Some people come to Antarctica to see the penguins, others come so that they can tell others that they’ve been to all seven continents, but no matter what their reasons for coming may have been, it is the sheer beauty of the experience that will have them talking about it for years. They call it the white continent, but it is so much more than that. It is raw and powerful, and it is guaranteed to grab your attention with its majestic beauty.
Day Four of Brendan’s Antarctic Explorer trip took him to the stunning sunken caldera that is Deception Island. Here's his impressions...
Our Antarctic blogger Brendan has arrived back from his journey to world’s end on our 10-night Antarctic Explorer trip. Here’s the second blog of his adventure. You can find his first on Brendan’s website...
Notching up sightings of the 'Big Five' is in the back of every African safari-goer’s mind. So, in the interests of fairness, below is our equivalent list for another wildlife wonderland – Antarctica. Whether you’re taking in the sub-Antarctic Islands, Antarctic Peninsula or to the Ross Sea, the marine and birdlife of this frigid world offer memorable moments among a mesmerising land- and seascape.
Elephant Seal
All our trips get among landscapes that fascinate and capture the imagination. Some destinations, however, are just that little bit special in their ability to offer up the unexpected, where natural elements, and sometimes the hand of man, have worked overtime to create something that captivates because of its otherness. One we’ve recently added to our trips is Darvaza Crater in Turkmenistan, a mind-boggling open furnace in the middle of nowhere. Here’s Darvaza and a few of our other favourites.
Our new Antarctica and Arctic brochure will be available in the coming weeks. In the meantime, click here for a preview of dates for our incredible voyages of a lifetime.
Professional photographer Nick Garbutt travelled with Peregrine to Antarctica last January on our Antarctica Peninsula, Falklands Islands and South Georgia expedition.
Graham Robertson will be travelling back to Uruguay in August to fit a bait setting device onto one of about 15 Uruguayan fishing vessels. The tests he and his team will be conducting are the final stage of a very long process. Graham hopes to be able to demonstrate two things; 1. That the device stops bi-catch of albatross and petrels from long line fishing, 2. That the use of the device does not interfere with the commercial success of the fishing operation of the boats it’s fitted to.
“Peregrine’s Akademik Sergey Vavilov had a fantastic Antarctic season of nine trips. Every trip had many special moments and all had the great and grand Antarctic scenery and wonderful abundant wildlife. All experienced the challenge of the Southern ocean and all had the opportunity to see the spectacle of albatross in their element.
Three years after Peregrine and WWF-Australia won an historic campaign to protect Macquarie Island from environmental devastation, the operational phase of a $24.6 million pest eradication plan is set to begin on the World Heritage-listed island, which is being severely damaged by rats and rabbits.
Kay Cornell is a Sydney-based artist, who has been painting and drawing since the 1960’s and who travelled with Peregrine on the Antarctic Explorer voyage in February 2009.
Anna Fedoseeva joined us onboard the Akademik Sergey Vavilov in Antarctica this season in the dining room/hospitality team.
Those of you who joined our Antarctic season opener with artists Brett Jarrett (who will be joining the Kapitan Khlebnikov in the Arctic 2010) and Neil Roberts may have seen how Anna took the opportunity to learn from our two guests. Later in the voyage we realised how talented Anna was when, after a little persuasion, she let us see one of her paintings.
For the last few seasons the Akademik Sergey Vavilov has been home for Woody & Annie, however this coming Antarctic season they’re changing ships for the first half of the season and will be sailing onboard the Kapitan Khlebnikov.
Remember the towering blue icebergs, glimmering mountains and amazing wildlife? Remember that incredible feeling of standing at the end of the earth? We invite you and a guest to relive it all and reunite for an evening with old friends, crew members and fellow passengers.
