Expedition days aboard the Silver Wind were full, but nothing quite prepared us for the pace at Phinda Mountain Lodge . The phone rang...

Our safari adventure began sooner than expected. Just five minutes after leaving the Phinda airstrip in an open jeep, we encountered a...

Our voyage may have ended, but the journey was far from over. The moment we stepped ashore, we were greeted by Gareth, our guide for the...

I’ve spent the past few nights anchored in the calm waters of Saldanha Bay, enjoying blue skies, mild winds, and pleasantly warm days....

Saldanha, South Africa Immigration in Saldanha was surprisingly quick and smooth, giving us time to return to the ship and prepare for...

In a nod to old maritime tradition, Captain Sasha delivered his final daily update: ship’s options, speed, heading, weather and sea...

Another sea day brought more opportunities to scan the horizon for seabirds, dive into a good book, and attend fascinating lectures. It...

I didn’t expect a seabird, a violin, and a pair of dividers to have much in common—but this voyage has a way of connecting strange dots....

Some sea days are for resting. Others, like this one, are for wandering—through memory, imagination, and the occasional fossil bed....

Now that we’re hightailing it out of the Tristan da Cunha group two days early, I have a few extra sea days to reflect on our earlier...

Today was meant to mark the beginning of a three-day expedition to some of the most remote islands on Earth. First up: Tristan da Cunha,...

At the heart of every great expedition voyage is a great Expedition Leader. This person doesn’t just manage logistics—they shape the...

Crossing the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) feels a bit like flying over the Himalaya when they’re shrouded in clouds. In both cases, a...

After four days of intense activity, we’ve begun our four-day journey to Tristan da Cunha. The swell is noticeable, but not too bad—I can...

It’s been a few days since we visited Grytviken Whaling Station. Today, we’re sailing in the open ocean toward our next destination, so...

Tucked deep in the Southern Ocean, South Georgia Island is a place few people ever see—and even fewer under perfect conditions. As our...

The Kings of Fortuna Bay After landing at Fortuna Bay, we hiked about a kilometer to the King Penguin colony. Along the way, we passed...

Today, we spent time in Grytviken, once a hub of industrial whaling. If this were a typical live blog, I might tell you about what I ate,...

Today was a day of excursions. The morning brought us to Salisbury Plain, home to a colony of about 60,000 King penguins and many...

I thought we had crossed the Antarctic Convergence yesterday, but the ship actually crossed it sometime last night. When I awoke, it was...