A postmark from Port Lockroy - the most Southerly Post Office in the World!

There's nothing quite like sending a postcard from a far-flung corner of the world to let family, friends and loved-ones know you're thinking of them, even if you're thousands of miles away!   I've been lucky enough to send my folks post from various exotic locations, but my Dad still treasures the one I sent him from Antarctica with that all-important stamp and postmark, thanks to the most southerly Post Office in World - Port Lockroy!  The UK Antarctic Heritage Trust operates this tiny Post Office from Bransfield House on Goudier Island (on behalf of the Government of the British Antarctic Territory which donates a proportion of the Post Office revenue to the Trust).

Port Lockroy is a tiny speck on the map of the Antarctic Peninsula, located amidst a landscape covered in penguins, glaciers, mountains, with ice-berg choked waters - an astounding place!  Amazingly, over 70,000 cards and letters are hand-processed by the staff there each year to over 100 different countries!  Rick, Helen and Rachel (the intrepid trio who manned Port Lockroy for the 07/08 season) are now home and Port Lockroy is closed until November.  You can read about the team's everyday exploits in Antarctica via the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust's website.   Their 'Letters from Lockroy' are a great way of finding out what life is like down on the White Continent, and how the seasons and weather changes, together with the wildlife year-on-year.

Port Lockroy is not only an important natural and historic environment.  The UKAHT consistently monitors (through a long-term environmental study) the impact of visitors to the site.  This allows the Trust to regulate the number of visitors and ships visiting the area, as well as, in accordance with the Antarctic Treaty, imposing strict site guidelines to ensure the environment is properly cared for.

In true polar form, Discover the World also offer tours to the most northerly Post Office in the world, at Ny Alesund, Spitsbergen (the Norwegian High Arctic)!  Both Port Lockroy and Ny Alesund are reached by expedition vessel on one of our polar journeys.