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Antarctic Cruising aboard the ship’s zodiac and get amongst the natural
beauty of icebergs dotted with sealions and see polar
bears in their habitat.
Expedition You may get to meet some of the local fishermen in their
village and high-five the kids walking home from school
in this incredible far reaching part of the planet where the
trappings of modern city life have not yet reached. And
Adventures while once upon a time these expeditions were taken in
the barest of comfort, today you can travel in as much
comfort, style and luxury as you please as the industry
caters to a new kind of adventure seeker.
If photographing a giant penguin
Cruising provides the most varied of holidays, there’s no
or riding on a zodiac to see polar one-size-fits-all. Expedition cruises offer small group,
bears in the wild is on your must- unique experiences to reach into the untouched, untamed
world of beauty of nature. Look for other destinations
do-before-I-die list, then the next like Alaska, Russia, several islands off Africa, Seychelles,
giant wave in cruising will be just Madagascar, Norway and a whole lot more.
what you’re looking for. Galapagos Islands
Expedition cruising is growing in It’s hard to put the majesty of an Antarctic cruise into
words. Zooming your lens onto the big doe eyes of a seal
popularity as people begin to look lounging on the beach; pressing record to film a pod of
beyond the popular destinations, dolphins synchronising their gymnastics, or a waddle of
penguins walking comically like little men in suits out to
like a Mediterranean or Caribbean the water for a swim and then back to their nests.
cruise, for something unique. They You’ll learn fascinating facts and little nuggets to tell your
want to stand on their balcony friends from the expert guides onboard the ship and out
on your excursions, like the penguin highway where they
as their ship glides silently past have worked together to pack the snow down hard to
the Antarctic’s towering white make a path back and forth from the sea.
You’ll train your binoculars onto sea birds diving for their
cliffs as if sailing through the dinner and soaring effortlessly on the great southern
pages of National Geographic, the breeze. Crisp blues and whites like you’ve never seen
bobbing of ice around them gently before, punctuated with wildlife, will fill your memory cards.
floating on the wake. They want Arctic Circle
to see the magnificent breaching An Arctic voyage is very different from an Antarctic one, Most people would find it hard to place the Galapagos
tails of whales in their inky black mainly because the Arctic is surrounded by land and Islands on a map, let alone work out how to get there!
the Antarctic by sea. In the north, the ice is about one to But cruises around these remote islands (usually starting
playground or hop aboard a kayak three metres above the sea. In the south, while the vast from Baltra or Santa Cruz off the coast of Ecuador) open
and actually step onto an ice shelf. white expanse might look similar, if you were standing a world of new and wonderful wildlife experiences.
right on the pole at the bottom of the earth the depth Due to an absence of natural predators, the wildlife
Here are three popular destinations under your feet of snow could be 2,500 metres above sea flourishes here and you can expect to see the iconic
level and even 100m above water at the coast.
for expedition cruises… gigantic tortoise. You’ll watch sea lions cavorting with
But in the Arctic region you’ll see rolling hills, lakes and their friends and the cute blue-footed boobies that look
rivers and extraordinary wildlife like polar bears, reindeer, like they are wearing little webbed gumboots dipped in
walrus, beluga whales and the unicorn-like narwhal. paint. Look for the passing overhead of the magnificent
Birdlife includes snowy owls, puffins and terns as well as albatross and keep your eyes peeled for the endangered
lemmings (a teeny little mouse-like member of the rodent Galapagos penguin.
family) and the pretty white arctic fox that is so cute If snorkelling with sea turtles is your thing or hiking over
you’ll probably want to take one home.
dried lava to see the native land and sea iguanas appeals,
An Arctic expedition cruise will include villages and look for a Galapagos Islands cruise and add a night or
rugged landscapes, magnificent waterfalls, tranquil fiords two in Quito.
and glaciers, bays and islands and the opportunity to hop
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