Category: Q&A
…with Senior Polar Specialist, Kasey The latest edition of this polar travel series offers a look into a fantastic fjord-filled expedition cruise with our Senior Polar Specialist Kasey Green, who enjoyed a polar bear-spotting 12-day Svalbard Odyssey voyage with AE Expeditions. WHAT DESTINATIONS DID YOU VISIT? The Svalbard Archipelago. HOW DID YOU GET THERE? I flew to Oslo and then onto Longyearbyen, we then cruised throughout the Svalbard Archipelago, reaching areas that only polar class ships could travel. FIRST TIME OR REPEAT TRIP? This was my first time travelling to Svalbard. FAVOURITE LOCATION? I enjoyed being in Storfjorden and the attempts to travel up through the icy fjords. MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT? Carving through the ice was certainly one of my most memorable moments, as well as seeing the elusive polar bear! We also made an ice landing where the captain stopped alongside the ice and allowed all the guests to…
…with Senior Polar Specialist, Lucy The latest edition of this series offers personal insights into an adventurous expedition cruise by our Senior Polar Specialist Lucy Yeoman, who enjoyed a penguin chick-filled 13-day voyage with Swan Hellenic sailing from Ushuaia to the Antarctic Peninsula. WHAT DESTINATIONS DID YOU VISIT? A 12-day Antarctic Circle expedition with Swan Hellenic on the SH Vega HOW DID YOU GET THERE? I flew to Buenos Aires and spent a couple of days there exploring the city. Swan Hellenic arranged a charter flight to take the guests from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia where we boarded our ship, the SH Vega and set sail that evening across the Drake Passage, heading towards the Antarctic Circle. FIRST TIME OR REPEAT TRIP? This was my fourth expedition to Antarctica; previous ones were in November and December. There was less sea ice, the chicks had hatched although further south towards the circle many of the…
…with Polar Specialist, Ben The latest edition of this series offers personal insights into an adventurous expedition cruise by our Polar Specialist Ben Rowley, who enjoyed his amazing 12-day journey with AE Expeditions sailing from Ushuaia to the Antarctic Peninsula. WHAT DESTINATIONS DID YOU VISIT? The Antarctic Peninsula. HOW DID YOU GET THERE? I flew from London to Buenos Aires and on to Ushuaia, before boarding Greg Mortimer and crossing the Drake Passage. FIRST TIME OR REPEAT TRIP? First time! FAVOURITE LOCATION? Neko Harbour – the huge glacier looms close and the backdrop is immensely beautiful. Paradise Bay is a very close second! MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT? We came across a female blue whale with her calf on the Drake Passage on the way south. The marine biologist on our expedition was over the moon with this sighting and said she’d never seen a blue whale calf in this area. In truth,…
…with Senior Polar Specialist, James The latest edition of this series offers personal insights into an exceptional polar expedition cruise by our Senior Polar Specialist James Townsend, who set sail with his partner on an epic 16-day journey with PONANT that took them from the southernmost point of South America to the Antarctic Peninsula, allowing for a full discovery of the most beautiful sites of these southern lands. WHAT DESTINATIONS DID YOU VISIT? I joined Ponant on their Great Austral Loop itinerary, which is a 16-day expedition to the Falkland Islands, South Georgia & Antarctica. HOW DID YOU GET THERE? I flew direct from London Heathrow to Buenos Aires, where I checked in for an included overnight stay at the 5* Sofitel Recoleta. The next day all passengers flew together on a charter flight to Ushuaia (the southernmost point of Argentina), where we boarded our ship, L’Austral. FIRST TIME OR REPEAT TRIP?…
Port Lockroy is based on Goudier Island off the Antarctic Peninsula. Since 1966 the site has been open to visitors during the Antarctic summer (November to March) and is now managed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, which runs the site as a ‘living museum’ with a popular gift shop. All profits from the shop go towards the renovation of other historic sites in Antarctica. Port Lockroy is also the world’s most southerly public post house – affectionately known as the Penguin Post Office. We spoke to Field Operations Coordinator Vicky Inglis for her thoughts on living and working there. How does a typical day play out for you? We’ll get up around 7 am, to the sound of the day’s duty cook heating water for tea and coffee. Breakfast is usually something like muesli or homemade bread and jam, maybe porridge if it’s looking like a cold or wet day. The Base Leader…
We sat down with Quark Expeditions‘ Business Development Manager to discover more about their brand new ship the Ultramarine and to learn what sets them apart from their competitors… What are the features of Ultramarine that set her apart from other expedition ships in the market? Ultramarine’s design embodies our 30+ years of expertise operating exclusively in the Polar regions. It’s our first purpose-built expedition vessel, designed to go beyond the familiar in polar exploration, to discover new places and immerse our guests in the best the polar regions have to offer. Carrying just 199 passengers, she’s equipped with two twin-engine helicopters, which means our guests have the opportunity to explore even further. 20 quick-launching zodiacs, deployed from the water-level zodiac hangar allow guests to get off the ship in half the time of other vessels, which means more time to the destination and faster deployment during opportunistic wildlife encounters. The ship offers the category’s…
Q&A with Ponant’s Expedition Leader and Director of National Geographic Partnership, Alastair Newton Alastair Newton brings years of polar exploration experience and expertise to his role as Ponant’s Expedition Leader and director of their partnership with the prestigious National Geographic. We wanted to find out more about Alastair’s extraordinary life exploring Antarctica… What is the role of an expedition leader and what do they do? An Expedition Leader is responsible for creating the remarkable and memorable experiences of the Expedition. It is a huge responsibility as it is these moments that the guests will treasure. These can include; adapting to a sudden opportunity, such as turning the ship around to watch whales bubble-net feeding in Alaska, helping the guests leave their preconceptions behind so they can experience new cultures openly, or changing the whole itinerary due to changing weather and creating a new program as we see what opportunities present…
