Isla Magdalena and The Best of Adventures
Today is the last day of our trip aboard the Sea Bird. It has been a week that my son (ten years old) and I will remember for the rest of our lives. Every aspect of the expedition exceeded our expectations, starting with the fact that the expedition itself was unexpected. We never thought that we would win a contest sponsored by National Geographic by defining the word “adventure” in fifteen words (in Spanish). We had read about the blue whale, but in our minds we thought we would never see one in our lifetime. Instead we saw three of them during our first morning at sea! We had seen sea lions playing underwater—on TV; we never thought it possible that we would actually be there. We saw two other species of whales, the humpback and the gray (with very close encounters of the latter). Most of all, meeting such talented people as the naturalists and lecturers onboard allowed us to learn a lot about biology, environmental policy, history and economics. Also, of special importance to me (and a very nice surprise), I had the opportunity to learn more about nature photography from one of the best practitioners of this discipline in Mexico.
A whole week with my son, without cell phone or email, was by itself very valuable.
But maybe the best of the adventures was inside ourselves. Our appreciation of the world’s beauty helps us understand ourselves better as humans. It further helps us understand the enormous responsibility we have as one of the species that evolved by adapting itself to this world, but is now adapting the world to itself.
Congratulations to all the crew and staff of the Sea Bird, National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions.
Today is the last day of our trip aboard the Sea Bird. It has been a week that my son (ten years old) and I will remember for the rest of our lives. Every aspect of the expedition exceeded our expectations, starting with the fact that the expedition itself was unexpected. We never thought that we would win a contest sponsored by National Geographic by defining the word “adventure” in fifteen words (in Spanish). We had read about the blue whale, but in our minds we thought we would never see one in our lifetime. Instead we saw three of them during our first morning at sea! We had seen sea lions playing underwater—on TV; we never thought it possible that we would actually be there. We saw two other species of whales, the humpback and the gray (with very close encounters of the latter). Most of all, meeting such talented people as the naturalists and lecturers onboard allowed us to learn a lot about biology, environmental policy, history and economics. Also, of special importance to me (and a very nice surprise), I had the opportunity to learn more about nature photography from one of the best practitioners of this discipline in Mexico.
A whole week with my son, without cell phone or email, was by itself very valuable.
But maybe the best of the adventures was inside ourselves. Our appreciation of the world’s beauty helps us understand ourselves better as humans. It further helps us understand the enormous responsibility we have as one of the species that evolved by adapting itself to this world, but is now adapting the world to itself.
Congratulations to all the crew and staff of the Sea Bird, National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions.
