THE ANTARCTIC DIARY
Welcome to your journey with us, to the world’s most magical continent.
- ANTARCTICA, APRIL 10, 2026
Almost as moving as the breathtaking sights and sounds Antarctica, is witnessing her impact on our guests.
Watching their jaws drop. As they step on to Antarctica in less than six hours. At the vistas, which beggar belief.
Seeing guests wrestle with the truth before them: “Can this be real … or are my eyes deceiving me?”
Our guest Richard Van Wyk clearly thinks, and feels, most beautifully.
One is reminded of the famous quote, by Antoine Saint-Exupéry, the French writer and aviator, who said, in The Little Prince: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”
It was an honour for Ultima to host you, Richard. And to now read and see Antarctica through your eyes.
- Murray Williams
There was a moment on Richard van Wyk’s second day in Antarctica where he simply stopped dead in his tracks. The realisation was so profound that he could do nothing else. All the superlative words he had used to describe beauty — breathtaking, immense, timeless — lost their meaning when he landed on the ice.
“Antarctica does not demand attention. It removes everything that competes for it.”
What followed was a deeper awareness of the place: the silence, the scale, the stillness, and the strange way Antarctica strips everything back.
His reflection explores what the continent leaves with you long after you leave the ice.
- ANTARCTICA, March 31, 2026
Ultima Antarctic Expeditions was recently featured by Travel Magazine for its unique air bridge connecting Cape Town to Antarctica’s interior.
The article highlights Ultima’s innovative “air bridge”, connecting Cape Town to Antarctica. This route eliminates the need for a traditional ship voyage and allows travelers to reach the interior of the continent in just under six hours.
The article explores the Schirmacher Oasis, home to 100 freshwater lakes and the luxury Ultima Oasis Camp. Whether visiting Emperor Penguin colonies or the geographic South Pole, this is Antarctica as few have ever seen it.
- This was their story. - Murray Williams
A South African expedition company is offering one of the rarest travel experiences on Earth – reaching Antarctica’s interior by air, with a sommelier in tow. Ultima was featured by Travel Magazine for its unique air bridge connecting Cape Town to Antarctica’s interior. A chartered aircraft departs Cape Town and heads due south over the Southern Ocean.
After roughly 4,200 kilometers and just under six hours in the air, it lands on a blue‑ice runway carved directly into the continent – no ship, no Drake Passage, no seasickness.
Built in 2001 to support scientific research in Queen Maud Land, the route now welcomes a select number of expedition travelers. From the Scandinavian‑inspired cabins of Ultima Oasis Camp in the Schirmacher Oasis to the remote Drygalski Mountains and even the geographic South Pole, these journeys take guests to corners of Antarctica that fewer people have visited than the summit of Everest.
An Unbelievable Journey - 4 days and 4 nights from Cape Town to Antarctica.
Clint Perring’s personal account from the icy edge of the planet.
- ANTARCTICA, March 19, 2026
- By Murray Williams
Few places on Earth rival the remote, pristine, and almost unreal atmosphere of Antarctica. For those lucky enough to experience it, the journey can be truly life-changing.
Clint Perring, founder of Kri8it Digital, is a creative business owner with a passion for adventure, storytelling, and capturing beauty through his camera. Recently, he stepped away from the boardroom to explore one of the planet’s most extreme environments. From the profound silence of the ice shelves to face-to-face encounters with Emperor Penguins, his voyage from Cape Town was more than a trip – it was a complete perspective shift.
"It didn’t feel like the Earth we are used to. It stripped everything back and changed me."
"A four-day trip from Cape Town to Antarctica feels almost unreal, yet it delivers an experience that’s both seamless and deeply moving. From landing on blue ice within hours to standing among Emperor Penguins in complete stillness, every moment feels surreal. The landscape is vast, silent, and strips everything back, creating a rare sense of presence. What’s most surprising is how accessible it is—no extreme fitness needed, just a willingness to embrace something different. It’s a powerful, perspective-shifting experience that stays with you long after you return."
In our Q&A, Clint shares his personal account of the expedition, revealing a world where the planet’s most remote locations allow leaders and creatives to unplug, reflect, and find clarity. From otherworldly landscapes to the quiet intimacy of the Antarctic wilderness, he describes the moments that left him humbled and awestruck.
WELCOME TO "ONE OF THE GREATEST WILDLIFE EXPERIENCES ON EARTH"
A photographer's ultimate "Bucket List" experience ...
- ANTARCTICA, March 12, 2026
- By Murray Williams
This is indeed what this unique Antarctic Expedition offers.
Welcome to the only visit to Antarctica which includes two visits to colonies of the heroic Emperor Penguins. Plus, as an extraordinary bonus: A flight to land amidst the towering mountains of Antarctica.
Over seven days and nights, guests take three separate internal flights within Antarctica, to visit these rare-by-nature sights.
An honour to welcome Pangolin Photo Safaris and their guests on to these two Expeditions in the Antarctic Summer of 2026.
This week has been life-changing for me. I came with such high expectations … for years and years, I wanted to come to Antarctica.
"My expectations have been far, far exceeded. I couldn't have fathomed the enormity of this place - the vastness, the scale, the quantity of ice, the beauty and rawness. I have seen men that have visited this continent for over a decade, tear up … tear up because they were so touched by what they have seen on this very trip - visiting the mountains, the emperor penguin colonies with their little, tiny chicks and the interaction in this harsh landscape. It's been absolutely life-changing, and I can't think of any other trip I've ever done that has broadened my horizon to this extent and touched me right here. There are no words for it. All I can tell you, you have to come and experience it for yourself. It is mind-bogglingly beautiful."
An honour to welcome Pangolin Photo Safaris and their guests on to these two Expeditions in the Antarctic Summer of 2026.
- DATES
- Oct 25 - Nov 1, 2026 - SEATS OPEN
- Oct 31 - Nov 7, 2026 - SEATS OPEN
- ANTARCTICA, NOVEMBER 11, 2025
- By Murray Williams
Just 16 humans – out of a global population of +- 8.2 billion people – will get to experience this, in the year 2025.
And the first eight blessed explorers of this Antarctic Summer Season have just returned to Cape Town, after Ultima’s first “Emperor Penguins & Drygalski Mountains Expedition” of the year.
Hailed as a breathtaking success, these “Postcards from Antarctica” were captured by veteran Antarctic advocate and expert lensman, David Sinclair, founder of Islands & Ice Travel – the leader of this Expedition.
This is the only Antarctic Expedition – across this vast, remote continent – which visits TWO Emperor Penguin colonies, as well as the soaring Drygalski Mountains.
These iconic sites are reached in three separate flights within Antarctica, aboard the heroic de Havilland Twin Otter, which is specially equipped to touch down lightly on its snow-skis.
Bookings are now open for the austral Antarctic Summer Season of 2026-2027, with just 8 seats available, between the following early-summer dates:
November 1-8, 2026
To see these sights, with your own eyes, bookings can be made through this link: Emperor Penguins and Drygalski Mountains – Ultima Antarctic Expeditions
- ANTARCTICA, OCTOBER 29, 2025
- By Murray Williams
Ultima Antarctic Expeditions is honoured to open our “Season-on-Ice 2025-2026” – our expedition season in the austral summer between October 2025 and February 2026.
Wednesday October 29 marked our first inter-continental flight with expeditions guests, of the season – the 5.5-6-hour flight south between Cape Town International Airport, South Africa, before touching down at Ultima Air Base, in Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica.
And simultaneously, landing on the blue ice runway, were our expert partners from Kenn Borek Air in their Basler BT-67 and de Havilland Twin Otter aircraft (pictured above), after their epic annual journey down the east coasts of North and South America, from Canada.
In the weeks and months ahead, these versatile aircraft will serve both the extraordinarily valuable international scientific community.
And, filling rare seats on our journeys south, will be our visiting tourist explorers – a pilgrimage to witness truly extraordinary destinations across the 7th continent.
As we serve these guests, we will offer a window-seat into our world – delivered by our diverse team, in this place we revere and respect.
As we document this passage of time, we will simultaneously guide future guests to our expeditions on offer in the summer season of next year, between October 2026 and February 2027. See our website, www.ultima-antarcticexpeditions.com for details, under “Expeditions” drop-down menu.
Our Ultima Antarctic “Season-on-Ice 2025-2026” has begun! For a fortunate few. Rare by nature.
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