Blog
Seabourn Odyssey – 06/08/2022 – Haines, Alaska
On a beautiful morning, in very calm water, Seabourn Odyssey approached Haines. A very different scene to the fog which greeted us at the Inian Islands yesterday. The tide was low, and glacial moraines were clearly visible. Low clouds accentuated the scene, with...
Times are changing
In April 2020 we embarked on a storytelling journey with Patreon online, which turned out to be our lifesaver through Lock-down. Trying not to complain, we lit a candle in the darkness.What an irony as the ANC have completely failed South Africa, and cannot keep the...
Vancouver, Canada
Vancouver, Canada ~ DisembarkingOn a beautiful sunny morning, the Captain brought Seabourn Odyssey alongside Canada Place in Vancouver at 7am. Long before the ship is cleared and guests are allowed to disembark, the activity begins. A massive fuel barge is...
Haines, Alaska ~ July 2022, onboard Seabourn Odyssey
On a beautiful morning, and very calm water, Seabourn Odyssey approached Haines early this morning. With the tide low, glacial moraines were clearly visible, and a large Brown Bear was seen ambling along the beach. Pronounced shoulder hump confirming its maturity....
Life’s changing seasons
After my motorbike fall in May 2019, and subsequent injuries, Karen and I travelled through this beautiful region of our globe together. In 2020 I offered to work for Seabourn in South America/Antarctica. Covid halted those operations abruptly, and I got home...
Three weeks in Canada/Alaska
Siegfried Sassoon once famously said "Measure Life not by how many breaths you take, but rather by how many times Life takes your breath away". Given his ghastly experiences in the trenches on the Somme, and the death of his dear friend Corporal O'Brien, Sassoon was...
South-east Alaska
One of my early travel objectives was to drive the Alaska/Canada Highway, known more specifically as the AlCan. Initially the many fuel and oil drums left along the way provided the humorous nickname of OilCan Highway. After driving the beautiful 2500km route, I...
The allure of the North
The past 3 weeks have been little short of manic, yet hugely gratifying. Between a large tour to Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift, getting my Canadian visa two weeks before departure, road trip and successful time in Cape Town despite last-minute cancellation of a venue,...
Creating one’s luck
Gary Player was famous for saying : 'the harder he practiced, the luckier he became'. This creates a myriad conversations in terms of remaining fit for purpose, and importantly in our game, remaining visible and available. During the challenging Lock-down period we...
“Endurance is patience concentrated.”
March 2022 Social media abounds with the hype and extraordinary news of Shackleton’s ship Endurance being found in 3008 meters of water in the Weddell Sea, 107 years after it was smashed by ice in 1915. This discovery has deservedly grabbed global attention.“Men...
17 February 2022 ~ Tristan da Cunha Island group
Thankfully the day dawned bright and blue. My cabin mate, a charming Australian called George Kennedy, expert on Geo-politics, experienced Expedition Team member and highly qualified paramedic, is also a very keen photographer. When we opened the curtains this morning...
10 February 2022 ~ Back on South Georgia
Ten years ago exactly I recall vividly my first visit to South Georgia. As an absolute greenhorn, sharing a cabin with another rookie (American ornithologist), we jumped up to look out of the cabin window. The ocean was a wild tempest, the Captain was steaming up and...
7 February 2022 ~ Antarctic Peninsula and the team
As some of you know, I spent 10 days in isolation/quarantine in Chile, before embarking on my Silversea voyage from Punta Arenas. It was a useful time to decompress after a busy 2 months with A&K, and reflect upon just what an incredible vocation this is. There...
Wednesday 2 February 2022 ~ Chilean Fjordland
From my hotel room in Punta Arenas, where I had spent 8 days in isolation/quarantine (the first 2 in Santiago), I could see the quay where seemingly all expedition ships berthed. Turns out there is another quay closer to the airport. Karen messaged me to say that my...
Brown Paper Bags – the end
Today is my Day 10 of mandatory Chilean quarantine, which began in Santiago, and continued in Punta Arenas. I have mentioned to many friends that I understand now why prisoners are often more of a threat to society upon release, than they may have been upon...
Thursday 27 January 2022 ~ Brown paper bags
Those of you kind enough to read my last blog will know about my time between terminals and flights in Buenos Aires, then the 24 hour delay in flying south from Santiago to Punta Arenas. Having travelled through Argentina a fair number of times now, I am well aware of...
Sunday 23 January 2022 ~ Pontificating for Punta Arenas
Greetings from Santiago, Chile. With the cruise industry in chaos due to Covid, we were unusually fortunate in being able to complete 4 cruises, as planned. Many companies cancelled their entire season, some cruises were abandoned on day of departure. The Ushuaia bay...
20 January 2022 ~ Catamaran tour in Beagle Channel
After having to rush back to Ushuaia a full day early, it appears we have had a run of good fortune. The weather in Antarctica on the day we were forced to forfeit was so windy, that safe operations were extremely unlikely. Yet the weather today in Ushuaia was almost...
16/17 January Antarctic Sound Brown Bluff Mikkelson Harbour and Cierva Cove & 18 January 2022 At Sea heading North
With the vagaries of Internet connectivity onboard, I sadly lost two days blog last evening. This type of inconvenience drives me crazy, so I am going to try and recreate what I had put together.Steven Magee maintains that he wishes to visit Antarctica before global...
Saturday 15 January 2022 ~ Penguin Island and Turret Point South Shetland Islands
"Polar Exploration is at once the cleanest and most isolated way of having a bad time that has been devised" - Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Cherry-Garrard is the man who wrote The Worst Journey in the World, and trekked 96km in complete darkness in the 1911 Winter to...
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