The airplane is a Hercules C-130, tremendous spectacular. You arrive on this little bus, and also you see this monstrous airplane, and also you enter by way of the again. You then sit subsequent to one another in these longitudinal seats. After which it’s departure for a seven-hour journey with out bathrooms, with somewhat snack, a variety of sound round you—simply sitting till you see, for the primary time, a little bit of Antarctica.
You see these great ice cabinets from the little home windows you’ve got there. The very first thing you see if you step out is simply ice all over the place. You’re actually new to this surroundings, and generally it feels somewhat bit like being on one other planet.
There’s an Italian station there, and we had been supposed to remain for a day. However what we realized very quick is that, in French, we are saying, en Antarctique pas de pronostique, that means, “no forecast in Antarctica,” as a result of the climate is tremendous unpredictable. So, as a substitute of staying one night time, we stayed virtually per week.
This station is only a logistical one; it’s not meant to host folks, and everybody who stays there blocks others from coming in. It’s an actual logistical problem for the folks working there, so they need us to depart as quick as potential. However the climate is so unpredictable you can’t simply take a airplane and go inland. You have to wait till the climate is sort of secure, and the pilot says, “I’m able to fly,” as a result of he has the ultimate phrase.
I nonetheless had my knowledge downside from earlier than, and I used to be making an attempt to hook up with the web. There, it was just like the web of the ’90s—you realize, beep beep beep. I attempted to log in, and at last, after perhaps two or three hours, on one laptop, I received to the stage the place it stated, “OK, I’m going to log in to your account so you may obtain your stuff. Please give me your cellphone quantity. I’m going to ship you an SMS to log in.” That was the double verification, and it wasn’t working as a result of, clearly, there’s no cellphone service. So I couldn’t entry my knowledge due to this double verification.
Lastly, we took a airplane. This one is smaller, a Basler BT-67 airplane, which comes from Canada to fly inside Antarctica after which goes again to Canada on the finish of the season. This airplane trip took 4 hours. It’s a non-pressurized airplane. You ensure to place all of your garments on, to be able to exit in Concordia, as a result of it’s about minus 30 Celsius. We had been tremendous afraid.
The very first thing after touchdown in Concordia was this sense of dizziness, vertigo. What I didn’t know once I arrived there’s that you just’re at 3,200 meters above sea stage, so you are feeling the altitude somewhat bit. After 4 hours on this small airplane, the place you simply see flatness of white, and nothing else, you come all the way down to Concordia.
From a distance, you see the station. That station appears so small as a result of there’s actually nothing round it—no mountains, nothing. And you’ve got this little boulot dans l’estomac, as we are saying in French, like butterflies, as a result of, you realize, “Wow, that’s going to be my dwelling for one 12 months.” We got here all the way down to Concordia station, and the crew that had simply spent a 12 months and was now leaving the station, was awaiting us and welcomed us very warmly. They received us contained in the station as a result of we had been generally afraid of high-altitude illness. They need to ensure nobody is carrying something heavy, that we’re not doing bodily exercise. They instructed us, “Simply keep calm for the subsequent few days.”
The station is manufactured from two towers, with 18 faces for every tower. It’s principally white, with somewhat little bit of orange, and that’s it. You enter by way of a tunnel between the 2 towers. You are taking off your boots and depart all of your stuff there. It’s fairly small. Then you may go to the left, which is the “calm tower.” Inside, you’ve got the dormitories, the laboratories, and the hospital. It has three flooring. The center flooring is dormitories, and the higher flooring is laboratories. It’s known as the “calm tower” to maintain it calm. Then we go to the opposite tower, on the fitting aspect from the doorway. It has the technical stuff. On the second flooring, there’s the video room for films and the sports activities room. On the highest, you’ve got the lounge, the consuming space, and the kitchen.
In 5 minutes, you’ve executed the tour of your new dwelling. It’s tremendous spectacular since you assume, “Somebody needed to construct this in the course of nowhere. Somebody needed to take the primary steps.” And that is simply unimaginable. So many individuals go to Antarctica with nothing. We arrive right here, and now we have the posh of getting this constructing to guard us from this surroundings.
It’s so out of this world to be there. We’ve seen a variety of photos of Antarctica, and we’ve most likely learn a variety of books, however you’ve by no means been within the middle of Antarctica, which is sort of completely different. There’s no life—no birds, no bushes—there’s actually nothing, nothing however ice and wind.
