I just travelled with Lindblad Expeditions finally – and – did a circumnavigation of Newfoundland.
On Sept.15.16, I travelled around my home province of Newfoundland onboard the NG Explorer. I experienced what it was like to be an informed and engaged explorer!
This intimate small-ship expedition cruise was magnificent. We encountered one of the world’s most pristine and inspiring places up close with the seasoned experts who know it best. Lindblad’s expedition team of naturalists and National Geographic photographers, as well as guest lecturer Robert MacNeil (of PBS’s MccNeil/Lehrer NewsHour) joined me onboard.
My family visited Gros Morne National Park this summer, one of the sites we visited on this cruise. Watch.
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We also visited Tablelands:
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What struck me most about this cruise was the absolutely wonderful expedition team of 15 experts who were curating this journey of only 148 passengers.
Besides the extremely knowledgeable and personable expedition leader and co-leader, there were 3 National Geographic photographers/ naturalists, and 5 other naturalists who specialize in coral, flora and fauna, birding, and more. We had a historian, an undersea specialist, a video chronicler and more, Just look at the bios of the terrific team we had with us. See http://www.expeditions.com/destinations/canada/the-canadian-maritimes/expedition-team/
The thing that struck me most was the depth of knowledge of the naturalists onboard. The NG certified photographer instructor was absolutely fantastic, and gave instructions for how to use an iphone better for folks like me, but also broke into other groups for the photography fans with great equipment and skills. It was awesome. But, what was more awesome was how they attended each other lectures. They were all there to learn.
I absolutely loved the experience. The food was great. The accommodations clean and comfortable. The expeditions run smoothly and expertly. The zodiac landings stressed safety and access. The shore excursions offered a mixture of sightseeing or hiking – with choices run each excursion so you could be as active (or not) as you chose. And the lectures onboard made the trip – they were not heavily scientific lectures that you felt you had to have a PhD to understand. The lectures were all geared towards someone with an interest in nature of the land or of the people, and were crafted so that you felt you learned an awful lot, but weren’t thrown into a doctorate lecture. It wasn’t dumbed down, but accessible – and the naturalists and experts giving the lectures were all extremely knowledgeable, but also very passionate about what they were talking about. It was fantastic.
Here are just some of my photos of the trip. Please contact me if you’d like to learn more. https://www.facebook.com/vacay/media_set?set=a.10207040626564526.1073741861.1546080363&type=3
Contact me for more details too. at [email protected] or 613-837-0699.