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expedition

Meet the M/Y Legend, the world’s first mega yacht built to venture into the globe’s coldest, farthest-flung corners. With her 77 meters and gadgets like a mini-submarine, snow scooters, and a Eurocopter, she’s the ultimate way to explore waters that are tricky to reach even with expedition ships. During an endless, soft pink summer night when the sun never sets, with a view of Mount Français, the highest mountain in the Antarctic Peninsula, and a group of killer whales in the distance, I raise my glass of crisp Sauvignon Blanc to being here in one of the most hard to reach regions on the planet. Read more »

dog sledding in Laplanddog sledding in Lapland Our expedition leader Johan Väisänen has the looks of a Viking with the vigour of Ben Hur. The latter also refers to the sled on which he skilfully balances while zipping through a cold and silent, white landscape. Johan is a modern charioteer, with the only difference that the carriage is a wooden sleigh pulled forward by six hyperkinetic husky dogs. Read more »

Close encounter with a bowhead whale at Nunavut Arctic CanadaBowhead Whale Nunavut Arctic CanadaI am wearing three pairs of socks, two thermals, three shirts, a sweater and an expedition jacket, but I am still freezing. The arctic wind slashes against my face as we ride east on qamutiks, or komatiks, authentic Inuit wooden sledges pulled by snow scooters, to base camp. For five hours our small group swishes over the frozen ice of Eclipse Sound and along the shores of the majestic Sirmilik National Park, part of Baffin Island. I am burring my head deep into the warmth of my fluffy but colossal parka, hiding from the icy wind. Read more »

fly antarctica and cruisefly Antarctica and cruise Bet that Shackleton and Amundsen would never have dreamed of this. Fly the Drake and cruise Antarctica. Yes you heard it right, skip the feared Drake Passage and go directly to the White Continent. Until recently, only scientists and researchers used the back door to get into Antarctica. Not by ship, but flying from Chile. Why sail across the Drake if in just three hours you can be standing with both feet on the Last Continent, safe and well.  Read more »