IN THIS SECTION
Costa Rica’s Frogs
Going Mudlarking
Secluded Samoa
New Trails in WalesWHERE TO GO, WHAT TO KNOW, AND HOW TO SEE THE WORLD
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC VOL. 237 NO. 1TRAVEL
ARRIVAL
RIDE UP
A MOUNTAIN
The Jungfraujoch research
station looks rugged
and isolated—and it is—
but beneath its windswept
stones lie an ice palace,
a chocolate shop, and the
highest train station in
Europe. Like the travelers,
Punkka rode a cogwheel
train from Kleine Scheidegg
through a tunnel under
the mountain to get there.
After he disembarked, he
stepped into a high-speed
elevator. It shot him up
to the research station on
top of the peak where he,
unlike the tourists, was
allowed to bunk with the
scientists for four days.
SKY-HIGH SCIENCE
PACKING LIST
BUNDLING UP
Punkka dressed for
early spring in the Alps—
in down, fleece, and
multiple layers.- Boots for deep snow
- Camera with three lenses
- Snow pants (warm
enough to let him lie
on the ground while
photographing wildlife) - A drone with three
extra batteries (batteries
die quickly in these
harsh conditions) - Winter mittens, with
room for hand warm-
ers (Punkka piloted the
drone barehanded, so
he needed to be able to
warm his hands quickly)
LAUNCH
‘A VERY MAGICAL
MORNING’
Just before a spring storm
hit after two days of “bad
sunrises,” Punkka went out
on the upper deck with his
drone. “I wanted to high-
light the station, to watch
the mountain with the
sunrise light.” He sent the
drone soaring away from
the peak. When it reached
a good vantage point,
Punkka flung his arms up in
the air: “I don’t often shoot
myself in pictures, but I
wanted to show the scale.”
It was so cold that after he
got the shot, he hurried
inside to pilot the drone
from the relative comfort
of the research station.FOR ONE YEAR Konsta Punkka traveled throughout Europe photographing
Integrated Carbon Observation System research stations, which measure
greenhouse gases. The stations tend to be in remote areas of the conti-
nent, but no others are as high as Jungfraujoch in Switzerland—or as
accessible to tourists.34 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC