Tel. +44 (0)1273 600030 (UK)
1of7
Drawing on our unparalleled expertise, we strive to offer genuinely unique adventures in one of the last, untouched wildernesses on the planet that are both bespoke and environmentally responsible.
Our staff are from a wide cross section of nations as we choose people due to very specific abilities. They are from: South Africa, Canada, Norway, England, Russia, France at this moment. This changes from season to season and we wanted to keep the camp very multi-national due to the fact that Antarctica is not owned by any single nation.
In terms of staff training, we do conduct long induction courses prior and once out in Antarctica. Most of our staff are employed precisely because of their extensive polar knowledge and experience. As for payment, they are all paid high European standard wages that are commensurable with their area of expertise.
Prior to arriving in Antarctica all our clients are briefed in detail regarding the environment they are about to enter. This includes detailed descriptions of the endemic wildlife and how not to interfere with it or affect its behavioral patterns in any way. We also brief them about how and where they can go to the toilet when we are camping and also how to minimize any impact they may have on the surrounding environment. Our company aim is that all clients are aware of the fact that all they should leave in Antarctica are their footprints.
We understand and respect that Antarctica is a highly sensitive wilderness. As such, we operate in strict accordance to the environmental tourism guidelines laid out in the Antarctic Treaty. We also go further and operate our own zero impact policy. To achieve this, our temporary camp is dismantled each season, leaving no trace, while all human waste is transported out of Antarctica on regular flights and disposed of responsibly in South Africa.
Prior to going to Antarctica almost all packaging is removed to save on weight and any packaging taken into Antarctica is put in recyclable bins and then flown out again at the end of the season and recycled responsibly in Cape Town. This is managed by our logistics company called ‘Antarctic Logistics Centre International’
Composite food waste is also segregated and disposed of in compost heaps in South Africa. Excess food items that are not used during the season, like canned foods etc, are donated to the CWD AIDS Orphan programme in the Western Cape.
The entire camp is powered by renewable energy, using solar panels supplied by Cleversolar and a portable wind turbine, to take advantage of Antarctica’s abundant supply of natural power. We are an accredited CarbonNeutral® company and offset all emissions from our flights to Antarctica and the associated logistics once there, through a portfolio of Carbon projects. Currently, we are supporting woodland replanting projects in the UK. Using our accredited CarbonNeutral® flight calculator, we also pay to offset the carbon produced by all our clients flying to and from Cape Town International.
With only 10 clients on each trip, members of our team will always personally speak to each client before going and ensure they are fully aware of the environment they are going into, the safety precautions we provide and the activities we offer. And with a high guide to client ratio (1 guide for every 2 clients) we can offer personalized and secure excursions each day.
We have lectures most evenings at the camp about the importance of respecting the delicate environment in Antarctica and we often have visiting lectures from the nearby Russian and Indian science bases who talk about their important research projects. Through these lectures, we try to educate our clients about the environment to which they have come in the hope that they to can become Antarctic ambassadors when they return home after a journey into such a fragile place. Through our environmental policy and the education of tourists when they visit our camp in Antarctica we strive to make them ambassadors for the continent and thus protect it.
We invite every traveller who books a holiday via us to send in a review. Because we don't run the holidays they're completely independent and unedited... remember to read between the lines though, as two people on the same holiday can have different views!
