“Alone, alone all, all alone. Alone on a wide wide sea, never a saint take pity on me, my soul in agony. The ice was here, the ice was there, the ice was all around, it cracked and growled and roared and howled, like voices in a swound.“
These words from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, a poem written by Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1834, comes to mind as our great ship National Geographic Explorer sails into Kayak Bay on the ice continent of Antarctica.
Positioned at chosen vantage points around the ship, guests were taking in the serenity, beauty and mystique of this untouched, unexplored wonder of the world.
The events of today were numerous, ranging from viewing towering ice and snow mountains, to enormous icebergs. Then there was the wildlife – leopard seals, killer whales, humpback whales, gentoo penguins, snowy petrels, skuas, southern fulmars and many more.
And just to add more excitement to the already eventful day, we met up with our baby sister ship, National Geographic Endurance in the Errera Channel. This ship is a new addition to Lindblad Expeditions‘ blue water fleet, and it was great to see our founder Sven Lindblad and his wife Kristin standing proud on the Bridge and waving to friends on our ship.
As a man from the South Pacific Islands, I am in awe of the beauty of this very majestic and spiritual place, knowing that my ancestors once (hundreds of years ago) traversed this part of the world on their voyaging canoes.
It was a happy day for guests on this voyage on board our ship. Its time to celebrate all that was experienced today with a cocktail at recap in the lounge.
Cheers, Lindblad Expeditions. Well Done.
