ZECO TRAVEL TALK

This just in from a Zegrahm traveler who has explored Antarctica twice with us. On a recent trip to New York, he visited the “Race to the End of Earth” exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History and sent us this report:

“A wonderful morning at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) in New York. We were chaperoned by Ross MacPhee, AMNH curator of vertebrate zoology and curator of the currently running exhibit “Race to the End of the Earth.” The exhibit concerns the Scott and Amundsen expeditions to the South Pole, tells the stories of each in some depth, with numerous eye-popping artifacts on loan from Scott Polar Research Institute, the Fram Museum in Oslo, and elsewhere, with interactive exhibits, dioramas, and excellent life-like reconstructions of such memorable scenes as Scott’s den, cubicles in the Cape Evans hut, an “underground” workshop adjacent to Framheim, and the tent at Polheim. Read more

Sir David Attenborough and Zegrahm’s own Peter Harrison, among others, joined forces to pledge their support for the Henderson Island Restoration Project at a reception held in London earlier this month. In addition to raising significant funds for the project—learn more—at the reception, two lucky people won cabins on our upcoming Quest for Paradise expedition.

To learn more about this special evening, visit the UK’s government Website.

Zegrahm & Eco Expeditions’ founders and directors all gathered in Seattle last week for their annual summer meetings and to start planning our expeditions for 2012. We took full advantage of having them all in town and planned a special cocktail party and invited our locally-based friends and travelers to join us in celebrating 20 years of collective history. We called the event our 20th Anniversary Recap, short for recapitulation, and asked Jack Grove, Peter Harrison, and Shirley Metz to share their favorite travel memories from past expeditions.

Over cocktails and hors d’oeuvres, our congenial group shared memories, made new friends, and reconnected with old ones. Among the highlights of the evening were two college classmates that reconnected for the first time since graduating, not knowing that they both now live in the Pacific Northwest and travel with Zegrahm. We also had three sets of grandchildren join us; passing on the tradition of exploration to a third generation is a tremendous honor. Read more

Relive your favorite European travel memories and enter to win our brochure photo contest. From now until August 15, 2010, send us your favorite photos from your travels to any of the following countries we plan to visit on our 2011 Black Sea, Crossroads of Empires, or Red Sea expeditions and we will pick our favorite and print it in the brochure: Read more

by Leksmono and Linda Santoso

Leksmono Santoso and his wife, Linda, currently live in Jakarta and have explored nearly every part of Indonesia—they have led numerous trips throughout the region, as well as much of the world. They have been instrumental in helping Zegrahm plan interesting and unique Indonesia itineraries for the past 20 years.

Sumatra, one of the most diverse islands of the Indonesian archipelago, is steeped in history, tradition, culture, and art. The first kingdom in Indonesia—the Buddhist state of Sriwijaya—had its capital near what is now Palembang, and from here controlled a massive volume of trade passing through the Malacca and Sunda straits for over 300 years. Indian civilization, which was to have such a far-reaching cultural impact throughout Indonesia, entered the country through Sumatran ports in the first millennium AD. The second millennium saw history repeat, but with the Muslims arriving from the west along the oceanic trade routes. Read more

Written by naturalist, Jim Wilson

Today we were spoiled for choice.

Some of us opted for a trip to world famous Lismore Castle and Gardens. The trip gave them the opportunity to pass through some of Ireland’s most scenic countryside, looking its best in early-summer with lush green fields sprinkled with Elder bushes covered in large white blossoms. Lismore itself has won a number of heritage awards and was looking radiant in the sunshine. The castle itself is steeped in history. Built by Prince John of England in 1185, it was once owned by, among others, Sir Walter Raleigh who sold it to Richard Boyle, first Earl of Cork. His son Robert Boyle, considered by many to be the father of modern chemistry, was born in the castle in 1626.

The rest of us opted for a 5am start and a landing on Great Saltee Island where we spent 10 hours amidst tens of thousands of seabirds with close-up encounters with Atlantic puffins, razorbills, guillemots (common murre), black-legged kittiwakes, and choughs. Apart from the stunning scenery, we spent time at the island’s gannet colony which, while not the largest in Ireland, is probably unrivaled in northwestern Europe for the experience at such close quarters. Those who visited Lismore did not miss out on a landing at Great Saltee with an evening trip to the island.

Written by marine biologist, Rich Pagen

Morning light revealed a low grey cloudbank blanketing the 700-foot tall peaks of steep-sided King Island—the first stop on our Wild Alaska and the Bering Sea expedition. We bundled up, and carefully made our way down to the Zodiacs for an early morning exploration of this spectacular place. Named by Captain Cook in 1778 for a member of his party, King Island was once the winter home of a group of about 200 Inupiat. They subsisted on walrus, seals, and birds for most of the year, leaving the island en masse each summer for a couple months spent on the Alaska mainland coast. The site has been abandoned since 1970, with nothing but deteriorating buildings left as reminders of the hardy people who once lived in this unlikely locale.

Huge rafts of seabirds greeted us as we approached the guano-stained cliffs. Murres were crowded together on their nesting ledges, sometimes so closely that they were touching. Each pair attempts to hatch and fledge a single young per year. Several weeks after the egg hatches, the chick makes a perilous “swan dive” from the ledge, hopefully landing safely in the sea without catching the eye of a hungry predator like a glaucous gull. The father then leads the small chick away from the colony, where he raises the chick himself out at sea.

During the evening, Expedition Leader, John Yersin announced that the Clipper Odyssey was soon to cross the Arctic Circle. We gathered around the pool, which actually looked quite inviting as the sun illuminated its turquoise (ok, greenish really) water. The reality was that the deck department had just filled the pool with water straight out of the Bering Strait, with absolutely no heating involved whatsoever. With just seconds to go, the ship sounded its horn and the swimmers took to the water, effectively “swimming” across the Arctic Circle. Cameras clicked as the hearty souls shed layers and took the icy plunge.

Written by botanist, Ian Cooke

The first landing of our Wild and Ancient Britain adventure began with a short Zodiac ride to the island of Tresco; one of the islands that make up the Isles of Scilly. Located at the southwestern most tip of the UK, these islands are subtropical in nature and allow a remarkable range of plants to be grown from South Africa, New Zealand, Chile, and the Mediterranean. With blue sky, sunshine, and a gentle walk to the gardens, what more could you ask for!

Our private guide, David, walked use through the gardens explaining the history of the Dorrien-Smith family and their residency at the Abbey and delighted us with details of plant cultivation. We were very pleased to be invited to view his vegetable, fruit, and cutting garden and to better understand how the team of four full-time gardeners and three students care for such a significant horticultural collection. This was truly an insider’s view of the gardens that I had never before experienced in all my visits here.