It's not every day you hear of someone going to the South Pole, but Cape Flats scientist Waajidah Abrahams has just returned from her third trip.
And the 24-year-old says she is far from done.
Waajidah is part of a team of scientists who recently returned home after spending three months on the coldest continent on earth.
She was travelling on the SA Agulhas II, South Africa’s primary research vessel for the Southern Ocean.
Waajidah, who takes great pride in being a Muslim coloured female electrical engineer in a male-dominated industry, says the best thing about braving the great unknown is the unexpected beauty of it all.
Antarctica is about 98% ice and the temperature dropped to -70°C while they were there.
To compare, your home freezer is only about -15°C.
“It’s hard to describe; the most beautiful thing is the nothingness, the sun is shining and the snow is glistening and there’s just nothing around you. On the one side is this big ocean and on the other side is this big ice-shelf; it’s breathtaking,” the slimkop vrou tells the Daily Voice.
Waajidah says her icy adventures are worth the time being separated from her hubby, Ismaeel.
Waajidah Abrahams, 24, takes pride in being a Muslim coloured female electrical engineer in a male-dominated line of work.
The couple got married in November last year, and two weeks later Waajidah was on the ship heading to Antarctica for a three-month journey.
“The sun never sets, at 1am the sun would sit just above the horizon,” says Waajidah.
“Antarctica is so beautiful that it makes you feel like there has to be a God. Only He could create something that beautiful,” she adds.
Ismaeel says he misses his wife when she’s away.
“It’s lonely, but I’m spending time with my family. I’m lazy to cook so I go back to my mom’s house to have home-cooked meals,” he laughs.
Waajidah did her internship at the Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) last year, but she impressed her employees so much that they kept her on.
She’s currently finishing her degree in electrical engineering at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology.
MZANSI FO SHO: The South African flag on equipment
The SA Agulhas II, which was built in 2012, has been on about 25 voyages to date.
The engineers and scientists conduct research on the various changes in our environment as well as space particle research.
Dr. Thato Mtshali, who has been on eight voyages since 2009, was the team leader of the Trace X team who collected trace metal elements and oxygen samples from the Arctic sea water to assist in climate change studies.
Mtshali says: “It’s exciting being in the new environment. At the same time it’s difficult being away from family, but if we don’t go out to sea we don’t have samples to analyse.”
Waajidah admits it can get a little boring at sea.
“There’s not much to see, we saw emperor penguins and snow petrels, a couple of seals and whales. That’s why after everyone finished their work, we would play this game similar to 30 seconds every night. Or some people made snow angels. That was the highlight of the trip,” she jokes.