Antarctica - Travel to the final destination, Bharati Station

I was to fly the very next day to my final destination, the Indian Research Station Bharati, the last lap of my thrilling journey. This time it was with a team of engineers. In fact, I had travelled alone from Pune to Maitri station as I was delayed and could not be part of the team who went earlier. They had already reached Maitri and joined me to Bharati Station.

My flight was scheduled for 5 AM Maitri time. The time from Maitri to NOVO is around 1 hr, so it was decided that we should leave at 3.30 AM. In Antarctic summer the day or night does not matter as it is bright Sun all the time. However there were different time zones as Capetown is 3.5 hrs, Maitri is 5.5 hrs and Bharati is just 30 mins behind IST. 

In a span of 24 hours, I was witnessing 3 time zones and my body clock had already gone haywire and could get very little sleep. I was put up in the container based living module which was heated and had all the required facilities. But this was my first attempt to sleep in this continent and falling asleep was surely a challenge. I got up at 2.30 AM to freshen up and was ready to leave.

As far as the flight was concerned It was not necessary to check in or do any of the formalities we normally do at our airports. There were 8 people traveling in one pisten bully and another one was for luggage. Both of them were all fired and ready to take us to the NOVO air base. An interesting thing about Maitri is that they have given the names of our rivers to these vehicles. Our pisten bullys were named Saleri and Sabarmati. The entire staff at Maitri was there to see us off. The Chef probably had not slept as hot parathas were given to us for lunch during travel. The tiffin was packed and ready at 3 AM. The hospitality shown by our friends at Maitri was really commendable. A true spirit of being an Indian.

Leaving for Bharati

We finally got into the vehicles and our journey started. Pisten bully travels with the speed of 10 -15 Km/hr so the travel was quite at ease. The temperature was around -5 deg C but the weather was good and there was no tension of getting stuck in the traffic jam or missing the flight. This flight was exclusively for us and it was not possible for it to leave without taking us. We slowly came out of the Maitri campus and got onto the icy route to NOVO. Saw Shivlinga once again and joined hands together to take blessings from Lord Shiva for everything to follow. It was a mix of emotions and excitement in my mind. I will surely remember this Shivlinga forever.   

Everyone else was as excited as me and were busy taking pictures. In Antarctica, you need to have a camera handy all the time as the same place might look very different at different times. It is all shades of white and takes the color of the things around. These colors change rapidly and the photos you take are just not enough and you are never satisfied with them.

After travelling for some time we entered the NOVO airbase area. The pisten bully stopped at the canteen where we got freshened up and sipped the heavenly hot coffee with some snacks. We could see our plane waiting for us. The pisten bully with our bags had already reached there and they were loading our bags in the aircraft. We followed them and reached close to the plane. There was no check-in, security check, boarding gate or anything of the sort. The plane was parked on ice. It was a photography time for us. So everyone took out their cameras and got busy clicking pictures in various poses. This went on until the pilot asked us to board the flight. The good thing here is that the pilot, crew, and everyone around becomes so friendly which makes the overall atmosphere very informal

Adieu NOVO

This flight is called a feeder flight. It's a small Basler Turbo 67 aircraft which is an upgraded Douglas DC3 specially equipped for ice operations and capable of carrying 18 passengers and cargo totaling to 3000 kg. They also have skis which help them land directly on snow. These flights are operated by ALCI (Antarctic Logistics Center International) and serve most of the stations in East Antarctica. This complete flight was chartered by Govt. of India for just the eight of us.  

Basler Turbo 67

Most of the runways inside Antarctica are not capable of handling large planes. The intercontinental flights land at NOVO and then the passengers are shifted to these feeder flights for their final destinations. 

Finally, we got into the aircraft and occupied our respective seats. The atmosphere inside was like an army contingent. Everyone was decked up in polar clothing with sun glares inside that small cozy aircraft. A different feeling altogether. This plane did have heating but it was still cold inside. The crew member explained to us the safety and emergency procedures and the plane finally took off. This being a smaller aircraft, it did not fly very high altitude which actually helped us get a clearer view of the landscapes below. For the distance of 3000 km, it takes approx. 9 hrs with one stop for fueling. It either stops at the Japanese station Showa or Belgium station Princess Elizabeth. 

Boarding Basler

Indian Antarctic Contingent

The views below were all shades and forms of white. As the average thickness of ice in Antarctica is 1.9 km, a small piece of land seen below could be the tip of the mountain filled with around 2 km thick ice.

The plane finally got stabilized at its designated altitude.  People were relaxed and trying to catch up with some sleep as none of us got proper sleep last night. I was busy taking pics but struggling to keep my eyes open.  

It was around 90 mins since we took off. I was half asleep and could sense the plane descending. I looked out of the window and it definitely was landing. It was Princess Elizabeth station and we had a fueling halt for 45 mins. Everybody disembarked from the plane. The surroundings were insanely beautiful with one hill in the middle and blue ice everywhere. The people were seen as dots on that ultra white surface

Approach to Princess Elizabeth Station

There is no separate pumping station for fueling. They carry fuel barrels on the pisten bully and bring it closer to the plane from where it is pumped. Our pilot had actually climbed up on the wing of an aircraft holding the hose for filling fuel.

Refueling at Princess Elizabeth

This station is located at 71°57′00″S and 23°20′49″E in Queen Maud Land and came into service on February 15, 2009

The station is built against a ridge that is exposed to winds of up to 300 km/hour. The station can withstand such strong winds through its aerodynamic shape and its foundation anchoring of several meters deep into the permafrost(deep frozen ice layer).

Princess Elizabeth Station

This station is the only zero-emission base on the Antarctic and runs entirely on solar and wind energy. The station is connected to nine wind turbines that stretch out along the ridge. It is a summer station and can house up to 16 scientists at a time.

Windmills at Princess Elizabeth

The station is named after Princess Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of King Philippe of Belgium. 

The pilots were busy fueling the plane and we were busy enjoying that clean environment. Finally, 45 mins passed and the pilot asked us to board the flight again for further journey. 

Hilltop near Princess Elizabeth

Princess Elizabeth is around 600 km from Maitri and it took 90 mins to reach here. The next phase of the journey was long one of 7 hours to Bharati station.

A few hours passed and it was lunchtime. You feel crazily hungry in that weather. The parathas were still warm and waiting for us to attack them. Our Maitri chef had also given us nice pickles with it. So it was a very delicious and memorable lunch we had inside an aircraft.

The heavy lunch started taking its toll and we were again back in our favorite "sleep" mode. There was not much talking we could do inside that flight as it was way too noisy and had to wear earplugs all the time. A few more hours gone and we started seeing signs of Bharati area. Bharati station is right on the coast of the Southern Ocean. We started seeing frozen sea below which meant that we were just a few minutes away from the station. The plane also started descending and with every meter of descent, there was growing excitement inside.

Bharati station has a Russian station Progress and Chinese station Zhongshan as its neighbors.

Progress Airbase

There is a runway strip maintained by Russians and close to Progress. It looks very similar to NOVO but much smaller and right on the ice shelf near the ocean.

Our plane finally landed and we were ready to disembark. We came out of the plane, got our bags out and saw our local team approaching us in pisten bully with tricolor. Another WOW and pride moment for all of us.  

Landed at Progress after 9hrs long flight

We got into the pisten bully and started our journey to Bharati station. The final stretch of this exciting travel. There are two routes to go to Bharati station. The shortest is to directly go in the frozen sea and ride Ski-Doo or pisten bully on it. The second one is travelling some distance on the ice and enter the sea at a place called Thala Ford. This is a much longer route and takes 2 hrs. However, this is the preferred and safer route as less melting happens in that area. Our friends decided to take a longer route and we were rather happy about it.

Final stretch - Inside Pisten Bully

Bharati station is surrounded by the ocean. So it is convenient to commute to the station only when the sea is frozen. During summer when sea melts, a pisten bully is kept at a place called PB point which is 45 mins walk from the station. The commuters need to walk to this point and take a vehicle from there for further travel. There are times when scientists travel over 100 km/day for scientific activities. 

Pisten Bully on Blue Ice

When we started our final lap the pisten bully was going on blue ice and was similar to areas around Maitri station. After some time it entered the sea. It was the frozen ocean and we were riding on top of it. It was spectacular to see big icebergs while passing just a few meters away. I had not seen an iceberg so close in my life so far. It was a sight to treasure.

On frozen Sea

 Passing Iceberg

  

After around 30 mins ride on the ocean, the signs of the station started appearing. Bharati station is on a hill and you can actually see it from a distance. We went a little ahead and got the first glimpse of the station building. It was awesome. My home for the next 3 months. It is a state of the art modern building constructed by a German company and was looking like a spaceship. As we entered the area we saw a fuel farm where yearly fuel is stored. Also, there were pipelines to take water from the sea to the station and fuel from the fuel farm to the station.

  Bharati Station - First Glimpse

As we approached the station we saw a helipad right opposite the station building and a small lake adjacent to it. This could surely be one of the most beautiful sights across Antarctica with the frozen sea on one side and hills on the other. The building is also surrounded by seven lakes which add more feathers to its beauty.

Bharati Station - the final destination

When the pisten bully was getting parked we heard the sound of drums being played. The entire station crew and expedition members had come out to welcome us with drums and Jai Hind slogans. The excitement was at its peak and our happiness knew no bounds. When we entered the building, it was a pleasant surprise. It was an in-house self-contained high-quality modern building. I felt happy to be calling it my home for the next 3 months. We were escorted inside the station. People there helped us with our luggage and showed us our respective rooms. It was also a moment to meet old friends who were already there for more than a year. The happiness on their faces was something to experience than describe...