Good morning great Adventure Life friends!!! Just a quick note to let you all know that we have fallen in deep deep love with Antarctica. I will fill you in on all the details when we get back, but let’s just say … spectacular. Here’s a bit of our checklist: kayaking through icebergs, camping on the continent, humpback whales, albatross, chinstrap penguins, gentoo penguins, elephant seals, weddell seals and the [...]
The ship has been rocking back and forth since around 2 am this morning. Swells look to be about 12 feet high, and the crew calls this the Drake Lake. This is versus the Drake Shake which is what I’m hoping for on the return trip. A few of my fellow travelers hope for the same, but we’re definitely in the minority. Most passengers are walking around with the little [...]
As of 7PM Ushuaia time, the Kapitan Khlibnikov remains trapped in the ice near Snow Hill – making it 6 days, I believe, of being stuck. In the mean time, I continue to explore Ushuaia. Today and yesterday, I hiked up snowy slopes behind my hotel. The views were fantastic, seeing far out into the Beagle Channel and the surrounding mountains. Tomorrow, it’s off to Gable island with our local [...]
Twenty-two hours of flying finally brought me to the city of Buenos Aires. I chose to stop over here for a couple days, just to break up the trip… and enjoy a tango show and some of BA’s fantastic history and architecture. Before the show, I took a tango lesson, and after stepping on my instructor’s toes twice, she told me I was a natural. A day of intense heat [...]
After ten years of working in the adventure travel industry and bringing thousands of friends, family and clients to the far edges of Latin America – to such sites as Bolivia’s Salt Desert, Huarani tribal territory, Belize’s subterranean caves, and more – the edges of Latin America weren’t so sharp and unknown to me anymore. I decided it was time to journey to the edges of my known world once again, and Antarctica would provide that first edge.
That’s right — one of the only passenger icebreakers in operation — the Kapitan Khelbnikov — has announced it will end its career as an expedition vessel in March 2012. The Kapitan Khelbnikov was built in Finland in 1981, and was originally designed for the rigors of northern Siberia. The ship has sailed to extremely remote corners of the globe with adventurous travelers since 1992. No other expedition vessel has [...]
Adventure Life’s first journal contest has come to a close. From the Pacuare Turtle Reserve in Costa Rica, to kayaking in the remote Amazon Basin, the submissions are terrific — competition was tough and selecting our winners was no easy task. Winner of our Best Journal contest is Wayne Ng for his entry, Epiphanies in Ecuador and the Galapagos. Wayne writes: …During lunch on the [...]
This year marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, and Neil Armstrong’s curiosity and sense of adventure is now taking him to Antarctica. And how fitting for the legendary astronaut to turn his attention to Antarctica; the great white continent has frequently been described as alien and out-of-this-world. Neil will be boarding the National Geographic Explorer on its November 16, 2009 departure. This 23-day voyage includes time on [...]
Travel to Antarctica has always been for those eager to explore the very end of the world. Unfortunately, as the location has been ‘discovered’, more and more cruise ships are making this their destination. The International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators says visits have risen from 6,700 in the 1992-93 season to 45,213 in 2008-09. Why not? Where else can you witness huge calving glaciers, the bluest of blue ice [...]
Today’s post is a fun journal entry by Cierra Rantoul during her small ship cruise on the Rhine River in 2007. Thanks Cierra! Hi everyone! Me here! Day Three of my Christmas holiday mini-cruise! I have to say that for as small as this boat is – only 130 passengers max – it has to be the best cruising experience I have ever had! That big ship [...]
