Six Hours South

From Cape Town, a chartered aircraft lifts off and heads due south over the Southern Ocean. After roughly 4,200 kilometers and just under six hours in the air, it touches down on a blue-ice runway carved directly into the Antarctic continent. No ship. No Drake Passage. No seasickness.

This is the model used by Ultima Antarctic Expeditions, a South African operator with more than two decades of experience supporting scientific missions and polar logistics. The company established an "air bridge" between Africa and Antarctica in 2001, originally serving research programs in Queen Maud Land. In recent years, it has opened that same logistical network to a small number of expedition travelers — and redefined what arriving at the bottom of the world can look like.

A Different Antarctica

Most of Antarctica's visitors remain along the Peninsula, where cruise ships explore coastal islands and wildlife colonies. Ultima's expeditions go somewhere very different.

After landing, guests travel roughly 25 minutes inland by specialized 4x4 or 6x6 Antarctic vehicles to Ultima Oasis Camp, set in a valley deep within the Schirmacher Oasis of East Antarctica. The plateau spans some 25 kilometers and is home to around 100 freshwater lakes, swept by katabatic winds off the continental ice. The surrounding peaks — nunataks, in polar parlance — rise through the ice sheet like islands above a frozen sea.

It is remote even by Antarctic standards. Some sites visited on these expeditions have seen fewer visitors than the summit of Everest.

The camp itself tells a different story. Three Scandinavian-style timber cabins sit nestled in the valley, their large bay windows gazing out toward the continental ice shelf and the distant ocean beyond. Eleven bedrooms are divided between two sleeping cabins — six in Storm Petrel, five in Snow Petrel — each kept warm enough that a single layer of clothing is all that's needed inside. A traditional Banya sauna sits nearby, providing a ritual end to days spent in the field.

The third cabin is where the expedition gathers for meals. Here, while the Antarctic wind moves outside, a chef produces fine dining and a resident sommelier selects wine pairings from a world-class list. It is exactly the kind of detail that stops you mid-sentence: a sommelier, on the ice, at the edge of the world. Where Shackleton had hardtack, Ultima's guests have something considerably better. All food, drinks, and accommodation are included in the expedition price, with no single supplement for solo travelers.

Into the Ice

Several itineraries run during the Antarctic summer, each focused on a different aspect of the continent.

The most ambitious combines two of Antarctica's most iconic experiences: reaching the geographic South Pole and visiting Emperor Penguin colonies. From Oasis Camp, travelers board a ski-equipped aircraft for the long flight across the Antarctic plateau, stopping at a high-altitude refueling camp before the final push south. Standing at the pole is one of those rare moments in travel that resists description. Every direction on the compass leads north. The scale of the silence is difficult to prepare for.

Emperor Penguins are an experience of a different kind. The only penguin species that breeds on sea ice during winter, they are uniquely adapted to Antarctica's most brutal conditions — and somehow, improbably, among the most arresting wildlife encounters on the planet. Visits are managed by guides and ornithologists to ensure minimal disturbance.

Other itineraries focus on landscapes and wildlife without the South Pole journey. The Emperor Penguins and Mountains Expedition includes multiple flights to penguin colonies alongside a visit to the remote Drygalski Mountains, a region of ice formations and rock that almost no one ever sees. Between flights, guests explore the Schirmacher Oasis by vehicle and on foot, traveling to ice walls, the Nivi ice shelf, and across the plateau itself.

A First Taste

For those short on time, Ultima offers a "Day and Night in Antarctica" program — a roughly 24-hour stay on the continent following the flight from Cape Town. It includes field excursions, visits to ice formations and mountain outcrops, and an overnight in the same camp accommodation. A condensed experience, but a genuine one. For many, it's the trip that makes them book a longer return.

Planning Your Expedition

All expeditions run during the Antarctic summer, from October through February, when the sun barely sets and daylight stretches toward the surreal. Guests are asked to arrive in Cape Town two days before departure to allow flexibility in flight timing, and to leave buffer days after the expedition before any onward travel.

No extreme fitness is required. Travelers aged 14 and older are typically eligible to join.

Demand is high and groups are small. Most departures sell out around nine months in advance; South Pole itineraries often earlier. Prices per person:

• •Day and Night in Antarctica: from $16,000
• •Emperor Penguins Expedition (4–5 nights): from $40,000
• •Emperor Penguins and Mountains Expedition (7 nights): $61,000
• •South Pole and Emperor Penguins Expedition (7 nights): $92,000

All flights, accommodation, meals, beverages, transfers, and specialist polar gear are included. No visa is required for Antarctica; check South African entry requirements based on your nationality.

The Last Untouched Place

Antarctica remains the least visited continent on Earth. Even as polar tourism grows, its interior stays beyond the reach of most travelers. Flying in from Cape Town, with fine wine and a warm cabin waiting at the end of each day in the field, is not how the early explorers did it — but it may be the finest way to do it now.