Welcome to Antarctica!

The 2021-2022 season has begun for the Belgian Antarctic Research Expedition (BELARE) team at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica research station!

On November 2nd, after a mandatory quarantine in Cape Town, South Africa, the first 14 members of the 2021-2022 BELARE team arrived at the Princess Elisabeth to open the station a few weeks ahead of the arrival of the first scientists of the season.  After eight months of lying dormant, PEA was happy to welcome back many familiar faces and several new ones!

After a few days, the team had cleared away the excess snow that had accumulated during the winter and started up the station's systems, which are once again running on 100% renewable wind and solar energy, as they have every season since the station was completed in 2009. The team will make sure everything is ready for the arrival of the first group of scientists in early December.

You can follow the adventures of the BELARE team and all of the scientists and visitors to the station this season on the website dedicated to the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica.