AdventureSmith Alaska Cruise
We love the idea of brain (and heart) inspiring cruise expeditions, so, we think, what better way to get off the beaten path then to really get off the beaten path?
To that end, small ship, expedition cruise expert AdventureSmith Explorations has announced a stellar lineup of academicians, Pulitzer Prize-winning authors, travel writers and professional photographers as experts in residence for upcoming cruises as far-flung as Antarctica and Borneo. Yes, Borneo (because your brave and edgy like that).
Founded in 2003, AdventureSmith Explorations is based in Tahoe City, California along the northern shore of Lake Tahoe and, in 2012, it joined the ranks of Conde Nast Traveler’s prestigious 13th Annual Travel Specialists List.
Offering a deeper understanding of a particular topic and global perspective to the regional experience, small ship cruises with onboard experts can help bring a unique take to the most unique destinations.
So, get cruisin’ because Smith suggests booking one of these special departures well in advance as they sell out quickly:
Antarctic Explorer: Jonathan Shackleton (cousin of Sir Ernest Shackleton) and Falcon Scott (grandson of Robert Falcon Scott) will be guest lecturers aboard the 189-passenger Ocean Diamond Feb.9-19, 2013 from Ushuaia, Argentina.
http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/172
Just a few little penguins chillin’ in Antarctica…
Land of the Ice Bears: Arctic Svalbard: Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor of Geography at the University of California, Los Angeles will travel aboard the 148-passenger National Geographic Explorer June 21-July 1, 2013. He is the author of Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed and the widely acclaimed Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, which won him a Pulitzer Prize as well as Britain’s 1998 Rhone-Poulenc Science Book Prize. He is a founding member of the board of the Society of Conservation Biology and a member of the board of directors of World Wildlife Fund/USA and Conservation International.
http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/69
National Geographic The White Continent: Ed Larson, who won the Pulitzer Prize forEmpire of Ice, travels aboard the National Geographic Explorer to Antarctica Feb. 5, 2013 and Feb. 5, 2014 . A Pepperdine University professor, his latest book was published in May 2011, An Empire of Ice: Scott, Shackleton, and the Heroic Age of Antarctic Science. He places the famed voyages of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, his British rivals Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton, and others in a larger scientific, social, and geopolitical context in this terrific new history, much enlivened by his own Antarctic travels.
http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/68
Orangutans in Borneo
Ancient Sites, Rain Forests & Coral Reefs: Sandra Noble, executive director of the Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc. joins guests on the 138-passenger Yorktown Jan. 26-Feb. 2, 2013 for a tour of the natural and archaeological wonders of Belize and Guatemala. On a Feb. 2-9 departure she will be joined by Sandra Brooke, director of Coral Conservation at the Marine Conservation Institute. For the Feb. 16-23 departure the guest speakers are Stephen Whittington, director of the Museum of Anthropology and adjunct associate professor at wake Foerst University, and Susan Perkins, an associate curator in the Division of Invertebrate Zoology and the Sackler Institute for Comparative Genomics at the American Museum of Natural History.
http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/464
Baja’s Bounty: Ellen Barone joins a March 16, 2013 departure aboard the 86-passenger Safari Endeavour. She is nationally recognized travel writer and photographer. http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/39. Giovanni Malagrino shares insights on a March 30, 2013 departure. He is a full professor in the Marine Biology Department at University of Baja California Sur, La Paz and devotes his time to Coastal Zone Management. http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/39
Another Stunning Hawaiian Sunset
Hawaiian Seascapes: Peter West Carey, a Seattle-based professional photographer, is aboard the 36-passenger Safari Explorer for a cruise beginning April 6, 2013. Patient and resourceful with a wide range of brands, equipment and techniques, he loves to help others learn first-hand how to bring back stunning images that tell the true story of the exciting journey they have experienced. http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/200
Alaska Unleashed: Amy Gulick is aboard the 60-passenger Wilderness Adventurer for a June 8, 2013 departure. She is an award-winning nature photographer and writer, and a founding Fellow of the International League of Conservation Photographers.
http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/22. Joe Upton is aboard for an Aug. 10, 2013 sailing and will share his experience as an author. His many books and illustrated maps, including Journey’s Through the Inside Passage andThe Coastal Companion, have shared the wonder of The North with Alaska visitors since 1993. In 2009 Upton teamed up with Alaska commercial fisherman and filmmaker Dan Kowalski to produce The Alaska Story Project, a collection of videos about places up and down the Alaska and BC coasts. http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/22
Camp Leakey Borneo will feature Dr. Birute Galdikas on board the 100-passenger Orion II for the October 25, 2013 departure. Scientist, conservationist, educator: for almost four decades Dr. Biruté Mary Galdikas has studied and worked closely with the orangutans of Indonesian Borneo in their natural habitat, and is today the world’s foremost authority on the orangutan. http://www.adventuresmithexplorations.com/itinerarydetails.php/advid/289
Remember when you saw your first episode of Deadliest Catch and the next time you ate Alaskan King Crab you held up a bright red two-foot long leg and said, “Cheers to the men who bravely risked their lives so that I could enjoy the succulent white tendrils of this soft salty meat like never before”? Or how about the time you channeled Man vs. Wild’s star, Bear Grylls, when you were lost during a hike in Montana so you decided to walk along the dangerously close edge of a suspended railway bridge? Oh we can’t say enough about our love of all things Discovery. For one thing, Discovery Channel used to be our EIC’s client when she worked as a VP in entertainment advertising. Shark Week, Deadliest Catch, Dirty Jobs… we know our Discovery Channel. We can’t get enough of their entertaining content and their commitment to the natural world.
As such, when we caught wind that the Discovery Channel had *just* launched Discovery Adventures, their first ever adventure travel vacation group, we said, “Where do we sign up?!” Starting last Friday, July 31, 2009, there are 31 itineraries to 18 different destinations with departures slated for this December 2009. Discovery Adventures not only ‘makes adventure travel accessible, less intimidating and offers 3-star service levels at more affordable prices,’ but they also promise to deliver die-hard, often “can’t be found with any other tour” real life experiences.
ECO ADVENTURER 