Journey to Antarctica, the only virus free continent

Ukraine was preparing scientists for their annual expedition to Antarctica, when the coronavirus threw a spanner in the works, shutting borders, grounding flights and locking down countries.

The journey from Kiev to Antarctica usually lasts a week; a regular itinerary brings the team through Chile or Argentina, and then by boat to the Akademik Vernadsky research base.

This time around, the team of scientists - 10 men and one woman - took more than four weeks to reach their destination, after they set off from Kiev on March 16.

At the first stop, in Istanbul, the team hit a hurdle as their next destination - Colombia - and the one after that - Chile - both closed their borders. The team then headed back to Ukraine to devise an alternative route.

This time, they took the help of Ukrainian diplomats. Their foreign ministry managed to pull off the impossible, chartering flights and getting permissions to enter closed countries. The team set off again at the end of March, travelling from Kiev to Qatar, Brazil and then Chile.

When the team eventually arrived in Chile - the penultimate stop - they isolated for two weeks in a hotel, before boarding a boat to Antarctica for a one-year stint, with a new team set to arrive in early spring.