A bucket list destination for most and the final frontier of adventure travel, Antarctica is so remote that few will ever experience its coastline, let alone its interiors. Time-restricted travelers can now experience the thrill of Earth’s southernmost continent within a 24-hour day trip from South Africa to Antarctica.
Starting in the City of Cape Town, your day trip to Antarctica begins with a safety briefing and a weather forecast to ensure you are properly kitted out for the icy landscapes down south.
A mere 24 hours later, board a private 12-seater jet and fly 2,400 miles from the southernmost tip of Africa to the icy wonderland of Antarctica. The 5-hour flight takes you through the dark African night into 24 hours of continuous daylight while soaring over thousands of icebergs floating in the Southern Ocean. Touch down on the blue ice runway at Wolf Fang’s mountain range where you’ll be greeted by your expert guides.
The shortest distance (air line) between Cape-town and Antarctica is 3,376.32 mi (5,433.67 km).
Cape Town is home to award-winning vineyards and stunning ocean vistas.
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Before enjoying a Cape Town to Antarctica trip, many of our guests take the opportunity to explore Cape Town, considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world, or to enjoy a luxury safari experience in South Africa or one of the many other African countries that we operate in.
Here are some of the best things to see and do in Cape Town before or after your Antarctica experience:
- Enjoy gourmet cuisine at one of Cape Town’s award-winning restaurants, such as La Colombe Restaurant
- Explore the Table Mountain National Park and enjoy panoramic vistas.
Surrounded by the white deserts of the interior of Antarctica, the runway sits beneath mile-high monoliths of rock rising vertically from the ice.
From here, you will be guided on a gentle hike to the base of the nearby Nunatak mountain and enjoy a champagne picnic at the summit with unrivalled views of the surrounding landscape. Who would guess that only 5 hours ago you were still in warm South Africa?
Capture that photo for your bucket list album before being guided back to the jet for your return flight.
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With (sometimes) brutal katabatic winds reaching speeds of 198 mph, a trip to Antarctica is entirely weather dependent. Antarctica remains the coldest location on Earth and ‘Summer’, if you can call it that, in Antarctica falls over the months of December to March.
What You Need to Know About Taking an Antarctica Cruise
During the months of December to February, young penguin chicks start to hatch, pods of whales migrate to the icy waters and wildlife is plentiful. However, to catch the icescapes in their most undisturbed state, we suggest taking a trip to Antarctica during the month of November before the summer sun melts the colossal icebergs and glaciers.
Covering approximately 540,000 square miles, 98% of Antarctica is covered by a 40 million-year-old ice sheet, roughly the same size as the USA. The isolated continent remains uninhabited by humans and instead, the frozen landscape is home to million-strong Emperor Penguin colonies, the colossal albatross, 6 different species of seal and whales that migrate through the iceberg flanked channels each year. Visiting this immense, untouched landscape can be dwarfing. From enormous ice shelves, jarring mountain peaks, and tremendous glaciers, Antarctica gives everyone who discovers its remote interiors a newfound perspective on man vs.
This luxury adventure takes you into the heart of Antarctica to see the Emperor Penguins. A wildlife photographer’s dream.
We travel in uncompromised comfort across the mighty Southern Ocean on an Airbus A340 (or similar).
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Scale a nearby Nunatak and marvel at the view with the Wolf’s Fang peak occupying the northern horizon. Indulge in a once-in-a-lifetime champagne picnic with views of the incomparable Drygalski mountains. Embrace the thrill of abseiling frozen cliffs under the guidance of our certified mountain guides.
One day not enough for your liking? Check out our 10-day South Africa to Antarctica Expedition. Catering to only 12 guests per expedition and professional polar explorers as your guides, the days’ itineraries are tailored to each individual. From gentle trekking through iridescent ice tunnels, traversing the snow in a 4×4 and hiking under gigantic ice shelves to more adrenaline-fueled activities, such as kite-skiing, ice climbing, zip lining and rappelling down mountainsides.
And your shelter for the night?
The Harsh Realities of Antarctica
A remote land of elemental forces - snow, ice, water, and rock make up the otherworldly landscape of Antarctica. The seventh continent’s barren terrain remains untouched by humans, belonging only to the penguins colonizing the white wilderness and the pods of killer and humpback whales in the waters.
Extreme Conditions: The lowest temperature ever recorded on Earth was -93.2°C (-135.8°F) in eastern Antarctica in 2010. At this temperature, steel will shatter, and water will explode into ice crystals. Antarctica also experiences regular katabatic winds, reaching up to 300 km per hour (185 miles/hour), making the coastal regions particularly breezy. Despite the cold, Antarctica is dry, with precipitation levels similar to those in the Sahara Desert, averaging only 50mm (2 inches) annually.
Altitude: The continent's average altitude is about 2,133 m (7,000 ft), with the South Pole situated at 2,835m (9,300ft). The highest point in Antarctica is Vinson Massif at 4,892 m (16,050 ft), and the lowest is the Bentley Subglacial Trench 2,555 meters (8,382 ft) below sea level.
Vast and Icy: Antarctica, with a land mass of 14 million square km, exceeds the sizes of Oceania and the European subcontinent. It's the fifth-largest continent, almost 1.5 times the size of the United States. Its coastline stretches approximately 18,000 km, with about 98% of the continent covered by a thick ice sheet, leaving only 2% as barren rock. It holds 70% of the planet's freshwater and 90% of the world's ice. The Antarctic Peninsula, known for its relatively moderate climate, contains some ice-free coastal areas.
Unique Daylight Cycle: The continent experiences six months of daylight followed by six months of darkness annually. Interestingly, during the summer, the South Pole receives more solar radiation than the equator does over the same period.
Historical Explorations: The harsh weather, strong winds, and brutal storms have been synonymous with Antarctica since its discovery, posing significant challenges for explorers. The first successful expedition to the South Pole was led by Norwegian Roald Amundsen in December 1911, followed by Robert Scott's British team, which reached the pole a month later but tragically died on the return journey. Antarctica's existence as a continent was confirmed in the early 19th century, leading to increased exploration and scientific research, particularly after World War II.
International Presence and Treaty: Numerous countries have established research stations on Antarctica, and while seven countries have made territorial claims, not all are recognized by nations such as the USA and Russia.
Territorial claims in Antarctica
| Fact | Data |
|---|---|
| Land Mass | 14 million square km |
| Ice Cover | 98% |
| Freshwater Held | 70% of the planet's |
| Average Altitude | 2,133 m (7,000 ft) |
| Lowest Recorded Temperature | -93.2°C (-135.8°F) |
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