An Arctic adventure where the hunt continues, but on the ice rather than in the bush

Brian Berkman says a luxury icebreaker expedition offers South Africans an extraordinary alternative to their traditional June holidays.

- Brian Berkman

Whilst May/June is typically the holiday period for hunting or travelling abroad, doing so year in and year out can become monotonous.

An alternative - a once-in-a-lifetime exploration in May/June 2027 - is to do something very few get to experience: an Arctic hunt, but for something entirely different.

The French-flagged Ponant’s Le Commandant Charcot is the world’s only luxury icebreaker, and whilst the extreme and faraway locations it can take you to are legendary, the ship is a destination in itself.

Able to operate without returning to shore for three months thanks to its two tanks of liquefied natural gas and vast battery capacity, this hybrid electric ship not only goes to places others can't, but does so quietly.

You may be giving up the solitude and silence of the game hunt, but Arctic solitude screams in its human absence.

Even the ship, which at full capacity accommodates 245 guests and 215 crew, feels sparsely populated. Each stateroom has its own balcony and sitting area, so silence comes easily on board too.

JOURNEY TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD

Charcot is acclaimed for its exploration of the Earth’s poles, and a recently offered itinerary takes guests to the North Pole in less time than previously possible.

The vastness of the Earth's extremities can never be appreciated when looking at a Mercator projection, so two or more weeks away is typically always required.

The writer was an extremely privileged guest of Ponant Explorations, invited aboard Charcot to experience the unexplored sea ice of Greenland’s northeastern coast.

The 14-day round trip from Iceland’s Reykjavík into the far north doesn’t quite reach the North Pole, but sails as far north as the ice, weather, and time allow.