Hello from Cape Town, South Africa!
My name is Holly, and I am so excited that you will be following my journey into one of the most remote places on our planet: the Weddell Sea in Antarctica! This expedition will bring together world-leading glaciologists, marine biologists, oceanographers and marine archaeologists on S.A.Agulhas II, one of the largest and most modern polar research vessels in the world.
I have arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, and all the expedition participants are here, too. How do we get people and gear from here to a waiting ship in Antarctica? I'm about to find out! Starting at 4:00 a.m., the expedition participants and I (along with our gear) will travel for about five hours by Gulf Stream jet to Wolf's Fang Runway, a private blue-ice runway on the Antarctic continent. Blue-ice runways are exactly what you think they'd be... runways covered in ice! They are much longer than traditional airplane runways, allowing airplanes with wheels (instead of special ski landing gear) to land and slow down using reverse thrusters instead of the airplane's breaks. Cool, right?!
From Wolf's Fang Runway, we'll take another flight to Penguin Bukta, a research and re-supply port on the far side of the Weddell Sea. If you think that's the last of the flying for the day, think again!
