Life at sea is easy when you’re traveling aboard the National Geographic Endeavour. Smiling faces, plenty of refreshments, and tons of space create an atmosphere more like a Hyatt resort. When spending time in the lounge, the library, the galley, or even sometimes on deck it is easy to forget you’re in one of the most dangerous oceans on the planet. The luxuries and warmth of the ship are...
Itinerary: Attend every lecture – especially Kim Heacox’s story about Sir Shackleton (more on that later) Get through all photos taken so far and process a few for the slideshow-showoff later in the trip Shoot some more sea birds off the back of the ship We’ve been at sea since last night. We’ve been going with the wind and the waves, so the boat has had an even rock. I have not felt bad once....
Itinerary: Zodiacs to Sea Lion Island to see huge colonies of Gentoo Penguins and Elephant Seals Stay Dry! Zodiacs to Bleaker Island to see Rock hopper penguins, Rock Shags, and more King Cormorants (Blue Eyed Shag) Continue my reputation for being the last person back on the boat I owe you guys a full story on yesterday, but I’m sorry to tell you to wait another day. We are currently on our way...
I promised a second update today, but I'm not going to be able to do it in full - sorry. New Island was incredible. We hit shore around 3:30 PM and I stayed till 7:30 PM (the last possible minute) shooting Rockhopper Penguins, Blue Eyed Shag, Black Browed Albatross, Upland Geese, and many other birds. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! I have never seen such dense concentrations of wildlife ever! There...
Looks like I’m going to do two postings today. Itinerary (morning): Wake-up to our first landing at Carcass Island Finally put some food down the hatch Get my mind blown by the wildlife on Carcass Island I woke up feeling fantastic! Breakfast was a treat, and everything tasted much better than usual. Outside the ship was land and the temperature was in the low 50’s with no wind – NICE! It was...
Itinerary: Attend lectures about sea birds and the Falklands Take pictures of the various sea birds following the ship Try not to blow chunks I left a comment on another blog article before crawling into bed last night. As I was typing that comment the boat started rocking, and it hasn’t stopped yet. I have never been sea sick, but over 12 hours of square waves is taking a toll. I couldn’t sleep...
Itinerary: Wake up super early to catch a plane from Chile to Argentina. Tour Ushuaia through Tierra Del Fuego National Park and take a catamaran tour of Lapatia Bay. Board the National Geographic Endeavour and get used to life at sea. Wow! I thought yesterday was action-packed, but today has been incredible! I could do without the 4:15 AM wake-up call, but it was worth it to have the time we...
Itinerary: Visit Photography Store, Walk around Santiago, Take a Tour of the City, Visit the Pre-Colombian Museum, Grab some cocktails with my shipmates….crash….hard. You get a double posting today because I had some down time earlier. Since my last posting, I took a stroll for a few miles through Santiago in search of a small camera bag. The new camera bag is part of a diabolical scheme to save...
Itinerary: Arrive in Santiago, Chile and tour the town. We got into Chile at 5:55 AM which is actually 4:55 AM Eastern Time. I definitely got some sleep on the plane, but I’m feeling the early wake up now. I have met most of the people on this trip and made fast friends with a few of them. I am by far the youngest person here, and am enjoying that fact because I get to soak in the wisdom! Chile...
Itinerary for today: Get on LAN Flight to Santiago, Chili from Miami. Don't die of boredom. Today has been extremely boring. Spending the day in the Miami airport is no fun, and expensive. Fortunately, I was able to find a nice little lounge in the airport hotel to connect from. Security has been a lot of fun with all the camera equipment I'm carrying, and I also found one of those notes in...
Today is going to be a "tidy-up" day. I've done my best to tie-up loose ends and get processes in place in case something goes wrong while I'm away. Something is going to break, a competitor is going to do something we won't be able to fight back against online, an employee is going to have an issue I can't fix. Boss, be ready. If something does happen, you can borrow a phrase from my Dad -...
It is time for my least favorite part of the trip - packing all my junk. I've already cut a lot out, and I'm still scratching my head on how I'm going to fit this mess in 2 bags. I think i've got everything covered on what I was told to bring, and I added a few things extra: 2 Gallon Ziploc bags and 2 rolls of waterproof duct tape. I can MacGyver anything now! In all seriousnous, the bags and...