Dixie's Camp is White Desert's outpost on the high polar plateau of Antarctica, at 83 degrees South and about 3,000 metres above sea level. It is the refuelling stop and overnight camp on the company's journey to the South Pole and the emperor penguins, and it is deliberately simple: guests sleep under canvas, much as the early polar explorers did, surrounded by silence and an endless horizon. The journey begins in Cape Town with a flight of about five and a half hours to a blue-ice runway, and guests stay at White Desert's main camps before flying a further five hours inland to Dixie's Camp and on to the Pole itself. The return brings a night here on the plateau. The same eight-day journey includes a flight to Atka Bay, where thousands of emperor penguins gather; by December the chicks are losing their down, and by late January the colony disperses to the sea. Guests travel in very small numbers, at most 12 per camp. Because of the weather, the company runs only set departures between November and early February.
- Rooms
- Canvas tents (overnight camp)
Insider tip Book well ahead: there are only a few set departures each season, and each camp takes at most 12 guests.
Why I choose it It reaches the South Pole and an emperor colony on one journey, in comfort and in very small groups, flown from Cape Town.