Welcome to Antarctica!

After spending two days in Cape Town preparing for this expedition the team has landed in Antarctica. They departed Cape Town last night at around 23:00 and arrived in Antarctica at 05:00 Cape Town time. Their base, affectionately called "The Oasis" is on GMT, so they arrived at 03:00 local time.

They landed at the Novo Aerodrome (or Air Base) which has a 3000 m ice runway. It has the honor of being considered the furthest south "International Airport" on the planet. According to Answers.com "...Novo Base is the hub of the DROMLAN Air Network (Dronning Maud Land Air Network). This network ensures transportation between Antarctica and the outside world (most often Cape Town) and between the scientific stations and field locations within Dronning Maud Land. It is supported by a consortium of eleven national programmes that have research stations or operations in Dronning Maud Land. Novo Air base is thus truly an international hub."


The distance from the runway to their basecamp is approximately 14 kilometers which they covered in specially built 4x4's with all the comforts of home including heat and CD players (Russian music was the choice today).

The weather was very welcoming with blue skies, little wind and warm temperatures. When the team called they were relaxing after taking a three hour hike to explore the local surroundings (including seeing their first penguin!) They are only a couple hundred meters from the coast of Antarctica, and from their base they have a view of the mostly rocky terrain as well as the nearby Russian base "Novo". Tomorrow they will visit with the Novo scientists as they continue their acclimatization. Check back tomorrow for another update from the expedition!