What does Antarctica look like beyond the familiar cruise routes? Sam Bradley of Cookson Adventures joins Daniel to reveal a different side of the White Continent, reached by air from Cape Town and experienced from a remote camp deep within the Antarctic interior.

Sam shares what happened when he travelled south to research an extraordinary family adventure. He takes us inside vivid blue ice caves near the Schirmacher Oasis, describes the careful journey to an emperor penguin colony and explains why every Antarctic plan must remain flexible enough to follow the weather.

The conversation also explores what luxury really means at the end of the Earth. In a place where everything must be flown in and every trace of human activity must be removed, comfort takes on a different meaning. Warm cabins, excellent food and a sauna matter, but the greater luxury is a journey designed around the people taking it.

Sam explains how Cookson Adventures creates bespoke trips for families, from treasure hunts and private camps to meaningful conservation experiences. He also shares an important lesson from his Antarctic hosts: sometimes the best thing to do is stop, sit by the window and take in where you are.

In this episode:

• Flying from Cape Town into the Antarctic interior
• Staying at Ultima Oasis Camp
• Exploring Antarctica’s blue ice caves
• Visiting an emperor penguin colony responsibly
• The realities of operating in an extreme environment
• Designing bespoke adventures for families
• How luxury travel can support conservation
• Why time and personalisation are the rarest luxuries

Useful links

• Cookson Adventures
• Cookson Adventures on Instagram
• Cookson Adventures on LinkedIn
• Destination Unlocked

This is destination unlocked with me, Daniel Edward.

2

Hello, welcome back to Destination

Unlocked, the conversational travel

3

podcast where we travel around the

world, one destination at a time in the

4

company of locals or travel experts.

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And today we are going to the least

discovered continent on earth.

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One of the most incredible places, but a

place which the fewest number of people

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get the opportunity to actually visit.

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It's pretty obvious which one that is.

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I think it's Antarctica.

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Yes, we're going to Antarctica and

we are not just going on a sale by,

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which is what I've personally done

sailing in the peninsula from, but

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we're going onto the continent and

we're gonna spend a few days there.

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And we're doing that in the company of

Sam Bradley from Cooks and Adventures,

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who arranged these most incredible

, bespoke trips for top tier clients.

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It's amazing what they get up to.

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And not only will you hear about

Antarctica in this conversation, but

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Sam will also tell us a little bit about

some of the other very exciting trips

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that he's been a part of arranging,

It's such a good conversation.

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Enjoy.

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Sam, welcome to Destination Unlocked.

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Where are you unlocking for us today?

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Sam Bradley: Uh, thanks

for having me, Dan.

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Honoured to be chatting to you.

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We are gonna talk about Antarctica,

a place that is very close to my

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company's heart, and my heart as well.

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I, I travelled there recently, so

we're gonna talk about all things cold.

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Daniel Edward: Yes, all things cold

and I tell you, I'm not a cold person.

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I do as much as I possibly can to

avoid the cold, but there is one

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place on earth where that cold really

doesn't matter, and that is Antarctica.

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It's an incredible place.

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Sam Bradley: It really is.

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And, and I mean, we straightaway

think of cold places.

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Actually when you go there in December,

Jan Feb, which is the season to

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go, the middle of summer, the days

are beautifully warm and, sunny.

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And it's actually got

incredibly good weather.

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It just gets very cold at night.

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Daniel Edward: You are very lucky

in that, the company that you work

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for, Cookson Adventures gets you

out into these amazing places.

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I wanna hear about your

specific trip to Antarctica.

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When did you go.

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Sam Bradley: I went last November.

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and the world of travel, looking

at it from the outside, it always

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looks incredibly glamorous and it

is, there's a lot to love about it.

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You get all these different sort

of trips that you kind of learn

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about when you get in the industry.

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So you get fam trips, which is

a familiarisation, going see

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places . You get recce trips, which

is where you rec something for a

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client and you go and, and, and check

it all out a reconnaissance trip.

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you get press trips, you

get hosting client trips.

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it's just an entire bag of fun

trips that you kind of discover

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when you get into the industry.

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So I went out on a recce trip for clients.

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We've got some clients that are very

interested in going to Antarctica.

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so I went to go visit

one of the camps there.

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at one of the research bases, so it's

connected to the Russian the, and the

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Chinese research bases close there.

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I went to a company called Ultima

Antarctica to go check out these

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bases, check out the camp and see

that it's suitable for our, clients.

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it was Just an amazing, jam

packed, busy trope . Amazing.

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I mean, Antarctica, it's the most

stunning landscape and experience,

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and it's just so much to remember.

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Daniel Edward: it's fascinating the,

concept of the recce trip because

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for me, obviously coming from the

journalism writing side, it's so

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similar to that press trip thing,

but with a very specific purpose.

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My purpose will be what's the story?

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How do I write it, how do I share it?

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yours is exactly the same, but for

one very specific person or family.

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Or audience.

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But these trips are so full on, I

assume that they planned out your

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schedule so that you would achieve

everything , so what did they put in it?

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Sam Bradley: So this one was for a family.

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So with a very strong family focus.

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And I've travelled and hosted

this family before, so I know

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what they like and don't like and

what they'd be most interested in.

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And we like to plan little surprise

and delight things for them as well.

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So we do little treasure hunts for

the kids all the different things, we

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can sort of build a theme around it.

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So I'm there with an eye on

how is this trip going to work?

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How many days should we do

when we're doing a hike?

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How well will the kids cope with this?

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you, You sort of thinking about that

the whole time on how do we make

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this experience specifically for this

particular family or group of clients.

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So you do everything that

the clients are going to do.

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That's the most amazing thing.

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So I was there for, three nights,

so probably slightly shorter.

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Most trips are five nights.

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But luckily it's light for 22 hours a day.

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So you can ram in quite a lot.

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We took a little Cessna and flew out

to where the penguin colonies are and

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that's the most unbelievable experience.

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You have your shoes very

properly washed before you go

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with the sort of chemical stuff.

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So there's absolutely no dirt and no

trace left near the penguins 'cause

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you don't want to get them sick or

contaminated or anything like that.

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And then once you land that

Cessna, only your shoes are

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allowed to touch the ground.

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So you've got the surreal experience

of walking around and every time you

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wanna get something out your backpack,

your mate has to help you and you

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get things that nothing can touch

the snow, you leave it in a pristine

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condition, which is just as it should be.

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And you walk around and these

penguins are incredibly curious,

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so they keep on coming towards you.

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And the rule is, I think it's 15 metres,

you can't go closer than 15 metres.

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So you sort of dodging the

penguins the whole time.

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They're trying to stay outta their way

and they keep coming closer and it's

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just the most adorable experience.

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You got the, the, the parents

that are sliding and around,

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they're incredibly efficient.

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They just sort of fall down onto their

stomachs and then slide at great pace.

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And then when they want to get up, they

sort of push their beak to the snow and

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sort of lever themself back up again.

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It's incredible to watch,

, photographers paradise.

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There's two big colonies close

to the camp that we were at.

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We went to the slightly smaller one, which

is actually better for photographs and.

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Is the most unbelievable day.

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It was sunny, not a cloud in

the sky, not a breath of wind.

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These penguins just surrounding us.

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And then right by the ocean edge as well.

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So we could stand right by the

ocean and look down at these giant

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blocks of ice, down into the water.

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There was a leopard seal kind of

sunning itself right on the side there.

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And the penguins all keeping a wary eye.

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And I mean, it's just,

it felt unbelievable.

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We, spent probably five or six hours

just walking around through these,

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sort of ice mountains, ice cliffs next

to us and, and all of the penguins.

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so that's one that you go, yeah, the

family are gonna absolutely love this.

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I took a little video to send to them

to show what it's going to be like.

128

There's the ice caves as well, which is

this, again, other worldly experience.

129

We went over to the Indian research

base and you park over there and

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then you walk an hour along and you

get to these, sort of ice corridors.

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You walk in along and the ice is towering

up on either side of you and you carry on

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walking and you sort of, carving your way

through or winding your way down these

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passages of ice that the wind has frozen

into these giant kind of sculptures.

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And then you get to this area where the

ice, literally it is a corridor passage

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through, and you kind of tunnel your way

through on your hands and your knees.

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The ice is 20 metres above you,

this blue world that you're in..

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And it's probably about a hundred

metres that you crawl through

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on your hands and your knees.

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And you hear the ice cracked in.

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I mean, it's perfectly safe, but

you still feel like, wow, this

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is the most insane experience.

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, And you carry on all the way through

and you get to the other side and you

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come off back into daylight again.

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And we were like, oh,

we wanna do it again.

145

We wanna do it again.

146

So we ended up going through

the corridor two or three times.

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. It's so hard to describe how

amazing, it's, how memorable you

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try and take photos, but it's

really hard to do it justice.

149

It's a beautiful place.

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Daniel Edward: It's sort of surreal,

I think this is one of the things

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which makes it so magical as you say,

you can take photos, you can take

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photos of anything, and sometimes

you go travelling around the

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world and a photo does it justice.

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There are other places

where you feel the place.

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Sam Bradley: Sure.

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Daniel Edward: I've only been to

Antarctica based on a sail through,

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so just on the northern most part of

the peninsula that sort of reaches up

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towards South America and there are

various gateways that you can take to

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get through to Antarctica if you are

going to actually stay in Antarctica.

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Where did you head out from?

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Sam Bradley: there's quite a

few different ways to do it.

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And like you say, most people will

do it by cruise along the peninsula.

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And you'll probably start at Ushuaia,

or somewhere on the bottom of

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South America, across the southern

Ocean and do that peninsula.

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I think it's about 80% of of choice

that that's how they see Antarctica.

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The camps is a different experience.

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You've got a few different operators.

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There's White Desert, there's Ultima,

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you fully inland, you probably feel a

bit more immersed in the environment.

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And then you also have, a few

people that'll want to go all the

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way, , to the South Pole, which

involves a fair bit more flying.

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Antarctica is a lot bigger than it looks

on a map, a lot of distance to cover.

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And you get done there and you

have the typical photo with all

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the flags and you experience that.

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So there's quite a few

different ways to do Antarctica.

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The company I work for,

Cookson adventures, in a way

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started in Antarctica as well.

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Henry, who founded the company, he went

to the pole of inaccessibility, which when

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you look at the, landmass of Antarctica,

it's the furthest away from the ocean,

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the kind of hardest to reach part of

Antarctica is the pole of inaccessibility.

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And he went there, there were rumours of

a Russian base that had been built there.

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And, and no one really knew.

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, So they went across there and they

actually set a Guinness World record

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in the process by being , the first

to get there under their own steam.

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They sort of kite skied their way there.

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It's an incredible distance

over a thousand miles.

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And they got there and they found this

whole bust statue of Lenin buried under

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the snow and discovered all of that.

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a record in the process.

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And that was the founding or

the inspiration, from there,

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Cookson adventures grew.

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So it's appropriate that we are

talking about Antarctica today.

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Daniel Edward: would you say to somebody

who has had that taster of Antarctica,

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like me, through a cruise, larger cruises?

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The rules are, you can't get off.

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Then if you're gonna do a small expedition

ship, you might do a couple of walks.

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They're gonna remain fairly close

to the coastline because you've

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arrived by small ship and you've

gotta get back to that small ship.

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What you've done is totally different.

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And Antarctica, you said is huge.

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It's a massive continent, and you've been

able to get much more into the heart of

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it by arriving by plane and not by ship.

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is that well worth doing then?

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If you've done the taster like I

have, get back and do it by land.

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Sam Bradley: Yeah, I think so.

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I think it's an amazing experience.

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Antarctica is pristine.

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It's probably The last pure

clean environment we've got

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and we have to look after it.

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You go through the most crazy steps.

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So every time you go on a little

hike, you literally have two water

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bottles, one for your drinking water.

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One water comes out the other end.

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Don't mix the two bottles

up, whatever you do.

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But literally nothing stays behind.

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everything goes, back to Cape Town.

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You start your trip in Cape Town and

it's a five hour flight down to this

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research base where you land on this

massive ice runway and then everyone

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goes off to their different bases.

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And, everything, everything leaves again.

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So it's really a massive focus

on looking after it, but you

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do get fully immersed in it.

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The camps there do a fantastic job.

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There's a lot of important research

being done through those bases

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Daniel Edward: much interaction do

you get with the scientists if you're

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staying in their camp do you see them?

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Do you chat with them?

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Sam Bradley: You do a bit, it's

up to you how much you want

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to, it's a very luxurious trip.

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They look after you incredibly well.

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But the flight down from Cape

Town, you get on this big old

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Russian plane and you fly down.

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And I remember getting on and

just thinking, wow, this is not

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your standard airline flight.

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You get on and it's just all the

luggage loose in the backyard

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and just seats kind of wherever.

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We had probably about 70, 80 people

on the flight, all scientists, and

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all packed for pretty extreme weather.

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So the flight takes off and there's snacks

at the front, come help yourself, but

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there's definitely no TV or anything.

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You have to bring these big earphones

'cause there's no soundproofing.

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And then after about three hours, the

one sort of flight conductor, I guess you

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call him that this big tough Russian guy

stands up and he just shouts at everyone.

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He's like, okay, we are

landing in one hour.

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It is minus 16 degrees when we land.

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And you've all got your big polar

clothes and everyone's getting

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dressed on the plane and you're

putting on these full on outfits.

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'cause when you land

it's absolutely freezing.

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And then you land in this other

worldly, this massive big ice runway

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and you get off the plane, and then

everyone separates a little bit.

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You go off to your separate areas.

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The Ultima Antarctica that the camp

there is shared with the Russian

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research base and that works incredibly

well from an efficiency point of view.

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They share energy and look

after each other and things.

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And in the welcome, you get told, look,

the Russians are very, very friendly here.

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You welcome to go say hi.

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They do eat a lot of our cookies,

so please don't take cookies

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when you go say hi to them, but

you, you're more than welcome.

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Um, and you gotta see, see

each other travelling around.

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And yeah, then we went over to the Indian

research base as well and said hi there

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when we went to walk out to the ice caves.

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And it's very friendly.

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I mean an environment that harsh,

everyone needs to look after each other.

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So everyone is friends and

everyone's open for a chat.

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Daniel Edward: that's

what makes it so special.

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In the same way that the International

Space Station, you see people working

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together that on land in regular

parts of the world, you'd say, yeah,

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that, that just wouldn't be seen.

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You go to these extremes and suddenly

humanity means humanity again.

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Sam Bradley: For sure, for sure.

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Yeah.

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It's, it's, it's great to see.

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Daniel Edward: It's not a cheap trip,

it's a luxury experience, but I'm not

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sensing, certainly from the plane,

which sounds military, I'm not sensing

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that luxury means the same thing in

Antarctica as it might in London or

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some of these big cities where luxury

really means there's nothing not there.

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What is it actually like,

what's the food like?

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What are the toilets like?

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Sam Bradley: that's such a good question.

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Luxury literally means so many

things to different people.

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And when people categorise Cookson

adventures as a luxury company, we get

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quite annoyed because we, you don't

wanna straight away think, oh, that just

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means fancy hotels and, you get pampered

because for us, luxury is way more how

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do you create authentic experiences and

how do you build a trip bespoke for this

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client for something they're gonna love?

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That's the luxury that we aiming for.

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You are looked after,

incredibly well at this camp.

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The food is incredibly good.

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These chefs work miracles to

cook this delicious food in

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the most extreme climates.

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And, you know, everything

travels in from pretty far.

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You're having a fine wine and

you know how much work got into

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getting that wine down there.

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You've got , three different sleeping

cabins each with different rooms.

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There's shared bathrooms.

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And again, one of the weird, I know

you probably don't wanna talk about

297

this on your podcast, but one of

the one of the weird things about

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Antarctica is everything travels back.

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See, you have one bathroom for number

ones and then another one for number

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twos, which you sort of get your head

around that slightly strange dynamic.

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Another cabin is a dining room where

you go for all your meals in the

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kitchen, and the team there is made up.

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You've got your chefs, and then you've

got your camp manager and then the

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guides that do all the different

things with you during the day.

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So they'll come and chat to you, and

tomorrow you're going on a walk or a

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hike, and the next day you're doing

the penguins , and you plan that all

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out and they do everything with you.

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And they're up for adventure as well.

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There's some fat bikes there if you

want to go for a little, cycle around

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on the ice, which we definitely did.

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That was amazing.

312

I asked one of the guys if we

could do a bit of ice climbing.

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I'd always wanted to do that,

you know, with the pickaxes

314

and look pretty hardcore.

315

And they're like, yeah, definitely.

316

Come, let's go.

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Let's go find a nice little, I

don't know, three-metre cliff.

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It wasn't much more than that.

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We kept it safe, but it was a lot of fun.

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Pickax in my way up, this little climb.

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They're up for doing adventures.

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They keep you safe and

it, is very comfortable.

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It's probably not what you would

imagine a five star hotel in Europe

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because the environment is so extreme.

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But it's still got a beautiful,

kind of sauna spa area with a cold

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plunge, which basically just means

going outside, , but then straight

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into the sauna again afterwards.

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I think anything in that environment

just feels luxurious because

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it's so extreme and so far away.

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Daniel Edward: I have memories of the

cold plunge that we did when we were

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in Iceland and that felt pretty cold.

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So this,

333

oh my

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gosh, it's taking it to the extreme

335

Sam Bradley: I do have one memory.

336

I mean, I'm saying Antarctica

is so warm and so sad.

337

I do remember coming back from a hike one

day , and we wanted to go and see, I think

338

, the moon was out and it was sort of dusk.

339

I mean, it only gets dark at midnight,

but it was sort of that 6:00 PM dinnertime

340

and we wanted to go and look at the

view and see the moon over this hill.

341

And I just remember walking up

and it was so physically cold.

342

And even through the gloves, my hands were

so cold I couldn't even operate a camera.

343

Just remember going, I, I'm too cold.

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Once the wind picks up and you're not

in the peak of sun as soon as you out

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sun, it was just absolutely freezing.

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So, yeah, it is still

an extreme environment.

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E Everything's trying to kill you there.

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So it is probably good that you go

four or five nights and get back

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Daniel Edward: To

350

Sam Bradley: out again.

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Daniel Edward: It's funny because

even going by ship, and I was there

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in the peninsula for four days

and we had a mixture of weather.

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We had glorious weather, blue skies you

could see for miles and on that day,

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seriously, people were out in t-shirts.

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But as soon as the cloud cover came

over, that change and going in a T-shirt

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would've been an absurd suggestion.

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Sam Bradley: And you also would've

had the Southern Ocean crossing.

358

from Ushuaia, which is the most

hectic stretches, the ocean

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whole

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Daniel Edward: it

361

Sam Bradley: the world.

362

Daniel Edward: Actually I was very lucky

they say you either get the Drake Lake

363

or the Drake Shake and I don't know

if it's quite as extreme as just those

364

two options, but we certainly didn't

get it as bad as it could have been.

365

We were quite lucky.

366

The captain, obviously they're

gonna watch for the weather.

367

They're working out Wednesday time and

so our captain said we are not gonna go

368

round Cape Horn, which was the original

plan because if we take that detour

369

from Ushuaia around to Cape Horn, then

the seas aren't gonna be on our side.

370

We are timing a gap between two weather

fronts and we're just gonna go for it.

371

And I was very grateful for that

decision because we moved a bit, but not

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Sam Bradley: as

373

Daniel Edward: In terms of things

to wear and specialist clothing and

374

equipment, how much did you need

to prepare for yourself before you

375

went and how much is sorted for you?

376

Sam Bradley: Ultima were fantastic.

377

So they take your clothes sizes and

they provided everything, so you open

378

up your surprise bag and it's got

really good quality clothes that you

379

need for those very cold extremes.

380

I think I've brought one or two personal

things like maybe some gloves and you

381

need your sort of inside clothes obviously

for when you in the nice warm camps.

382

But otherwise they look after you,

everything you need for the hikes.

383

They provide and they also give you these

spikes that you put underneath your shoes.

384

So when you walk in, 'cause you

walk over these frozen lakes

385

and it's absolutely stunning.

386

I mean, I'm from South Africa,

so don't see much ice in my life

387

and I'm very experienced with it.

388

But you walk over these lakes and I always

assume there would be dead flat, you know,

389

the sort of thing you can ice skate on.

390

But actually there you've

got all different types.

391

You've got lakes that obviously

frozen with a bit of a wind blowing.

392

So these got these weird little bumps

the whole way along and there's all these

393

bubbles frozen in the water as well.

394

It's really beautiful looking down

at what's frozen and you see all

395

these bubbles frozen in there and

you walk in with these spikes, which

396

you really need 'cause it would

be incredibly slippery otherwise.

397

They've got all the equipment you need.

398

We didn't need much of our own.

399

Daniel Edward: the way you describe

it, I can see why you said earlier, it

400

is a photographer's dream, isn't it?

401

Sam Bradley: It, it is.

402

And a lot of trips there are photography

specific, so you can join one with a set

403

photographer and you'll spend x amount of

time and also trips to different places.

404

So some will focus on the penguins,

some will focus on the, mountain range

405

over there and, and photo of that.

406

And you'll do a flight

round and take photos.

407

I think if a true photographer

that has to be on the

408

Daniel Edward: of the One things I

really love about Cookson adventures,

409

talking about photography and indeed

videography, is if people request it,

410

you can actually send a photographer or

a videographer as part of the package.

411

Sam Bradley: Yes.

412

And again, I think that it probably talks

about luxury being different things to

413

different people, and having everything

documented and photographed, especially if

414

it's a family trip or trip with friends.

415

And you want those memories, but

you don't wanna worry about it.

416

It's quite nice to leave your phone.

417

Have a digital detox as well, so you don't

have to worry about taking photographs.

418

And we've got an amazing

team of photographers.

419

They have to be pretty skilled because

they're working either in the freezing

420

cold or in the sand or underwater or

in some pretty extreme environments.

421

And they do a fantastic

job of capturing things.

422

So often our clients will come back

and they'll have an amazing coffee

423

table photo book of all the memories.

424

And we've done some interesting ones.

425

We did a, lad trip where, this client

of ours, a very interesting guy.

426

He basically said, look,

you've got me for eight days.

427

He has our group of 10.

428

I want you to try and absolutely

break me on this trip.

429

Do as much as you can.

430

And I wanted all really well

photographed, I want a full

431

on documentary of this event.

432

So I think we had a team of

three photographers on that

433

trip capturing everything.

434

And we took his command pretty seriously.

435

So the trip started with skydiving.

436

So they arrived skydived

into the starting base.

437

Some guys could skydive on their own,

others went with a pro on a tandem jump.

438

And then every day was

just more extreme things.

439

So they'd run a half marathon

before breakfast, then jump on

440

jet skis, then cruise around

441

. It was up in the north of

Norway, up at the Lofoten

442

Islands in the middle of summers.

443

You had these long days and they did a

hike up one mountain and then did this

444

alpine mountain biking through the snow.

445

They had one night, which

was probably the highlights.

446

It's this, this massive cliff,

cliff edges looking out over

447

the islands and over the water.

448

And we'd rigged up all these

portaledges, you know, that

449

kind of very serious hikers.

450

You sleep on the cliff.

451

So you had these portaledges that they

all got strapped into so you don't roll

452

over in your sleep and roll off the cliff.

453

And everyone spent the

night up on these mountains.

454

That was probably one of the

tougher ones we had to document.

455

' cause this Team of three, you know,

you had one operating the drone, one

456

travelling ahead to the next location

to see the arrival one doing this.

457

And they got an amazing

documentary at the end of it.

458

They're all very good friends.

459

There was a lot of banter and

a lot of tea in each other.

460

And we tried to capture

that essence as well.

461

So you sit down and watch this

hour long documentary over

462

their trip , you can see all the

elements of the friendship as well.

463

And that was a lot of fun.

464

I wasn't on that trip myself, but

our whole planet and the, yeah,

465

the, the team absolutely loved it.

466

And the

467

Daniel Edward: sounds incredible.

468

And it does, it puts a different

spin on luxury that there's no

469

doubt that service of that level

of it's personalization, isn't it?

470

That's where it, really hits the spot,

nobody else could have that experience.

471

Sam Bradley: It's a very inefficient

way to run travel company to literally

472

start from the beginning every time.

473

But there's nothing more exciting.

474

I mean, our, our team absolutely love,

eat and breathe, travel and love it.

475

And there's nothing more exciting than

coming into work and there's a new inquiry

476

and someone's got, you know, whatever the

brief is, and you go, okay guys, whoever

477

wants to join, jump in the boardroom.

478

We've got a, a massive map that covers

the whole wall and you sit in front

479

of that and we sort of plan it out.

480

So I remember one, one morning

coming in and the brief was

481

someone wants to go snorkelling.

482

They don't like scuba diving, they

don't like going under the water.

483

They just want to snorkel.

484

They don't mind what time of year, and

they don't mind where in the world, but

485

they want the best snorkelling possible.

486

And you all sit down and kind of look

at the map and you've got an incredible

487

team from very varied backgrounds

and very creative people as well.

488

And you start thinking of different

ideas and different parts of the

489

world and how do we make this amazing?

490

What sort of boat should we use?

491

Should we theme it around,

you know, pearl hunters?

492

Why don't we do something around

here and why don't we go here?

493

and just sort of building out

different ideas and then the back

494

and forth with the clients as well.

495

we're very lucky.

496

you're dealing with incredibly

busy successful people.

497

They're probably delegate a lot of

different things to their, team of PAs.

498

But the one thing that, that they will

get on the line to you with you is,

499

when they want to plan their holidays.

500

So you, you often get access that

other people won't, and you can

501

bounce these ideas off them and

build a trip that they really want.

502

so there's that process

the whole way through.

503

Our project manager, our person planning

the trope, we'll probably wreck it

504

and then come back with more ideas

and having spoken to more interesting

505

people and then bounce more things off

the client and you kind of build a trip

506

. We host most of our trips as well,

which is a great way to spend time

507

with the client and see their reaction

firsthand and make sure that trip is as

508

special as they want you kind of with

them the whole time building it out.

509

It's probably not as glamorous

as it looks from the outside.

510

There's a lot of, stressful days or

days where you, I don't know, sorting

511

out people's flights or visas or

fighting on the phone with some embassy

512

for a day to work something out.

513

But then when it all comes together,

514

Daniel Edward: I can imagine yes.

515

From the team side, there is a bit of

pressure there because these are big

516

trips with clients who know what they

want they also know the standard that they

517

expect and they don't care if something

is going wrong, that's not their problem.

518

That's why it's such a clever idea to

send somebody with the trip, make sure

519

something's going wrong, things inevitably

go wrong on things, especially when

520

you're going out to extreme places.

521

But they don't need to know that that's

something that you are gonna deal with.

522

Sam Bradley: It's that swan

analogy of everything's fine on

523

the surface and underneath you sort

kicking along as far as you can.

524

, our guys love hosting the tr,

they're incredibly good fun.

525

It's long hours, long days, and you

spend most of your time on WhatsApp.

526

You're busy coordinating.

527

You fit into different roles depending

on the group and depending on the family.

528

Some of them want you around the whole

time and you're playing with the kids

529

and you're having dinner with the parents

and you're doing things like that.

530

Other times you more in the background.

531

Maybe you're travelling one day ahead and

you're setting up a special lunch in an

532

amazing location for them, and then they

arrive and you're already moving onto the

533

next spot and you don't see them as much.

534

No one's paying to come on

holiday with me, Sam Bradley.

535

People are coming for their

holiday and I'm in the

536

background making it as possible.

537

Daniel Edward: You're the

Equivalent of an event manager

538

in that you know, running event.

539

They are not at the event,

but they're at the event.

540

Sam Bradley: And you see that

in the, hiring patterns as well.

541

Our team of project managers, the

guys that love, eat, and breathe a

542

specific project, which can I say, if

you are in your young twenties, I don't

543

think you get a better job than that.

544

Coming in and planning, you know, four

or five amazing trips over a year.

545

And they will live it

the whole way through.

546

Daniel Edward: Well, yeah, if you're

in your twenties, what an experience.

547

Do more people come to you with an idea

I wanna go snorkelling, don't know where,

548

don't really care you, you find me the

best place and I'm looking forward to it.

549

Or do people come to you more often

with a more specific, tighter brief

550

that then is just more challenging

and therefore they're setting you on

551

this Obstacle course of achieving it.

552

Sam Bradley: literally such a wide

range and we embrace all of them.

553

So some people will come and

say, I wanna do something

554

that's never been done before.

555

Find me a mountain in Alaska that's

never been climbed and make it happen.

556

, And we thrive on the hard to organise

how you're gonna get permits, how are

557

you gonna deal with the cold, all of

this, how are we gonna put this together?

558

Other people a very vague plan.

559

Hey, I I've heard South

America's good in July.

560

Make make it happen.

561

Okay, well let's work

through some ideas here.

562

Some people are very specific, a lot

of them are focused around events.

563

So, hey, I've got a 60th coming up and

I'd really like to celebrate something.

564

And then we've built up quite a

reputation as well as a company

565

that has a love for conservation.

566

We've done a lot of conservation projects

and we've built up contacts, particularly

567

in Africa, but all over, and people

say, Hey, I really want my kids to

568

experience this or be part of something.

569

What can you put together?

570

And then we deal with different partners.

571

So we've done some amazing things with

rhinos in various parts of Africa.

572

We've done some things with elephants,

and having clients involved in that is,

573

Daniel Edward: You've mentioned families

quite a few times actually, and this

574

may surprise people, that these sorts of

adventures and this level of personalised

575

curation of a holiday actually is

ideal for families, especially when

576

one or both of the parents are hugely

successful, therefore generally quite

577

distracted through much of the year.

578

This is the moment.

579

Sam Bradley: That's probably

one way the company has changed.

580

I mean, we've kept the same DNA, but in

terms of the maturity of the company,

581

you started off with Henry as this

wild diving with sharks jumping off

582

mountains, bear of a man, and I think a

few people were scared away by the image.

583

You know, we have adventures in

our name as well, uh, and sort of

584

scared off from that a little bit.

585

And actually we've maybe softened

a little bit around the ages.

586

So we do a lot of multi-generational

travel, so the grandparents are along

587

for the ride and the whole family

together, and maybe they're doing

588

slightly different things during the day.

589

The grandparents are doing a

walk with the kids while the mom

590

and dad are off doing something

else, but that's slightly softer.

591

Everyone can enjoy something from it is a

big focus and it's been very successful.

592

It's great seeing families

be able to connect like that.

593

I've loved it.

594

Some of the trips I've hosted that

have been for families and organising

595

these treasure hunts for the kids,

we've done immersive experiences that

596

carry on through the whole trips.

597

On the first day they'll solve this

clue the, and the story sort of unfolds.

598

And when you've got time to really

plan it out, you can make it amazing.

599

You know, kids, we need to

go and find this person.

600

Well here, has a, a speedboat happens

to be sitting in the bay with a driver.

601

Let's ask him if you can drive

us across here and, and oh

602

yeah, happens to be a drone.

603

Let's fly it up and see what's over

this mountain and sneak around here and

604

go and discover this treasure from the

goblins or, or whatever the case is.

605

You can, you can really go to town

on these amazing treasure hunts and

606

the experiences for the family . You

do cooking classes and nature walks

607

treasure hunts are my personal favourite.

608

I love building those out.

609

, But seeing the whole family together,

610

it it works very well.

611

Daniel Edward: I mean that must just

be an absolute dream for a parent

612

to see their kids so wrapped up

in this totally immersive world.

613

Children just so wholeheartedly fall

into these scenes and they're there, in

614

that moment, that is their entire world.

615

Sam Bradley: For sure.

616

If you are a successful business

person, you might be cash rich,

617

but you're probably time poor.

618

So that's the one thing we can

solve is how do we make this

619

trip the absolute best for you?

620

How do we make it as efficient as possible

so you're not wasting time in airports

621

and you get you to these amazing spots?

622

And then make the time really count.

623

Daniel Edward: Did you do a

Treasure hunt in Antarctica.

624

Sam Bradley: I haven't yet.

625

This, this recce trip was potentially

planning, how would we run up there?

626

So in the back of my mind I was

thinking, what are the various

627

elements we're gonna use?

628

How do we get the penguins

involved in this as well?

629

What can we hide out there?

630

So no planning that one at the moment.

631

We have done some treasure hunts.

632

I've did a, a really nice one in Utah

where it was a sort of cowboy themed,

633

and it was a road trip through these

stunning landscapes of Utah and Arizona.

634

And the kids tracked this cowboy over the

landscape over the 10 days of the trip.

635

And then I did a, a really nice

one in Kenya as well, involving

636

all the different wild animals.

637

If you've got enough time to plan it, you

can do things like, lock boxes, you know,

638

those sort of really hard to open boxes.

639

And using invisible ink to write

clues on things and getting all

640

the different staff involved.

641

So you need to go and speak to the

chef, and the chef will give you a

642

clue in your meal as to where you

need to look for the next thing.

643

And just trying to be

as creative as possible.

644

I mean, I'm the finance guy in our

company, I'm probably the least,

645

creative, but the least imaginative.

646

We've got , some very talented

people on our team who come up

647

with these really cool clues.

648

And occasionally we even partner

with, experienced companies or

649

immersive companies to build

out these really big experiences

650

Daniel Edward: know it It's like an open

air wide game version of an escape room.

651

Sam Bradley: Yes.

652

that's very well summarised.

653

That's exactly what it is.

654

And it's Become even more extreme than

that . We had one quite recently where

655

a guy said, it's my bachelor's coming up.

656

I would like a, a very classy

affair, you know, everyone in bow

657

ties, maybe in a castle somewhere.

658

but then at midnight, I want a

hundred people to descend on it, and

659

I want everyone to be given paintball

guns, and I wanna just blow things

660

up in a massive paintball battle.

661

We wanna go , from absolute extremes.

662

And that's the sort of thing

that our team absolutely loves.

663

You know, everyone joined

the brainstorm for that.

664

So you start thinking, well, could

we take over, Buckingham Palace?

665

Probably not, but what could we

take over for this sort of scenario?

666

Did you know that you can do a paintball

battle using helicopters and quad bikes?

667

it's rather chaotic, but it, we,

we've discovered it can be done.

668

Daniel Edward: Oh It it, do you know what?

669

It's a miracle.

670

People things

671

Sam Bradley: our health and safety

team work very hard to clear

672

all of these wonderful ideas

673

Daniel Edward: Yeah, You must have

a whole library of risk assessments.

674

Sam Bradley: I, I'm involved in the sort

of back office team, the operations and

675

the finance and things behind the scenes.

676

And I mean, on the one hand you're

lucky in that you're dealing with

677

the top professionals in the world.

678

So there's one concept we're working

on at the moment where it's up in

679

the canopies of the forest of Borneo.

680

So your entire trip would be lived

at a hundred feet up in the air.

681

So 13 metres up you spend say a

four day trip, and you don't touch

682

the ground during that entire time.

683

So your entire camp is

built 13 metres up in air.

684

Your kitchen, your bathroom,

restaurant, tents to sleep in

685

and you build it all up there.

686

And on the one hand you

go that, that's crazy.

687

Why would anyone do that?

688

But you are dealing with the

world's best rope experts.

689

In fact, even guests when they come

off this trip will be rope qualified,

690

by doing all of the training and

everything that you do through it,

691

and you can build a little zip line

and fly around amongst the tree tops.

692

There's some nights I wake up wondering

about these grey hairs and the, and the

693

stress the job brings, but then you see

the images and the photographs coming

694

out of it, and you experience the trip

and it, it makes it makes it worthwhile.

695

Daniel Edward: Do you

696

tend to see the same people come

through again and again and , each year

697

, they've come up with a new bamboozling

commission that you think, oh my gosh,

698

I thought last year couldn't be beat.

699

Sam Bradley: yeah, there's quite a

lot of that look for some people it's

700

a once in a lifetime trip and they've

saved up and this is their big 50th

701

birthday and, they probably won't

do another trip maybe for another

702

five years or, or maybe never again.

703

But because we host trips and because

the planning of it all is so back

704

and forth and so interactive, these

people become your best friends.

705

It's weird having, such a successful

person as your buddy on WhatsApp, you

706

sending each other gifts and things.

707

But, you do become incredibly close.

708

I mean, hosting, trips as well.

709

You've babysat the kids,

you've travelled with them.

710

You've, played together, you've had a

drink together at the end of a long day.

711

our repeat rates are incredibly strong

and our referral as well, because

712

often you have one person come on the

trip and they've invited their 10 best

713

friends and then in a year's time, hey,

this person needs something organised.

714

they reach out to you.

715

So there's a lot of repeat, which is

great for building the friendships.

716

We work really hard on keeping in touch

with our clients, thoughtful gifts.

717

We do photo books , and amazing

images sort of blow up images of the

718

different trips and keep in touch

with the clients, be their, advisor.

719

And often it's not a be in touch to sell.

720

It's be in touch to help with planning.

721

You know, they've got another

concept, will it work?

722

We'd love nothing more than to

come around for a coffee , and chat

723

through, well, let's talk work.

724

How could it work?

725

, And yeah, keep

726

Daniel Edward: And, that is the heart

of true hospitality yeah, most people

727

aren't going to get to experience

that, and most people in hospitality

728

aren't going to get to deliver that.

729

But once you get to that sort of

pinnacle experience, and it comes back

730

again to that personalization, the

truest luxury Something which has been

731

designed so, so specifically for you

732

Sam Bradley: And seeing, people

blown away and seeing people say,

733

Hey, that really was the best trip

of my life, or My expectations were

734

pretty high, but that really worked.

735

That is the ultimate.

736

That's why are we doing it?

737

Daniel Edward: Who would you

recommend Antarctica for?

738

Sam Bradley: I think most people

probably look at it as, too extreme or

739

too far away, or even too expensive.

740

And, don't consider it as an option.

741

It can be so much more accessible,

particularly , for families.

742

You might think, Hey, my kids , are

too young for this, or won't remember

743

it, or will be too cold the whole time.

744

Actually.

745

It's an experience that's

going to blow them away.

746

They're going to see the most adorable

penguins walk through these ice caves.

747

Just walking over a lake with your

crampons on, will be a special experience

748

it works for so many different things.

749

The camp with probably 12 bedrooms.

750

You can probably sleep a max of 20 people.

751

I mean, you could do a quite

a party down there as well.

752

If you want to celebrate with friends.

753

Something very memorable, very different.

754

I think it's anyone who loves

nature, loves the outdoors

755

and extreme environment.

756

If he's someone who cares about the

brand name of hotel or restaurant,

757

it's probably not for you.

758

But that probably goes without saying.

759

Most people are going to love it

760

Daniel Edward: Is there a lower age

limit or indeed an upper age limit?

761

Sam Bradley: I think below

eight, you would need to speak

762

to them and need some advice.

763

but once your kids get to the age where

they're able to hike around a bit, the

764

penguins is the short flight away and

then a hike you on your feet for a while.

765

The ice caves is a bit of a hike, so I

wouldn't do it , for very young kids.

766

Wait till they're a little

bit older and they're gonna

767

Daniel Edward: One of the things that

then the upper end of the age scale,

768

when I've gone on a cruise ship,

we've taken some fairly old guests.

769

And actually in order to go to

Antarctica, we increased our medical team.

770

So we had extra nurses on board.

771

'cause you are out there on your own.

772

I know a lot of expeditions to Antarctica

bring a doctor within their crew.

773

Sam Bradley: Yes, I remember having to

fill out the forms for this and one of

774

the questions was, are you likely to

need dental care in the next six months?

775

Because if so, do it before you travel.

776

'cause there ain't no dentist down there.

777

Um, so it is, I mean, that,

that's why you're travelling

778

somewhere as extreme and far away.

779

You want to get away from it all, but

don't get toothache at the wrong time.

780

at

781

Daniel Edward: Plan your moments.

782

I love the focus on, conservation as well.

783

It's not just looking after

yourself, which is very

784

important on these extreme trips.

785

You must be sensible.

786

Is this the right time

for you to be doing this?

787

What does your body

need from you right now?

788

But also these trips are an opportunity

for us to really understand firsthand what

789

does the planet need from us right now to.

790

Sam Bradley: That's a very good point.

791

I mean, the, company was founded

by Henry Cookson, who's a massive

792

fan of David Attenborough, spends a

lot of time in wildlife, incredibly

793

motivated, and how do we protect it?

794

How do we fix the planet and the solution

we've come up with, the route that

795

we are trying as a company is how do

we get people to appreciate and love.

796

Nature and wildlife and everything there.

797

If I think of Elon Musk , as an example,

I can chuck his, name out there 'cause

798

he's not a client of our, so I'm not

mentioning the clients or anything,

799

but I mean, imagine if he fell in

love with Africa and what he could do.

800

I mean he, the guy blew, what was it,

$44 billion on, Twitter or something.

801

Imagine what you could buy

in, in Africa or, or what the

802

amount of people, the amount of

wildlife you could help with that.

803

So what we've done is focus on

getting people, especially these

804

influential, successful people

that can change a lot, get them to

805

fall in love with, conservation.

806

And you will do a lot.

807

So some of the projects we've done,

we've rehomed some giant tortoises and

808

Galapagos and that was incredibly special.

809

You know, the clients out there literally

picking up these tortoises as , the

810

Galapagos Tourism Board had a problem of

how do we get these to the right island?

811

And we came in with the solution

of, our client will help fund this

812

and be part of this experience.

813

Some of the things we've done, we did a,

a massive elephant translocation where

814

you had elephants too many in this part

of Namibia and they were overgrazing.

815

and it wasn't sustainable.

816

And a part of Angola hadn't had

elephants for, I don't know, 70 years.

817

And our client was part of it and

made it possible for these elephants

818

to be literally put in these, big

trucks, , fed and watered the whole way.

819

It was a three day gruelling

drive to get them to Angola and

820

released in this new environment.

821

And that's a, documentary as well.

822

We filmed the whole thing as well.

823

It's is a sort of a 10 minute

documentary you can watch on it

824

and just an incredible experience.

825

These rhino in, Kenya, we've done

some really big serious rhino trans

826

locations and, and rhino projects.

827

This was a small little one with, a

family and I love being part of it.

828

There were two rhino that needed help.

829

one was a, big rhino with this massive

horn and rhinos are very territorial.

830

So when they get two squashed,

when they don't have enough

831

space, they fight with each other.

832

This particular rhino had killed,

I think seven other rhinos

833

just in fights for dominance.

834

And so you had this problem where there

wasn't enough space we needed to move.

835

To fix things.

836

In this case it was just

chopping off the rhino's horn

837

was the best solution for this.

838

This family got to be involved in it.

839

So we were right there.

840

The helicopter went up with the vet

who darted the rhino, got it down, and

841

then the family were really involved.

842

So the kids are there checking the

temperature or measuring the medicine.

843

They're with the vet, doing

all the different parts of it.

844

You see the vet chop off the horn.

845

You get to actually hold this horn.

846

I mean, not many people get to do this.

847

There's one horn's probably worth

about a million dollars by itself.

848

And then you all kind of hide away.

849

You get back in the vehicles and the rhino

gets woken up, with the, an antidote and,

850

and woken up and charges off in confusion.

851

And, and the kids are

right there living it.

852

The dad was standing on, the cage as

the rhino got released, the dad's right

853

there on the cage watching it all unfold.

854

So that's the sort of thing

where you are really involved,

855

you're making a difference.

856

We're using the resources our clients

have got to make this thing possible.

857

'cause it wouldn't have

happened otherwise.

858

The Kenyan Wildlife Service

didn't have the money to do it.

859

And you get the most

incredible experience.

860

If I had the means, that's

what my kids would be doing.

861

Definitely.

862

They'll never

863

Daniel Edward: What would you

say is the top thing to see

864

or do on a trip to Antarctica?

865

Sam Bradley: I'm gonna go with a tie here.

866

Can I give two answers?

867

It's the two that I've mentioned, but

it's the ice caves and the penguins.

868

Whatever you do, make

sure you do those two.

869

It's unforgettable.

870

Daniel Edward: This one may be a

very strange one for Antarctica,

871

but what is a tourist trap to avoid,

or there aren't that many is there

872

a common mistake that you could

avoid to make your trip even better?

873

Sam Bradley: So few people go there.

874

I remember chatting to the, camp

managers who are just the, the

875

most amazing people and are down

there for kind of three months.

876

And they said the biggest, mistake, which

I was definitely making was just trying

877

to fit everything in and do too much.

878

And sometimes you just need to

sit down with a cup of coffee in

879

your nice warm cabin with it's got

these massive windows and a view

880

just stretching all over the ice.

881

And it's just breathe it in.

882

Take it in, don't go, go.

883

I mean, they said that to me

as I was jumping on the bike

884

for another little ride around.

885

so just, soak it all in.

886

was their advice.

887

Daniel Edward: What is your favourite

time of year to visit Antarctica?

888

Sam Bradley: So you're pretty limited here

in that you can only get there between

889

November and February, the summer months

is the only time you're going to go.

890

Then even when they arrive in

October, they sort of dig in their

891

camp out, , and dig in their vehicles

out , under 10 feet of ice and snow.

892

I think the earlier

you can go, the better.

893

If you can go November or early

December, you're going to see

894

the emperor chicks when they're

small and just unbelievably cute.

895

You're going to have more

frozen lakes, which are really

896

fun to walk over and explore.

897

And you could go as late as February,

but a lot of those lakes will now be

898

water and you'll be walking around them

instead and you'll see less penguins.

899

'cause most of the chicks

will have gone by the stage.

900

So the earlier the

better would, would be my

901

Daniel Edward: Do you have a book

or a film recommendation for people

902

interested in connecting with it more?

903

Sam Bradley: We went through

our partners, Ultima Antarctica.

904

This particular trip, we also

partner with White Desert.

905

They're another camp

that operates out there.

906

They both have the most amazing

YouTube channels and websites,

907

, Cookson Adventures ourself.

908

We have a lot out there as well

on, on our YouTube channel.

909

And also some of the earlier really

hardcore stuff that Henry did

910

kite skiing across, Antarctica to

reach the pole of inaccessibility.

911

So if you really wanna explore, some of

those early experiences in the footsteps

912

of Shackleton, that sort of thing,

those are the three I would recommend.

913

Daniel Edward: Again, a, a challenging

one perhaps because Antarctica is so

914

different from everywhere else in the

world, but what is the best food or

915

drink experience you had out there?

916

Sam Bradley: I mean, look, you at the

mercy of what the chef decides to cook.

917

You got zero choice here.

918

there are some very cool experiences.

919

So, when you travel out with white desert,

they will recreate some of the meals that

920

Shackleton would've, eaten on his voyages.

921

So you can follow exactly what they

had and, and see how tough they had it.

922

We are doing it way

more on the luxury side.

923

Now you are out there exploring the

extremes during the day, but then

924

curling up into a nice, bed at night.

925

The camp I was at at Ultima, we did

an amazing final meal where every

926

course was based around the theme of

Antarctica, an incredibly memorable meal.

927

you don't have any choice, so

just embrace it all to be honest.

928

Daniel Edward: And another odd question

for Antarctica, but it's the one I finish

929

every episode with, so we'll give it a go.

930

I'm going to Antarctica and I want an

authentic souvenir to remind myself there.

931

I the sense there aren't any shops,

932

Sam Bradley: are no shops and you're

probably gonna be disappointed.

933

Yeah, because this is the most

pristine environment where

934

literally, unless you brought it,

you are not taking it off there.

935

You're not even allowed

to take rocks or anything.

936

The one thing I think you can

take is in your water bottle.

937

You can take a little bit of

ice and put some ice in your

938

water bottle and come back.

939

And when you land back home, you

can open up your water bottle

940

and drink some Antarctica water.

941

That's probably, that in photographs

is about as good as it's gonna get.

942

Daniel Edward: Sam Bradley from

Cookson Adventures, thank you so

943

much for unlocking Antarctica for us.

944

Sam Bradley: Lovely chatting to you.

945

Thanks, Dan.

946

Daniel Edward: Thank you once again to

Sam Bradley from Cookson Adventures.

947

What an exciting job, huh?

948

I mean, they're just incredible.

949

What a place, Antarctica and

everywhere else that they go.

950

I just wish I were one of their clients.

951

Let me tell you that.

952

if you've been to Antarctica, tell

me all about your trip as well.

953

Drop me a message.

954

there's a contact form on the

website, destination unlocked.com,

955

and it comes right through to my emails.

956

So I'd love to hear from you.

957

And if this is your first time listening

to the Destination Unlocked Podcast,

958

then give it a follow wherever you're

currently listening, so that way the next

959

time you want to go armchair travelling

somewhere fantastic around the world,

960

you'll be able to easily find us again.

961

Until then, thanks for listening.

962

Bye-bye.

963

Bye.