ZECO TRAVEL TALK

Our entrance in to the Asmat region began slowly. The ship carefully made her way towards Flamingo Bay just as the tide was beginning to rise. The captain of the Clipper Odyssey did an amazing job crossing the mud bar in to the mouth of the river at low tide—sometimes at depths less than seven feet. All the while, making it look easy. Little did we know that time was spinning backwards and we were entering another world. Read more

G’day. I have enjoyed the extreme good fortune to live on the shores adjacent to Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) for a little over 15 years. I stopped counting the number of dives I’ve made on this World Heritage listed biological marvel, when the number reached into the thousands. When you’ve been this lucky, it’s easy to forget what a privilege it is to access and utilize the individual reefs of it’s make up. So when one gets the opportunity to visit the less accessible outliers it is indeed a rare treat. Read more

Leslie Kim is a representative from Stanford Travel/Study, one of our travel partners, and kindly offered to write a blog post about our time in Santa Ana Island.

We finally awoke to sunshine and blue skies in this idyllic pearl of the Solomon Islands. As occurred in Utupua, each Zodiac that arrived at the beach landing was greeted by a fierce “welcoming committee” composed of local men dressed in warrior costumes and brandishing spears and machetes (although today’s adult warriors were not nearly as cute as the children at Utupua). A highlight of the day was certainly watching the beautifully dressed local men and women perform their traditional dances. While the people of Owa Raha are Melanesian, their dress and many of their customs and even language have Polynesian origins. Read more

As we crossed the surf line in our Zodiacs on the morning of February 10 at Tikopia, the exceptional nature of the place was immediately apparent. One of the most isolated islands on this itinerary, this Polynesian outlier in Melanesia, is the only location on this trip where the islanders have originated in Polynesia. Only a few huts were visible through the palm trees as we approached in our Zodiacs. A light rain feel during our landing on the reef flat and the clouds, which hung over the top of the mountain behind the beach, gave the island an almost ethereal quality. Read more

On our New Zealand to New Guinea expedition, our stop at Ambrym Island prepares the stage for our cultural and discovery experiences to follow in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea. Located in the Vanuatu Island group in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, Ambrym Island is best known as a volcanic hotbed of activity and is sometimes called the “black island” after the expansive ash plain covering the interior. Two active volcanoes, Mt. Marum and Mt. Benbow, have had eruptions serious enough to warrant the evacuation of several hundred people. Indeed it is calculated that should Benbow erupt in the coming years the entire island will be wiped out and the formation of a number of small islands is a likely outcome. Read more

Zegrahm Expeditions and Stanford Travel/Study paid their first-ever visit to Norfolk Island, Australia on February 5. The Zodiac crossing from the anchored Clipper Odyssey was very challenging both to and from the island, but the drivers, able-bodied seamen, and passengers were fully up to the task. It was an exhilarating and fascinating day.

On-shore, the highlight of the full-day excursion was the thoughtful insight into the island’s complicated history, culture, and politics provided by Lisle Snell. Read more

Zegrahm Expeditions’ New Zealand to New Guinea 20th Anniversary voyage got off to a resounding start thanks to the cooperation of a bird that was considered extinct for over 100 years.

Battling near-gale force winds, 18 intrepid birders, led by Peter Harrison, boarded two small boats and spent seven hours in bumpy and lumpy seas that sent waves crashing over the small vessels as they headed for Little Barrier Island in the Hauraki Gulf, north of Auckland. Read more

This enigmatic land is often regarded as the seat of civilization and has contributed remarkable treasures to the world of art, poetry, architecture and, most notably, history. While a fascinating place to travel, Iran is a place where one can not travel without a guide and most people are apprehensive to even consider going in the first place—a perception fueled by Western political figureheads and negative media coverage.

Recently, travel guru and Seattle native, Rick Steves visited Iran. While known for his “Europe Through the Back Door” PBS television series and popular guidebooks, Read more