Sections
Help wanted: The charity is for other hard-working, motivated people for transitional positions. They must be willing to move around and put up with the smell of penguin poop.
That’s the gist of the most recent task descriptions through the UK’s Antarctic Heritage Fund, the organisation that runs a prominent ‘penguin post office’ in Antarctica. The organization is recruiting 3 coveted positions for the upcoming Antarctic season, which will run from November 2024 to March 2025. .
The post office is part of Port Lockroy, a former British base on Goudier Island near the Antarctic Peninsula. It is the southernmost post office in the world and, despite its remoteness, processes up to 80,000 letters and postcards each season. These missives, in turn, are sent through the approximately 18,000 cruise ship passengers they send that prevent summer in the Southern Hemisphere.
A post shared through the UK Antarctic Heritage Fund (@ukantarcticheritagetrust)
They accept it as true and oversee the site, which celebrated its 80th anniversary last month. But the organization wants workers on the floor to sort mail, sell postage stamps, maintain old buildings and run the small gift shop on site. We also have another vital task: counting the approximately 1,500 gentoo penguins living in a colony in Port Lockroy.
The organization is looking for a Base Manager, a General Assistant, and a Store Manager. Applicants must be citizens of the United Kingdom.
Whoever gets the job will have the adventure of a lifetime. After an extensive education in the UK in August and September, they will be sent to Port Lockroy in late October or early November. Once they arrive, they will most commonly be cut off. the outdoors, as there is very little access to the phone and internet on the island. They will also share a bunk room with up to five other visitors during the season.
Port Lockroy doesn’t have running water, so staff will want the convenience of using a bucket instead of a toilet. They may not be able to shower or shower; When cruise ships pass by, invite them on board (and send them back to base). with a resupply of new food). Since the island is so small, they will have to make do with little time on their own.
“Due to the terrain, it’s not imaginable to go for a run or take a long walk if you want some free time,” the application reads. “Could you bear to be confined to a small island with 4 teammates for five months?
The truth is, he’s been hiring staff at Port Lockroy since 2006. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the organization closed the site for two years, but despite everything it reopened in 2022. For this first post-Covid season, around 6,000 other people applied for the jobs – more than double the number of applicants than in previous years. In the end, they accepted that they chose an all-female roster.
A post shared through the UK Antarctic Heritage Fund (@ukantarcticheritagetrust)
During World War II, the British government sent a top-secret expedition team to Antarctica to identify strategic bases on Goudier Island, Deception Island, and the tip of the Antarctic Peninsula. Your mission? According to the British Antarctic Survey, they “deny anchorages to enemy ships” and gather meteorological knowledge that can serve as useful data for allied ships sailing in the South Atlantic.
Today, the charity that runs Port Lockroy has friendlier purposes. They accept the need to maintain Antarctica’s historic buildings and artifacts, with the overall purpose of helping future generations “discover, understand, value and protect this valuable wilderness,” according to their website. In addition to Port Lockroy, the Acepto manages five other historic sites on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Jobs at Port Lockroy aren’t for everyone, but for others with the right skills and experience, the positions are a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to live in a landscape that makes you feel in awe and wonder of nature, where pioneering generations have preceded us, making groundbreaking discoveries about our planet,” Camilla Nichol, the trust’s executive director, told Time Out’s Liv Kelly.
Get the latest stories delivered to your inbox every day of the week.