News24 | Riaan Manser | Taking it all in... in Antarctica!

Riaan Manser and five Grade 11 pupils have touched down in Antarctica.

Riaan Manser and five Grade 11 pupils have touched down in Antarctica and it is a sight to behold. Their excited faces have reminded Riaan not to take the beauty around him for granted simply because he has seen it before.

We have all been guilty. The audacity of walking or driving past something of extraordinary beauty and just ignoring it - all because you’ve seen it too many times. You’ve had enough. Literally.

In no way am I suggesting that my sister-in-law’s drive to work through the concrete slab that is Fourways is anything worth front-page news. But it does pose a reasonable question: Does something remain beautiful and extraordinary, even when it’s ignored?

We landed yesterday morning at Ultima Air Base, the home of Ultima Antarctic Expeditions. Welcome to Dronning Maud Land, on this block of ice known as Antarctica. An aeroplane touching down, on slippery blue ice of all things, is surely an extraordinary event.

And, for me, it was just another landing. Until I turned to see the faces of this year’s SIA (Students in Antarctica) team - both the students and educators. And it hit me: They were feeling something special and I was not. Why? There was an immediate pivot inside me that expected a response. A response that doubled as an old-fashioned pep talk.

“Because I’ve done this so many times,” was my reply... expecting the pep talk to come to an end.

But it didn’t end. And for this I am grateful. It dawned on me, as I continued looking at the faces and eyes of my team: I was so distracted by my supposed pressure, stress and responsibilities that I chose to ignore something extraordinary. And we all do it.

My weekend article is usually a “Pick of The Pack” activities or experience. And it goes without saying not all of you are going to jump on the next plane to Antarctica. But my experience does assist in answering this question posed earlier: Does beauty remain in the outdoors even when we have (for good reason) ignored it? Of course it does.

I walked off the plane with such a renewed buzz inside me. These Grade 11 learners were not going to cheat me out of what they were feeling. I will claim it back. This most incredible place on the planet will never be ignored.

READ | Five Grade 11 pupils chosen to head to Antarctica on adventure of a lifetime

The air was again as crisp as I know only this air can be. The sky and horizon blending into a colour only this continent can deliver. The sun was almost secondary to the scene — a visitor, just like me, here to pause and appreciate.

Everything else can be ignored for now. Because right now - I am experiencing Antarctica.

My sister-in-law is reading this and thinking to herself what exactly she should be appreciating along her Joburg drive. I don’t have that answer.

What I do know, though, is that you can reboot your attitude towards the outdoors. It is not easy, but it gets easier the more you do.

We’re off to show the students the ice wall that is a few million years old. I’ve seen it many times before.

Today, I will see it for the first time.

* Riaan Manser’s Students In Antarctica will be based at Ultima Air Base for the next few days. Watch this space. Riaan is a pioneering international explorer with multiple world-firsts and has joined the team as the new editor of News24 Outdoors, driven by Ford.