Across everlasting swathes of ice and tundra, the sound of silence weighs heavily upon human ears. For centuries, we have recognised that in the absence of ordinary disquiet, there lies the promise of elevation. That is to say, an ephemeral window to escape earthly reality and experience life in connection to the cosmos. Caught between a veil of mysticism and striking extremity, adventures aboard an expedition yacht wait in anticipation. These voyagers have travelled from far and wide to forge the ancient path of totality. They pursue a rare, celestial phenomenon that will plunge the eternal Antarctic summertime into a realm of ethereal darkness…a total solar eclipse.

A solar eclipse is a magnetizing event that inspires a range of emotional intensities among those who are obfuscated by the moon’s umbral shadow. In ancient China, it was once tradition to bang pots and pans to prevent a dragon from “eating the sun”; while modern history presents a story of erudition. The phenomenon has proven a remarkable prompt for scientists who made discoveries that reshaped our understanding of the universe forever.

That tantalizing prospect of transformation has earned eclipse travel the same incredible traction that it did over a century ago. None more so than today. As a result of the pandemic, the desire for experiences that touch deeper than surface level has grown, along with our shared yearning for lands far removed from the everyday and ordinary.

Fear not. The bespoke travel experts at Black Tomato are prepared to push the boundaries of adventure travel with their latest Antarctic expedition into the realm of obscurity. Fashioned to cater to our desire for transformational experiences that invigorate the mind, soul and senses…

A total solar eclipse with Black Tomato

“Creating enriching travel experiences that have the ability to spark change and inspiration is what drives us…”, says Tom Marchant, the co-founder of Black Tomato alongside James Merrett and Matt Smith. During the early 2000s, the trio of friends adroitly spotted a gap in the lacklustre luxury travel market for intrepid experiences that would transform travellers’ perceptions of the world along the way. Judging by the company’s high volume of repeat bookers each year, it’s a promise that delivers every time.

All trips begin as a proposed concept before adapting to cater to clients’ every need. For example, Blink: the customisable glamping experience that refreshes and fortifies adventurers with a thrilling journey into nature’s uncultivated backyard. The most recent exploit unfolded deep within the rustic serenity of Argentina’s Patagonian borderlands, where travellers were spoiled with an exclusive viewing of a total solar eclipse: stoking fresh appetite for a whole new set of cosmic adventures centred on Eclipse Travel.

An Antarctic expedition like no other

Revolving around a total solar eclipse that reaches zenith over Antarctica on 4th December 2021, the next instalment is emblematic of the message at the heart of Black Tomato’s Journeys to Come: change is nigh. The world is reawakening from dormancy, and daring travellers are once again being called to behold Earth’s remotest regions and the natural wonders displayed within them…

…Or above them. For in Antarctica, where the sun blazes bright for 22 hours a day during the summertime, the scene for a galactic metamorphosis is set. Here, natural geometry contrasts against sparkling ocean spray as the far-reaching glacial tracts are thrown into shimmering illumination. The divide between dark sea waters, dappled with aqua, and crystal white icebergs rising from the deep seems cut with the razor sharpness of a knife. Until the time of transition draws ever closer, and the world begins to blend into one.

As the sun deepens to burnt orange, dipping low across the horizon of the White Continent, a kaleidoscope of colours unites the sea and sky into a painted canvas of ice and fire. Onlookers, having risen from sleep to the smell of freshly brewed coffee, take a position on deck to watch the show unfold. Equipped with specialist viewing glasses, adventurers stand transfixed as the striking colour palette of the frozen panorama is overcast by the shadow of a new phenomenon.

At the stroke of 4.34 am, the moon shifts its course to obscure the waning sun in a spectacular show of cosmic framing. All energy is focused on the solar chromosphere above as an orb of ethereal fire emanates iridescence unlike anything seen before. A unique perspective has taken hold of these adventurers. At the very centre of totality, they have found completion.

It’s over almost as soon as it began. When the sun is restored to its proper place of ascendancy in the cosmos, onlookers return to Earth to gaze upon a landscape transformed by fresh illumination. From this new observation point of clarity, the potential for discovery is maximised, and the ground for adventure is enriched for exploration.

It all begins at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands, where Black Tomato’s vessel (courtesy of a luxury yacht charter) sets sail, reaching the optimum eclipse viewing point out in the centre of the Scotia Sea. Leagues ahead of your standard cruise ship, the extravagant amenities ornamenting this luxury yacht reach only as far as the limits of your imagination.

Do you desire to emerge from a cabin fitted with plush white carpeting and a walk-in sauna, before heading outside to embrace the Antarctic wonderland? Or perhaps decompress in top-class spa facilities for a rejuvenating treatment after an afternoon spent trekking the icecaps. Imagine gliding past the glacial giants of Iceberg Alley, a flute of the finest French champagne in your hand…nothing is out of the question.

This voyage is where fantasy becomes reality, and Black Tomato will accommodate all the decadence that you can dream of. The luxury yacht charter vessel is even replete with adventure-enhancing machinery. Fly helicopters to marvel at panoramic views of the great white desert. Then, from heights rarely scaled on the Antarctic continent, heli-ski down thick, enveloping folds of snow, trailing whirling clouds of powder behind you that no other person has shifted before.

Likewise, to explore uncharted ocean depths, harness the power of state-of-the-art submersibles. By cutting deep beneath midnight blue waves, adventurers witness an abundance of marine life bloom into being. Perhaps they spot a pod of humpback whales returning from tropical waters or the passing shadow of an enigmatic sea monster. The Southern Ocean is famed, after all, as the abode of giant squid and Earth’s most wondrous creature, the blue whale.

As such, the ethos of this expedition echoes Get Lost, an exclusive adventure package catering to trailblazers who seek to experience life in epic proportions with the guidance of leading specialists – hand-picked, of course, by your dedicated team of bespoke Black Tomato travel experts.

The same goes for Antarctica. Bolstered by astronomers, naturalists and adventurers, the Antarctic expedition party ventures on to demystify all species of wildlife – admiring adélie and emperor penguins in thrilling proximity, and paying a once-in-a-lifetime visit to an active scientific research station across the Gerlache Strait.

Hardier members of the group camp out on the ice flats like true, Antarctic explorers, while all aboard the chartered yacht relish basking in the calming waters of “Neptune’s Bellows” – the entrance point to a flooded caldera within Deception Island.

Finally, the party docks at King George Island, where flights back to Punta Arenas are arranged. True to Black Tomato’s bespoke values, travel to and from airports is also customisable, though the whole party expedition is projected to last around 9 days. In fact, only the unshakable certainty of the total solar eclipse is set in stone; but what point would there be in seeking to tamper with perfection?

As part of the select group of onlookers destined to experience cosmic totality in the most opulent setting ever hewn at the edge of Earth’s final frontier, hearts and minds are bound to be captured when the tale of 2021’s closing chapter is retold. In the words of Marchant, “it’s hard to imagine a more fulfilling journey to look forward to in the final month of the year”.