the end of the earth…” How could I say no?
Still, I had no idea what to expect. Was it going to be an extreme survival situation? A luxury experience with champagne on ice? The reality was something in between and beyond anything I could have ever imagined.
09:00 – Boarding a Bond villain’s cargo plane. Our journey started in Cape Town, where we boarded a cargo plane that looked like a prop from a James Bond movie. This wasn’t your typical first-class flight. The plane was cavernous, utilitarian, and built to handle the kind of extreme conditions that make commercial airlines weep. We strapped in and took off, heading straight for the bottom of the world.
12:30 – Touchdown on ice. Landing in Antarctica is like arriving on another planet. Our pilot – who must secretly be an ice-skating champion – set us down on a frozen runway without so much as a skid. As the doors opened, I gasped. There was nothing but white. Endless, infinite white. The kind of expanse that makes you realise how small you are. How small everything is.
14:00 – The ice wall that put Westeros to shame. After landing, we set off in a 4×4 across the ice. For hours, there was just… nothing. Then, on the horizon, I saw what looked like a bump. Turns out, that “bump” was an actual ice wall, towering and impossibly vast – like the one from Game Of Thrones but real. Standing beneath it, I felt tiny. It was one of those moments that makes you vow to hug a tree, cut down on single-use plastic, and rethink the carbon emissions of every flight you’ve ever taken.
16:30 – Cabanas, cuisine & chilled penguins. Our home for the night was a cozy cabana – yes, an actual cabana, in Antarctica. It was warm, stylish, and felt almost surreal against the icy backdrop. Dinner? Michelin-worthy. Think fine dining at the literal end of the world, paired with the best of South Africa’s finest wines. But the real highlight? A sauna and ice bath session where I naturally dressed up in a penguin onesie, bubbly in hand, to celebrate our new surrounds.
18:00 – A lone penguin & a reality check. Speaking of penguins, we spotted one. Just one. A tiny, confused little guy, far from the water. It was adorable, yes, but also a gut-punch reminder of how fragile this place is. Penguins shouldn’t be wandering solo. Their world – this pristine, untouched world – is changing. Fast.
21:00 – Midnight sun. In Antarctica during summer, the sun doesn’t set. It just hovers, casting an eerie, golden glow that stretches endlessly across the ice. It’s mesmerising, disorienting, and makes time feel irrelevant. A reminder that this place plays by its own rules.
07:00 – Goodbye Antarctica. Hello existential crisis. As we prepared to leave, I realised this was no longer just a bucket list trip for me… It was a wake-up call. Antarctica doesn’t belong to us. It’s not built for us. It exists as a silent guardian of our planet’s health. And yet, here we are, pushing its limits. I’m still processing everything I learned in that whirlwind 24-hours but one thing I do know is that I’d do all again in a heartbeat. Dressed in a penguin onesie, of course. 🐧
