We are blogging from our vessels, providing you with first hand accounts of our voyages. The blogging began with the Maiden Voyage to the North Pole of the world’s largest icebreaker 50 Years of Victory. (That’s Victory to the left, as she pulled out of Murmansk harbour at midnight!)

We encourage you to post your comments and questions, and we’ll do our best to have our bloggers answer them. But remember, because we operate in remote areas, with limited connectivity, there will inevitably be time delays! To begin reading the blog that interests you, click on a category to the left.

Antarctic Peninsula

There was snow on the ground and ice in the intersections this morning. It would be reasonable for you to assume that these harbingers of winter should have a polar person dancing with anticipation. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Traveling to the polar regions has very little in common with a winter in southern Canada.

When weather brews in Antarctica - the clouds roil and boil around the mountain tops. The best way  can describe the difference is think of summer with snow. Yes, you need a jacket. A polar cruise is not a beach vacation. But if you are affected by SAD – seasonal affective disorder – you’ll feel better instantly.

Lyubov Orlova in Antarctica

Isn’t that a magnificent view? Towering, snow covered mountains, with clouds swirling above the water. I have no idea at what time of day the photo was taken. If it were taken below the Antarctic Circle that could just as easily be midnight as midday.

Mushroom Iceberg

Gosh, most of my best travel memories are connected to food. Some of the worst too! Accidentally, I was onboard Akademik Shokalskiy sailing down the Beagle Channel on my birthday. I hadn’t told anyone, but I hadn’t counted on the Expedition Team’s prescience. That first shipboard meal ended with pyrotechnics and a cake too big for one to eat. The “candle,” more like a small flare, was hot. I learned the hard way. Only superficial burns resulted.

I love the canapes our chefs prepare aboard Kapitan Khlebnikov. Our Hospitality Team move through the mingling guests with beautifully arranged trays. And everything tastes as good as it looks.

Have you tried Yerba Mate? Leaves of a South American holly tree are steeped in hot water to create a tisane. The flavor is somewhat grassy with undertones of Andes mountains and Patagonian pampas. Supposedly Mate (pronounced Mah-Tay) boosts the immune system. The drink has caffeine like properties, but doesn’t have caffeine.

I’m looking forward to the 24-hour hot beverage station that dispenses hot water, so I can make myself a cup whenever I want. I’ll be sipping Mate while I watch seabirds from my cabin window at 3 AM. Can’t wait.

Stanley, Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas)

The last port of call for me will be Stanley, the capital of the Falkland Islands (Islas Malvinas). Over the centuries, the islands have welcomed Charles Darwin in HMS Beagle, countless whalers, sealers and explorers.

5% of the islands’ gross domestic product is a result of tourism. 43% of that 6.6 million GBP is generated by cruise ships. An equal amount is the result of tourists arriving by air. Most surprisingly, 14% of the tourism dollars is domestic. There are only about 3,000 inhabitants. I wonder what a local does when he or she is a tourist in his or her own community?

Perhaps I’ll find out. I’m looking forward to visiting a ‘camp’. That’s the local word for a farm, I believe.

One of the many reasons I was so eager to join Emperors and Kings was the fact that we will spend a portion of the expedition in the Falklands (Malvinas). Getting there by air from North America is inconvenient to say the least. Expedia did not know how to cope with the flight request when I queried it.

Akademik Shokalskiy, Deception Island

Argentina and India have signed an agreement that will enable civil nuclear development. Although Argentina has lodged a claim to ownership of a portion of Antarctica,  the civil benefits of nuclear-power won’t reach the 7th continent. Antarctica is a nuclear-free zone.

Before the Antarctic Treaty, nuclear power was being used on the continent. All nuclear activity was removed once the Treaty became the instrument of government.

I was fascinated to learn that the Treaty was signed at the heart of the Cold War. Incredibly, two of the 12 countries that signed were the United States and Russia (USSR). The Treaty limits activity on the continent to peaceful research that must be shared between Treaty nations. More than 40 countries have signed the Treaty since the original dozen.

For me, Antarctica is a beacon of hope in a world of strife. If governments can set aside their national agendas for peaceful, international cooperation in Antarctica, the same could be done in the rest of  the world.

End of an Era

You are going to see a great deal of that emblem to the right over the next few years. We are turning it into a patch that you will be able to purchase. It appears at the head of every End of an Era itinerary on this website. And it features prominently in our new brochure: Polar Voyages 2010-2011.

Just released – the ink isn’t dry yet! The brochure includes End of an Era at a Glance. That’s a grid that lists every End of an Era voyage, the dates and the special guest aboard. A handy tool for those of you who have always dreamed of an icebreaker expedition but have not yet got around to it.

Emperors and Kings is not an End of an Era voyage. But is a unique voyage. We’ve never operated it and will never again operate it. It is truly a one-off. I’m privileged to be part of the complement of guests aboard.

An Exclusive Group

It has been an eerie week. Appropriate for Hallowe’en I suppose. You be the judge – has my life been mere coincidence?

Sunday night I was channel surfing. Click, click, click…then bang – an Irish accent and a tiger. I had missed the first two minutes, but found – quite by accident – the broadcast debut of Broken Tail’s Last Journey. This is a documentary that I have been hearing about off and on for 18 months as it was being produced. I had no idea it had been finished and was airing.  Mere coincidence I said.

Then Wednesday night – channel surfing again – I see a familiar face under which was the title Andrew Lambert. It was a documentary about Captain Bligh. Andrew was one of the on-camera subject matter experts. Yep, that is the same Andrew Lambert I wrote about earlier this week – Laughton Professor of Naval History. I watched the program.

Later that evening – I was channel surfing yet again…and who popped up one more time on a completely different program – Andrew Lambert. As the on-camera guru he was drawing parallels between an ancient seige weapon and a tank from WWI.

Mere coincidence? Methinks not – this has been an eerie week!

Expedition Map for Snow Hill Island Safari

Khlebnikov is parked in the ice edge of the Weddell Sea, a 20 minute helicopter ride from the Snow Hill Island Emperor Penguin rookery. The first visit to the rookery in 2009 occurred in -16C temperatures. When I visit the rookery in late November, I can expect the same temperatures.