Best time to visit
When the light is right
November to February, the Antarctic summer, when the runway and camps are open and the sun circles without setting. Emperor penguins crowd the sea ice at Atka Bay in November and December.
Antarctica · Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land, Antarctica: the blue-ice runway at Wolf’s Fang, the granite spires of the Drygalski Mountains and the ice-free Schirmacher Oasis, home to White Desert’s three camps.
Now in Queen Maud Land
From Choose a departure city Approx. flying time, non-stop equivalent
Antarctica · Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land
Queen Maud Land is the part of East Antarctica where the interior can be reached directly by air. Sharp granite peaks of the Drygalski Mountains break through thousands of metres of ice, the naturally occurring blue ice at Wolf’s Fang is hard enough to land an intercontinental jet, and the Schirmacher Oasis opens 25 kilometres of bare rock and freshwater lakes on a continent that is almost entirely ice.
White Desert keeps three camps here, each for no more than twelve guests: Whichaway Camp in the oasis, Echo Base on a glacier beneath the Henriksen Nunataks, and Explorer Camp beneath T-Rex Mountain, a short drive from the runway.
These camps belong to our Wild Frontiers collection; our Antarctica guide covers the continent and the flight from Cape Town.
Why visit
A reason to make the journey.
- Granite and blue ice The Drygalski Mountains rise straight from the ice sheet: nunataks to climb, and rock more than a billion years old.
- An oasis in the ice The Schirmacher Oasis: bare rock and more than a hundred freshwater lakes on a continent that is 99% ice.
- Emperors on the sea ice The colony at Atka Bay, on fast ice beside the Ekström Ice Shelf, featured in National Geographic’s Secrets of the Penguins.
Featured properties
Stays we would choose here
Houses we know by name, the ones we would open for this landscape.
Schirmacher Oasis, Queen Maud Land · Antarctica: six pods, twelve guests
Whichaway Camp
White Desert’s original Antarctic camp: six pods with glass conservatories on the rare exposed rock of the Schirmacher Oasis, above a chain of freshwater lakes.
Henriksen Nunataks, Queen Maud Land · Antarctica: six sky pods, twelve guests
Echo Base
White Desert’s Echo Base: six award-winning sky pods on an ancient Antarctic glacier beneath the Henriksen Nunataks, conceived in conversation with Buzz Aldrin.
Beneath T-Rex Mountain, Queen Maud Land · Antarctica: six tents, twelve guests
Explorer Camp
White Desert’s Explorer Camp: six heated, chalet-style tents beneath T-Rex Mountain in Antarctica, and the base for the journey to the South Pole.
The house
In stills
A first reading of the stay: rooms, light, and the quiet between them. Each still is a note, not a catalogue.
When and how
Light, season, and the arrival
Each season keeps its own calendar. We plan the transfer around it.
Seasonality
When to go
With six pods or tents at each camp, a whole camp can be taken for a family or group. Departures are set season by season. In high summer, meltwater carves the Blue Rivers near the Schirmacher Oasis.
Airport / logistics
Arriving without hurry
Wolf’s Fang, also known as Ulvetanna, gives its name to White Desert’s hub: a three-kilometre runway on blue glacial ice. From here, Twin Otter and Basler aircraft reach Whichaway, Atka Bay and the South Pole.
Month by month
The best months for Queen Maud Land
- Peak
- Closed
- Rainfall
Seasons follow the notes above. Average daily high and monthly rainfall for 2015 to 2024 from ERA5 reanalysis, via Open-Meteo.
Luxury experiences
Hours we would keep
- Ice climbing and nunatak summits With IFMGA-certified guides, lines for every level, and summits that look out across the ice sheet.
- Blue Ice Tunnels and Blue Rivers Early in the season, cathedral-like tunnels of glacial ice; later, meltwater rivers of aquamarine and sapphire.
- The Ice Bar at Wolf’s Fang Cocktails chilled with ice some 10,000 years old, on arrival and before the flight home.
Suggested journeys
Written as one itinerary
Days held in sequence, not a list of nights.
From the Journal
Stories from this landscape
Where we write about this place: the seasons, the houses and how the days are best arranged.
Journal · 6 min read
Antarctica’s Three Camps: Whichaway, Echo or Explorer?
Rock and freshwater lakes in the Schirmacher Oasis, sky pods on a glacier and heated tents beneath T-Rex Mountain: how to choose between the three camps of the Antarctic interior.
Read the story
Journal · 6 min read
Safari, Privately: Camps and Lodges in East and Southern Africa
Cottar’s in the Maasai Mara, andBeyond Sandibe in the Okavango Delta and Sossusvlei in the Namib: private camps for a first safari or a fifth, and when to go.
Read the storyRelated destinations
Other destinations we return to
Landscapes that sit well beside this one.
Destination
Antarctica
Antarctica with Exclusive Villa Collection: the continent’s interior, reached by air from Cape Town, with White Desert’s three camps in Queen Maud Land, the South Pole and the emperor penguins.
Kenya
Maasai Mara
Kenya’s Maasai Mara: Olderkesi Conservancy wildlife and Cottar's Safaris stays, curated by Exclusive Villa Collection.
Botswana
Okavango Delta
Botswana’s Okavango Delta: private-concession wildlife, Santantadibe Channel light, and andBeyond Sandibe Okavango Safari Lodge.
Plan My Trip
Begin with a conversation.
Tell us the season, the company, and the feeling you want to keep. We will write back with a considered path, not a link to a search.
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