The Perfect Platform

National Geographic Explorer

“After breakfast, we zipped to shore at Brown Bluff, a fascinating geologic area where we found hundreds of penguins. This is a colony which supported 100,000 pairs of Adélie penguins earlier in the season, but is now reaching the season’s end. There were a handful of

Adélie chicks and many gentoo chicks testing the waters and exercising their wings. The beach shallows were kiddy pools filled with fluffy chicks sticking their heads into the water, wading in, and being pushed around by small incoming waves. We enjoyed watching their antics for a couple of hours, as well as finding a solitary fur seal, and taking a hike onto the edge of a glacier.” — EMILY MOUNT Naturalist aboard National Geographic Explorer

EXPLORE YOUR WAY EACH DAY

OUR ANTARCTIC ITINERARIES ARE CRAFTED BY EXPLORERS,

and every itinerary point features opportunities to head out and discover, in one dynamic way or another. The freedom of choice means opportunities to choose how active you’ll be, whether kayaking among bergy bits, hiking up a ridge to a vista overlooking a cove, or instead taking a short stroll along the shore where penguins are gathered. Our seamless shore-landing operation, perfected over decades, gets you quickly ashore to share in exploring. Your freedom of choice extends to which members of our naturalist staff you choose to spend time with aboard ship. With a diverse team with broad expertise, you may choose to join your photo instructor at the deck rail to get tips on landscape photography, or stand next to an expert birder with binoculars in hand, or join one of our knowledgeable historians to learn about the golden age of Antarctic exploration in the region we’re exploring. You can begin each day with a morning stretch class, or a pre-breakfast coffee at the 24/7 coffee/tea stations on the ship. Revisit the day at evening Recap, while enjoying drinks with your traveling companions, or by relaxing solo in one of the ship’s many nooks and crannies where you can read or journal.

“I’m a highly active person, so always appreciate every chance to get off ship. And in the early season, when our captains can “garage” the ship in the frozen sea ice, everyone can descend directly for a once-ina-lifetime walk, snowshoe, or cross-country ski trek. When the conditions are just right, it’s a thrilling and incredibly memorable way to experience this vast landscape. It also shows that there is never a dull moment, or a ‘lesser’ time to go, during our Antarctic season.” — SVEN LINDBLAD,

CEO & Founder, Lindblad Expeditions