Guests on the National Geographic Explorer encountered a group of humpback whales while on expedition. Read on for breathtaking photos of the experience.
In 2001, Sarah Witcomb beat out thousands of hopeful contestants to win a nationwide search for the Jeopardy! Clue Crew. She's been traveling ever since.
Scientists Dr. Bob Pitman and Dr. John Durban have been studying killer whales on the National Geographic Explorer since 2011. Read on to learn about their findings.
After a restful night during which there was no sea ice to contend with and clouds obscured the aurora borealis, we awoke to calm and very cold conditions in the Northeast Greenland National Park. Summer has well and truly ended. Temperatures were several degrees below freezing, and a thin veil of snow laid over the land, accentuating the spectacular geology of the region. Our morning landing took us to Fleming Fjord, a large indentation in the northern shore of Jameson Land. The fjord is rimmed by mountains that were gradually lit up by sunrise, while the distant entrance to the bay lurked under dark, heavy clouds. All in all, dramatic light conditions and the snow made for a beautiful morning hike. As we repositioned over lunch towards the northwest, we transitioned from a Devonian and Triassic to a younger Jurassic landscape; the sedimentary strata became thinner, and the fossils within them changed. As we stepped ashore, the first thing that cultural specialist Lars Abelsen noticed was a tiny sea angel washed ashore. This half-inch-long zooplankton creature looked frozen and dead, and the undersea specialists brought it on board to show everyone at recap. On shore, we explored the layered history of Antarctic Havn and the ruins of Helge Ingstad’s hut which documents Norway’s presence and ambitions in this part of Greenland in the 1930s. Meanwhile, the hotel team – dressed up as Vikings under hotel director Patrick’s expert guidance – prepared a delicious barbeque on the beach! This was a welcome treat in the cold temperatures, especially once the sun sank behind the mountains. The evening recap held one more surprise – the sea angel had actually thawed and come back to life! We were able to admire it under the microscope and look forward to returning it to the ocean tomorrow.
Today we had the opportunity to get a taste of Paramaribo, the capital and largest city of Suriname, and its surroundings. Most guests had no idea what to expect given that none had visited Paramaribo before. Everyone I spoke to seemed pleasantly surprised by the city’s charming historical architecture and the vibrant cultural diversity evident in the people and storefronts we passed along the way. Paramaribo is dotted with lovely wooden buildings, some dating back to the 1820s. With their decorative second-story front porches, they are reminiscent of something you might see in New Orleans. The brick Fort Zeelandia dates to the 1600s and is surrounded by the impressive homes of the officers who once lived there. There was even a large, colonial-era structure that looked as if it was based on Philadelphia’s Independence Hall. We passed many impressive religious buildings, including a massive Hindu temple, a lovely Catholic cathedral made entirely of wood, and a synagogue and mosque that are next door neighbors and often share facilities. The history of the Jewish people in Suriname is quite interesting, as Portuguese, Italian, and Dutch Jews started settling here as far back as 1639, although very few of their descendants still call Suriname home. Suriname has a very multicultural society consisting of people of Indigenous American, African, European, Indonesian, Indian, and Chinese descent, or more often, a mix of some or all of these. That diversity is reflected in the cuisine, which we enjoyed during our languid lunch at a former cacao plantation. Our meal consisted of Chinese style noodles and fried rice, Indonesian bean sprouts and shrimp crackers, grilled chicken, a savory Indian inspired curry, and a potent pepper sauce. All in all, it was a brief but fascinating visit to a country that few people other than Dutch tourists get the opportunity to visit. Along with the meal, it was a savory sampler that left me craving more.
This morning, we were awoken by numerous gentle bumps of ice floes against our ship as we sailed along the outer coast. A belt of drifting ice was in our way as we headed towards Storfjord, the area for our morning activities. We went ashore in a landscape covered in the first snow of the year. Many guests chose to go for a long hike. Medium, short, and photo hikes were also offered. The snow kept falling as we walked across the white tundra. In the afternoon, plan A was to reach a very calm branch of Storfjord for kayaking and a Zodiac cruise. However, one of the naturalists spotted a polar bear on the shore of the innermost part of the fjord, and the planned activities naturally had to be changed to wildlife viewing! The bear was partly laying down, partly standing and hunting by the shoreline. The bear was obviously waiting for a possible seal to pop up in between the shore and the sea ice. After the amazing polar bear encounter, we enjoyed a Zodiac cruise in another branch of the fjord. The light was amazing, and we particularly enjoyed close looks at some beautiful icebergs. A bunch of friendly, polar bear-looking guys in a Zodiac served various delightful hot drinks at the end of our somewhat chilly outing.
We split into two teams today for the Mahaica River tour and the 7 Curries Cooking Class. It was an early start for the birders! The village of Mahaica was a 1.5 hour bus ride from Georgetown. Our birders crawled out of bed for a 4:30 am departure. We started early to maximise the cooler temperatures of the morning and to see the hoatzins and howler monkeys. From the buses, we watched the sunrise over fields with palm trees and colonial British houses. We arrived to the Mahaica River and set off on four little boats. We quickly found Guyana’s national bird, the “stink bird,” also known as the hoatzin. They are one of my favourite birds due to their tree-dwelling, stinky unusualness. The river was quiet and bursting with birdlife. We saw ringed kingfishers, brown-throated parakeets, and an abundance of flycatchers, including fork-tailed and boat-billed flycatchers. After our two hour boat cruise, we had breakfast in a local Hundu-Guyanian household. We stuffed ourselves with smoked aubergine, mackerel, and potato curry, using freshly made rotis to scoop up the deliciousness. Iguanas hung out in the trees, and our breakfast veranda overlooked the river. On the bus ride back to Georgetown, we spotted yellow-headed caracaras and the rufous crab hawk. In Georgetown, we took a short-city tour to see the mix of cultures in Guyana, including Indian, African, Spanish, English, and Venezuelan. The 7 Curries Cooking Class included a visit to a busy local market with fresh daily produce to pick out key ingredients, followed by a cooking demonstration at a traditional Georgetown home in the garden. Guests mixed a seven-spice masala. They were shown how to make seven delicious curries and had the chance to try every single one. Once back on ship, our amazing Costa Rican naturalist Max Vindas gave a phenomenal talk on, “Understanding the Tropical Rainforest.” Now, we’re off to Suriname!
The question of the day: Kiap qimmit anisikkamigit? Or, in English, “Who let the dogs out?” We spent the morning in the only community in this part of Greenland: Ittoqqortoormiit. Here, the puppies run free, and the adults wait for a good seal meal when the winter ice comes. In the afternoon, we headed farther into Scoresby Sund for some walks ashore and our first taste of wild East Greenland.
