Louise Izere, 16, a student at Rwanda Coding Academy, reached the geographic North Pole in August 2026 aboard the 50 Years of Victory, a Russian nuclear-powered ship built to break through thick sea ice.She became the first known Rwandan to reach the place. The journey was part of the Icebreaker of Knowledge expedition, organised by Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear energy company. ALSO READ: 16-year-old Izere becomes first known Rwandan to reach North Pole Finding 90 degrees north on a map is easy. Standing there is another story. Her journey is an example of reaching some of the world’s most extreme places that are difficult even to visit. From frozen settlements in Siberia to high-altitude mining towns in the Andes, The New Times takes a look at some difficult places to reach on earth. - The geographic North Pole, Arctic Ocean At 90° north, there is no permanent land beneath a visitor’s feet. The North Pole lies on sea ice floating over the Arctic Ocean, drifting with the wind and ocean currents. There are no roads, airports, or permanent settlements. Reaching it requires specialised polar logistics. The 50 Years of Victory, which carried Izere, is built for such conditions. - Everest’s death zone, Himalayas On Mount Everest, the challenge becomes vertical survival. Above 8,000 metres, climbers enter the “death zone”, where atmospheric pressure is too low for the body to function normally for long. At 8,849 metres, every step demands enormous effort. Weeks of acclimatisation precede the final ascent, while cold, winds, avalanches and exhaustion can turn an expedition into a fight for survival. - Vostok Station, Antarctica The Russian research station sits on the East Antarctic ice sheet at roughly 3,500 metres above sea level. In July 1983, scientists recorded −89.2°C, the lowest surface air temperature officially recorded on Earth. Reaching the station requires specialised transport and carefully planned supplies. Yet people continue to work there, turning one of Earth’s coldest places into a laboratory. - The Danakil Depression, Ethiopia In northeastern Ethiopia, the earth presents the opposite extreme. The landscape itself feels hostile: salt flats, sulfur springs and temperatures that can soar above 50°C. Even getting there is difficult, with rough terrain and limited infrastructure turning the journey into a test of endurance. With little infrastructure, travellers face severe heat, isolation, water scarcity and volcanic hazards. - The Rub’ al Khali, Arabian Peninsula Crossing the Empty Quarter means navigating one of the world’s largest sand deserts, where dunes stretch for hundreds of kilometres and water is scarce. There are no easy routes through this vast expanse, and the combination of extreme heat, isolation and difficult terrain makes even reaching its remote interior a serious undertaking. - Tristan da Cunha, South Atlantic Ocean Some of earth’s hardest frontiers are defined by distance. Tristan da Cunha, a British overseas territory, is one of the world’s most remote inhabited communities. There is no airport, so, reaching the island requires a weather-dependent voyage that can take days. For residents, isolation is daily life. Supplies arrive by ship, and medical emergencies can become complicated logistical operations. - Darién Gap, Panama and Colombia The Darién Gap is a remote, 60-to-100-mile stretch of dense rainforest, swamps, and steep mountains on the border between Colombia and Panama For those crossing the Darién, the jungle is only part of the danger. Steep mountains, rivers, mud and extreme humidity make the journey physically punishing, while armed groups and criminal networks operate in parts of the region, adding threats that have little to do with the terrain itself. There are no roads connecting the two countries through this wilderness, leaving travellers to navigate one of the most dangerous stretches of the migration route. - Oymyakon, Siberia In northeastern Russia, the problem is not reaching the frontier. It is living there. Oymyakon is recognised as one of the coldest permanently inhabited places on Earth, with temperatures falling below −60°C during severe winters. Cold becomes an engineering problem: vehicles, pipes and buildings face extraordinary stress. Yet people live there year-round. For an expedition, extreme cold is temporary. In Oymyakon, it is ordinary life. - Point Nemo, South Pacific Ocean It is the oceanic pole of inaccessibility, the point on Earth’s oceans farthest from land. The nearest land lies roughly 2,700 kilometres away. There is no settlement or landmark, only open ocean. Its isolation is so extreme that astronauts aboard the International Space Station can, at certain moments, be among the nearest humans to it. Sometimes the barrier is simply the ocean between land. - La Rinconada, Peru High in the Peruvian Andes, La Rinconada sits at roughly 5,100 metres above sea level, making it the world’s highest permanent human settlement. Reaching it means travelling along rough mountain roads into a place that contains far less oxygen than at sea level. La Rinconada contrasts with Everest: climbers survive altitude briefly; here, people have built their lives there.
