Edinburgh-born Maggie Coll is preparing for the “adventure of a lifetime” spending five months 9,000 miles from home, counting penguins in Antarctica.
An outdoor enthusiast, Maggie said the conditions and climate of the Scottish Highlands helped her prepare for the trip.
The 31-year-old woman is part of a small team that will count penguins and work at the southernmost post in Port Lockroy during the Antarctic summer.
The team will live on a small island the size of a football field with no running water or flushing toilet during the day, gathering information for the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust.
Maggie, who says she enjoys being outdoors and discovering new places, previously spent two years traveling in Canada and Australia.
As a wildlife ranger he will count and monitor the island’s population of Gentoo penguins with data fed back to UK-based scientists.
He said: “Being from Scotland, I spend a lot of time in the mountains of Scotland and in the winter they say the weather is like a Scottish winter.”
“So hopefully that gave me a little bit of preparation for what I’m sure is a very cold place.
“I think going out and seeing the amazing wildlife and scenery is going to be amazing. I think it’s going to be the trip of a lifetime.”
Maggie will be joined by foundation leader Lou Hoskin, museum manager Aoife McKenna, store manager Dale Ellis and postmaster George Clarke.
Each member was selected based on their interests and life experiences through a series of interviews.
Maggie said: “The plan was very detailed. We had a Zoom interview and then went down to the three-day selection ceremony.
“We were working in pairs doing team building activities – one building a tent, one wearing oven gloves and one blindfolded.
“It’s a lot of different fun and exciting activities that we’ve done as part of the recruitment process – but hopefully that’s my tent building.”
The crew will stay at Base A on Goudier Island, a small harbor off Port Lockroy, known as the birthplace of British Antarctic science.
The small island consists of three buildings with the largest house, Bransfield house, housing a living museum and a shop next to the famous post office.
The crew will sleep in a six-bed dormitory in the Nissen steel house and pass the time by playing board games, watching DVDs and listening to music on a portable speaker.
Each member of the group packed a personal box with luxury items such as toiletries, favorite homemade treats and even Christmas and birthday gifts – with four members of the group celebrating their birthdays during the trip.
Just two weeks after arrival, the crew will receive food that will be delivered during the trip.
For the first time, the staple food will be completely vegetarian – a decision made with sustainability in mind.
The food delivery, packed in July, consists of long-life products such as tinned vegetables, powdered milk, pasta and rice and “four large bags of Yorkshire tea bags”.
Despite its remote location, the island will regularly play host to tourists from all over the world as cruise ships visit once or twice a day during the season and thousands of postcards are sent from the island every year.
Proceeds from the gift shop and post office fee for the operation of Port Lockroy and its future conservation.
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