Antarctica

  • South Pole feature

    80 Senses #53… The South Pole

     

    Astonishing to think, really, that it was only 100 years ago, to the day, that the first human beings reached the South Pole. Man – in the shape of the Wright brothers – had already left the confines of our planet eight years earlier (albeit on first engine-propelled flights of a few seconds), but the sheer hostility of the Antarctican environment meant it remained unconquered until 14th December 1911.

    We all know the story of Amundsen’s victorious arrival, and what must have been the gut-wrenching discovery of a fluttering Norwegian flag a few short weeks later by the doomed Scott expedition – but despite vast technological innovations the conditions are still so harsh in winter that there is no permanent habitation at the South Pole.

    Traveller:
    Saskia
    Experience:
    80 Senses
    Country:
    Antarctica