Our trip, being in March, the time of year whales are the most prolific, was marketed as a marine wildlife tour. From chatting with colleagues who have gone at other times of the year, there are still plenty of opportunities to see whales and seals. I’m not sure we necessarily saw any more, but we felt lucky with the sightings we had. Franny’s wish was to see Orcas, we told our chances were pretty slim during this time of year. But somehow we lucked out at saw a pod of 3 during our Drake Passage crossing. I think this was a good omen for the rest of our trip. We quickly lost track of the whale sightings, humpbacks, fins, singles, groups, mother/calf pairs. It didn’t matter, they were still always met with equal excitement.
This was a particularly amazing experience from a kayak. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so insignificant and in awe. One afternoon a curious whale blocked the zodiacs from returning to the gangway for nearly 20 minutes because he playfully kept swimming the length of the ship. It was humbling to be so close to these incredible creatures.
We also saw a lot of seals, mostly fur seals, but the occasional Weddle, crabeater and even a few leopard seals. Fur seals are playful and curious in the water but territorial and not to be approached on land. We even had a landing canceled when the beach was littered with hundreds of fur seals. One afternoon in particular, while on a zodiac cruise we saw all 4 species within a matter of an hour. We were able to get surprisingly close to all of them in the zodiacs without disrupting them. The leopard seal even showed us his gnarly teeth that they are known for!
The info on the website was laid out very well. I did some comparisons with other tours and found Adventure Life met a lot of what I wanted in an Antarctica trip at the cheapest price. Requested a quote on Claudia contacted me right away. She answered a lot of questions the I had via email even though she offered to discuss via phone call. I’m more of an email person so appreciated how she accommodated that and answered all my questions. And when I was ready to book, she quickly got the ball rolling with getting our spots reserved on the trip my friend and I wanted. Thanks again, Claudia!
Hazel Araza
10 hours ago
(1) great information on the website and throughout all the "materials." (2) Jane Packer is great: knowledgeable, responsive, takes a personal interest and tone, seems to care about the customer as a person not a sale.
Larry Bethune
18 hours ago
great people doing a wonderful job to make our voyages happen.
trudy
1 day ago
For our first trip to Costa Rica, Adventure Life designed a tour that meets the interests, ecological and adventure, of our party; but also takes into account our physical limitations sine we are all septuagenarian. We are looking forward to the trip.
John Zent
2 days ago
Adventure Life is my favorite travel company due to their genuine care for their customers. They make every effort to ensure a wonderful travel experience for you. Their personal touch really gives the customer a lot of confidence with their travel plans and the trip leaders are always outstanding. They are truly consistent and accountable with the great service they provide. I can't thank Adventure Life enough for the incredible trips I have enjoyed thanks to them and their attention to detail.