Antarctica Photo Tour – Fly Down and Back

Ron Niebrugge Antarctica, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Near the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica.
Near the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica.

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.

Antarctica at a discount!

Ron Niebrugge Antarctica, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

Massive icebergs near the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica.

Massive icebergs near the Antarctic Circle, Antarctica.

I have written in the past why I think the Cheesmans’ trips to Antarctica are among, if not the best, especially for photographers.  Well there is good news and bad news.  First the bad.  For a variety of reasons, this upcoming February / March is going to be the last trip Cheesmans’ is offering to Antarctica.  It is unfortunate, but the smaller boats that offer the best experience are becoming prohibitively expensive.  I go into far more detail if you follow the link above, but most locations in Antarctica allow only 100 people on shore at any give time, so if you are on a vessel with 200 folks, you will now spend 50% less time on shore.  You really want to be on a 100 passenger ship if you can.

So what is the good news?  Cheesmans’ is offering a 10% discount on this final trip to the peninsula!  I can’t remember a time where they have offered a discount.  If you have any questions at all about Antarctica, or the company, feel free to contact me as I’ll be in the home office for the next month or so (rare! ).  I should mention, my Arizona obligations are preventing me from joining the staff on this trip, but many of my favorite staff are working on this trip so you will be in good hands.

Happy World Penguin Day!

Ron Niebrugge Antarctica, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

King penguins, St. Andrews South Georgia, Antarctica.

King penguins, St. Andrews South Georgia, Antarctica.

I saw it was World Penguin day and thought there are still a lot of images from last Novembers trip to South Georgia / Antarctica that I haven’t shared and figured today would be a good day to share one!

Right Whale Bay

Ron Niebrugge Antarctica, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

King Penguins, Right Whale Bay, South Georgia.

King Penguins, Right Whale Bay, South Georgia.

I was home for such a short period of time, I haven’t had a chance to share very many images from South Georgia, or even the experience I had here at Right Whale Bay that was one of the more memorable wildlife experiences I have ever witnessed.  But, more on that tomorrow.

Molting King Penguins

Ron Niebrugge Antarctica, Photos, Travel 1 Comment

King Penguins molting at St Andrews Bay, South Georgia.

King Penguins molting at St Andrews Bay, South Georgia.

Have spent the last couple of days moving our website to a new server / host.  Our websites not only should be faster, but we will be saving about $300 a month!  Let me know if you have any problems accessing the website or blog posts.  Thanks!

Rockhopper Penguins

Ron Niebrugge Antarctica, Photos, Travel 1 Comment

Rockhopper penguin, Sea Lion Island, Falklands.

Rockhopper penguin, Sea Lion Island, Falklands.

Back in Argentina after a great trip to South Georgia and the Falklands.  Lots to share, but first need to make the long trip home.

We are off for penguins!

Ron Niebrugge Antarctica, Photos, Travel Leave a Comment

King penguin closeup on the Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, Antarctica.

King penguin closeup on the Salisbury Plain, South Georgia, Antarctica.

We are leaving today to head back to South Georgia, and this time Janine get to join me!  I believe this is my 7th trip to the Southern Ocean, and third in 12 months, but it may also be my last, so I hope to make the best of it.

I won’t be posting anything for the next month as I won’t really have any internet.  I’m also going to turn comments off here to avoid the onslaught of spam.  See you in a month!