With 5 new exciting photo tours next year, including two in Kenai Fjords National Park, Katmai National Park and Africa, I haven’t had a chance to mention what might be the most exciting of them all – what I think might be the ultimate trip to Antarctica! This is a trip I’m leading on behalf of the wonderful folks at Cheesemans’ Ecology Tours.
What makes this trip so amazing? Well for one, it is going to be a very small group, just 12 friends, plus me and ship crew! Talk about having maximum freedom! I have always advocated for traveling on smaller vessels to Antarctica because of landing restrictions, and this takes it to the extreme! Plus, we all easily fit into two zodiacs. We will be aboard the Hans Hansson.
I usually recommend 100 passenger vessels because of the Drake Passage which can be notoriously rough. I have seen it flat calm, but I have seen it crazy! I wouldn’t have wanted to be on anything smaller than a 100 passenger ship. However, on this trip we are flying down and back, so we don’t have to worry about the Drake! This is a game changer. In addition, we save two to three days of travel each direction, giving us that much more time on the Antarctica Peninsula. We will have 12 full landing days, giving us the opportunity to see so much! I get so excited when I think about all the amazing places we can explore. If conditions permit, we will visit places outside the range of typical tour vessels.
I also love the timing of this trip in later December, which is early summer down there. So that means penguin chicks, lots of light and so much more. Let me know if you have any questions.
