Skypods: White Desert is aiming to deliver the most luxurious beds on the continent in their new Echo. Photo / Supplied, White Desert
Skypods: White Desert is aiming to deliver the most luxurious beds on the continent in their new Echo. Photo / Supplied, White Desert
A South African adventure company is hoping their inspiration from a 'galaxy far, far away', will encourage tourists to visit the world's most remote continent.
Echo Base is the latest project by luxury tour company White Desert.
This summer they are planting space-aged pods in the middle of Antarctica, whichlook like they have landed out of a sci-fi film.
White Desert founder Patrick Woodhead says the parallels between Antarctica and space travel are undeniable.
Having arleady launched polar tours to two other temporary bases on the continent, out ot igloo huts and tented camps, the 'Sky Pods' will be something different.
When they arrive on the ice shield glacier in December, they might be the most comfortable beds on the continent.
The pods offer a luxurious base for adventurers exploring the Nunatak mountains of East Antarctica.
Echo Camp is White Desert's newest luxury base in East Antarctica. Photo / Supplied, White Desert
Millennium Falcon inspired: Are the Sky Pods the most comfortable beds in Antarctica? Photo / White Desert, Supplied
A self-confessed Star Wars geek, Woodhead couldn't help but draw parallels between the 70s sci fi and the icy continent. However for one of their guests the comparison was even more obvious: astronaut Buzz Aldrin.
"He spoke of the beauty of our mountains and how there were even similarities with the moon's terrain," said Woodhead of the veteran from the 1969 Moon mission.
Antarctica: 5 hours from South Africa in a chartered jet. Photo / Supplied, White Desert
"We worked out that one of our camps in Antarctica is so remote, that their nearest neighbour was the International Space Station, orbiting over 400km overhead!"
Luxury igloos: White Desert's first polar camp, Whichway Oasis. Photo / Kelvin Trautman, White Desert
As per the rules governing Antarctica the pods are designed to be easily removed without trace, when it is time to return to the mothership.
With only 12 spaces for paying guests, places on the tours from Cape Town are extremely exclusive. There are just ten departures planned from December.
Arriving via private jet to the blue-ice runway, as much as $168,000 per guest for a week-long tour including a day trip to the Geographic South Pole.
For adventurers who are a bit tighter on budget and time, White Desert are running day-trips to their other Antarctic camp at Wolf's Fang. For $23,500 per person, visitors have a chance to pack a 24-hour adventure including an excursion to the nearby Nunataks and a champagne picnic in the snow.
Guests can enjoy ice climbing and 24-hour daylight activities. Photo / Kelvin Trautman, White Desert
Champagne on ice: A picnic at Whichway Camp, Antarctica. Photo / White Desert, Supplied
It's light-years removed from the hardships experienced by the first explorers who discovered the continent.
