Tag: polar cruises
The elemental forces that continue to shape this geothermal wonderland are a constant reminder of nature’s artistry and power. If you are lucky enough to have booked a trip to Iceland, then be sure to venture as far and wide as possible to enjoy the highlights we’ve put together here for your visit. Golden Circle Iceland’s most well-known tourist route takes its name after Gullfoss, aka the ‘golden waterfall’, and straddles the tectonic plates of North America and Europe on the North-Atlantic Ridge in Thingvellir National Park. Take the opportunity to channel your inner cowboy by saddling up on an Icelandic horse to take you across this vast landscape in style. Make sure to head over to the Strokkur Geyser which erupts up to 130ft every 5-10 minutes! Dettifoss Waterfall Accessible from the north side’s Route 862 and one of the main stops on the Diamond Circle Tour, Dettifoss in Vatnajokull National Park is Europe’s second most powerful waterfall. The 144ft crescendo ends with a colossal crash into Jokulsargljufur Canyon below, creating one of Iceland’s most spectacular and dramatic…
It’s been several years since I last travelled to the Arctic, mainly due to a certain pandemic which has stopped anyone travelling anywhere for the last couple of years! So, when a last-minute opportunity arose to join a select group of agents aboard the Silver Cloud for a 6-night expedition cruise around Svalbard, I jumped at it! I would like to say the Arctic welcomed me back like an old friend, but it was actually the opposite! We landed in Longyearbyen in 40-knot winds, which were so strong they blew the aircraft door open! It felt a bit like the Arctic was angry with us for staying away so long! As we arrived at the port our expedition leader greeted us; “we normally like to do the Silversea bit first, and then the expedition. But today it’s going to be the expedition bit first, and then Silversea!” It transpired the wind was too strong…
The overland safari is one of the best-known and most iconic travel experiences in the world today. Its popularity and fame are in part due to its conception around the art of photography itself; the wildlife encounter that must be shared. The safari sits as an experience for most bucket lists and is of course framed around the observation of the so-called Big Five animals of Africa. The lion, rhino, Cape buffalo, elephant and leopard. It’s a word that immediately conjures up very specific visual reference points, learned from glossy travel brochures, glorious high-definition nature documentaries and first-hand experiences. But the safari, as with everything in travel, has evolved as the appetite for discovery has widened. And in this blog, I take you to a very faraway place from the Big Five of Africa. A place that defines the phrase, ‘off-the-beaten-track, and one that is rarely seen at the dinner…
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…
If you haven’t been to the Polar regions, Svalbard is the perfect place to start, it offers everything from incredible wildlife, fascinating human history and some of the most spectacular glaciers and Arctic landscape on the planet. It is often known as Spitsbergen, the name of the archipelago’s largest and only permanently populated island, Svalbard is an archipelago that could easily be described as an Arctic fairy-tale of a destination. It’s a dramatic wilderness of glaciers and mountains, ice fields and barren tundra, extremities of light and dark, and is home to more polar bears than people, yet people it has – making this a destination in which you can truly experience life in the high Arctic. Polar bears Search for the mighty Polar Bear – also known as the King of the Arctic – There are now estimated to be around 3,000 bears in the area of Svalbard and Franz Josef land. Polar bears hunt on sea ice, and with over 100,000km of total coastline…
