NGA Tours

Every year, the South Pole gets visitors that are not part of station support or science. These visitors can range from rich tourists who fly in and out on the same day (costs $30,000 per person) or skiers who either ski in from the last degree (89 to 90) or ski in from the coast and then camp until they are picked up by plane.

Early in the season I volunteered to give NGA (Non-Government Activity) tours, and since my last name starts with "A", I gave the first one of the season. The tour basically consists of showing people around the station and trying to answer their questions.

On the day of the tour, when the two Twin Otters carrying the tourists got close, I went out to their runway to meet them. There were a lot of tourists plus personnel from the tour company. As soon as the passengers were out, it seemed like mayhem at first. I was supposed to try to keep the tourists together and keep them from wandering off too much. However, from the start, they all had different demands. Two guys wanted to stay outside and take pictures with their 19th century photography equipment for a project. One guy made it very clear that he hated traveling, didn't want to see the station and wanted to go to the store right away so he could go back outside by himself. Then 3 people from Kazakhstan had their video camera out interviewing me and asking if we could fly the flag of Kazakhstan permanently at the pole.

To be hit with that all at once was a little overwhelming, especially since I didn't 100% know what I was doing. It all worked out in the end, though. The people stayed outside and took pictures. I took everyone else to the galley for tea/coffee and cookies, and while they were resting, I took the cranky tourist to the store by himself, and told him to not wander into construction zones when he was outside. I also explained to the people from Kazakhstan that they could fly their flag for the day, but not permanently, as the flags around the pole represented the original 12 signers of the Antarctic Treaty.

The funniest part about the day that still makes me laugh was when the translator from Kazakhstan asked me if I had ever heard of her country. I almost replied, "Of course, I've seen Borat", but I caught myself in time to just answer with a simple, "Yes".

They have since started having two tour guides when there are that many tourists.


Click here for some photos