Jacky Hut

Jacky Hut

Jacky Hut: a name that sound like that of a Breton lighthouse in the middle of the oceans, this cabin of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) community is a legendary refuge for winter visitors and summer campers who carry out field missions in the Kerguelen archipelago. In fact, in this district, the TAAF manages a park of eleven isolated installations called "cabins". These, mostly built of wood, are used by agents of the French Southern Lands National Nature Reserve, scientists from projects supported by the French Polar Institute, wintering residents and "tourist" passengers from port operations. Each has its own history, architecture, colour, cladding and, of course, its own notebook, the famous “cabin notebook”. Beyond their practical and even vital necessity for their occupants for one or more days, the cabins are also part of the history and heritage of the community. After a complete diagnosis, the technical and environmental services departments of the TAAF decided to relaunch a multi-year investment programme on the cabins and start by renovating, this year, those of Jacky and Île Haute, in order to welcome users in optimal conditions. And as is often the case in the TAAF, behind a construction site, a project, a mission, lies a human adventure. The cabins are no exception to the rule... There are, in fact, friendships that take you directly to the southernmost peninsulas of France.