Articles: General Articles

White Desert has successfully returned from their first ever day trip into Antarctica on Tuesday 24th November 2009.
Flying the five hours from Cape Town, our luxury converted Boeing 727 landed for the first time on the blue ice runway near White Desert camp. Our 34 clients enjoyed an action packed 10 hours in Antarctica, along with a gourmet meal and a range of cocktails from the first full service bar on the frozen continent.

The day trip included a walk across the stunning lakes of the Schimacher Oasis, before arriving at the summit of the rock cliffs lining its edge. From there, clients looked across immense views, from the ice waves directly below them to the icebergs stuck fast at the edge of the frozen sea.
The walk was followed by an exclusive tour of the nearby Russian Science Base called Novolazarevskaja (Novo, for short). There was even a sauna for the braver clients before everyone settled down to a gourmet five-course meal, and a couple of cocktails from the bar.
What our clients thought…

‘This was probably one of the most exciting and invigorating experiences of my life – in the run up to our trip I almost felt as if I was on my way up to “space” – this place is so foreign to so many of us in this world! I felt so privileged to be a part of it, not too many ordinary people have the opportunity to go on an adventure of this kind, yet it is on our doorstep. I couldn’t believe it was a mere 5-hour flight from Cape Town. This is one to add to your “bucket list” of things to do before you die – its one I’d like to return to. Congratulations to White Desert – it was an honour to be a part of the inaugural “White Desert day trip experience”.’ Paul Gardiner, Mantis Group

‘The whole day consisted of a series of adventures, the ride from Novo airstrip in the Russian tank (the Antarctic Ratanga junction ride), the amazing hike with breathtaking views and your expert knowledge on everything, the divine drink from the snow bar after the long hike, the delicious food, the beautiful music during the lunch, the hard to resist vodka shot ( or two) the warm hospitality I received from everyone involved. I am already looking forward to my next trip.’ Lynn Angel, Cape Angel Gueshouse

‘The most action packed twenty hours of my life, incredible…’ Rick Garratt, Homechoice

White Desert would like to thank our partner company, The Antarctic Company (TAC) for all their support in making this happen. We would also like to thank PicknPay and Source Management for the wonderful food and Liquidchefs for providing the cocktails and flying the bar in for the day.

For more information on the White Desert experience or to make a booking you can contact Luxlife on info@luxlife.co.za