ANNOUNCING THE 2008 INAUGURAL SEASON FOR
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER

The newest addition to our fleet is the National Geographic Explorer, an ice-class polar expedition vessel that will hold 148 guests in 81 outside cabins and will set sail in August of 2008. The ship will be the seventh in the Lindblad fleet and is being redesigned to provide travelers with the most innovative tools for exploring the undersea, the polar regions and remote destinations around the globe.

Please see below for an exclusive first look at our inaugural season itineraries.

VIKING SAGA: ICELAND TO GREENLAND
Departure Date: August 4, 2008

National Geographic Explorer follows in the wake of Eric the Red, from Iceland across the Denmark Strait to Greenland. Southern Greenland has a dramatic coast with few inhabitants, innumerable fjords cut between the towering mountains and glaciers tumbling down from the gigantic icecap. Each new landing will present opportunities for discovery: hikeson the wild tundra, Zodiac or kayak forays amid icebergs, marine mammal sightings (we’ll search for whales which frequent these waters) and walks amid Viking ruins and colorful villages.

ARCTIC QUEST
In Search of Polar Bears, Narwhals & the Northwest Passage 
Departure Date: August 15, 2008

This epic expedition focuses on West Greenland, Baffin Island and the Canadian High Arctic, one of the Arctic’s richest areas both in natural and human history. We seek the wildlife of the far north: whales, caribous, polar bears, walruses, seals, and the elusive narwhal, known for its single exceptionally long tusk—up to 10 feet! You’ll stand where Norsemen of ten centuries ago stood, follow in the wake of polar explorers like Franklin in their search for a Northwest Passage, and meet the Inuit people who call this place home.

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ICEBERGS & ICE BEARS
From Baffin Island to Greenland 
Departure Date: August 29 2008

This exploration of Southern Baffin Island and West Greenland packs highlight experiences into just a week. On Baffin Island our focus is wildlife, especially polar bears, as well as walrus, seals and whales. In Davis Strait we view enormous tabular icebergs and arctic wildlife at the ice’s edge. Greenland’s west coast has dozens of long, deep fjords, many with glaciers fed by the Greenland Icecap that covers most of this country.

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FABLED LANDS OF THE NORTH
Greenland, Baffin Island, Labrador & Newfoundland
Departure Date: September 5, 2008

The ice fields of Western Greenland, the legendary whale-rich seas of Davis Strait, and magnificent Inuit art fill our first week. Wildlife viewing opportunities abound, including the icons of the Arctic: polar bear and walrus. Further south, we explore the deep fjords and remote villages of Labrador, and two of Newfoundland’s most special places: L’Anse aux Meadows, site of the earliest known Viking settlement in the New World, and Gros Morne National Park, a UNESCO site noted for it alpine scenery, waterfalls and pristine lakes.

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AUTUMN SOJOURN
Exploring the Canadian Maritimes & Coastal New England
Departure Date: September 19, 2008

The fall foliage season greatly enhances the natural beauty found on this voyage. Explore the stunning coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, where tiny fishing villages nestle between mountain and sea, and search for northern right whales in the Bay of Fundy. Along the way, we meet with two very special National Geographic guests. The Chairman of National Geographic, Gil Grosvenor, guides us on Cape Breton Island as we tour a museum dedicated to his great grandfather, Alexander Graham Bell. At the Mystic Aquarium, we have a private visit to National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Bob Ballard’s Institute for Exploration, a pioneer in the emerging fields of deep-sea archaeology and deep-sea geology.

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FROM THE CANADIAN MARITIMES TO THE STRAITS OF FLORIDA
Departure Date: October 3, 2008

Beginning in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and ending in Miami, this voyage aboard the new National Geographic Explorer pairs the natural beauty of New England in autumn and the stunning south Atlantic coast with the financial and political capitals of New York City and Washington D.C. Explore charming seaside towns, sail the length of the scenic Chesapeake Bay, and visit the historic battlefields at Yorktown and Jamestown. Explore the Antebellum South and historic architecture of Charleston before visiting Georgia’s serene Cumberland Island and Florida’s perfect town of Fernandina Beach.

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FROM THE PANAMA CANAL TO THE ANDES
Departure Date: October 19, 2008

National Geographic Explorer begins with a transit of the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and the Pacific. Along the Pacific coast of South America, we explore an exciting sequence of off-the-beaten-track expedition calls, ranging from the fabled treasure island of Cocos, off the coast of Costa Rica, to Lobos de Tierra off the coast of Peru, a significant breeding place for the masked booby. And the stunning National Park at Isla Coiba in Panama, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Fauna and Flora Sanctuary at Isla Malpelo, some 300 miles off the Colombian coast, with its schools of hammerhead sharks and colonies of rare algae, lichens and mosses.

Pre-Columbian archaeology will be another highlight of this voyage. In Peru, the temples of the sun and moon were built by the Moche in the fifth century and the world’s largest adobe city, constructed at Chan Chan at the turn of the first millennium by the Chimú people. In Lima, we visit the Larco Herrara Muusem with its internationally renowned pre-Columbian gold collection.

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