It is astonishing how fast a ship becomes a home. Even after a small handful of days one develops a sense of familiarity that takes exponentially longer to acquire on land. Maybe it’s that the time spent aboard is spent luxuriating and doing whatever one wants while at the same time travelling over great distances. Perhaps it’s that all of one’s possessions that are accessible for the duration of the voyage are tidily unpacked all in one spot. But more likely is the instant sense of community that gels and permeates throughout a group of likeminded globe-trotters. For many, the National Geographic Explorer is as familiar as a perfectly fitted shoe, providing comfort and style while allowing for explorations that we would otherwise be a touch too tender to venture without. That first step up the gangway brings back all the wonderful memories that veteran guests have experienced, while still providing that invigorating rush of adventures to come for anyone just being welcomed into the Lindblad Expeditions-National Geographic family.
Still very far south we are escorted by equally worldly wanderers, in the shape of several different species of albatross. Steeple Jason, one of the outermost islands of the Falklands, was still visible in the morning light and is home to over 100,000 black-browed albatross. They effortlessly glide around us, soaring dynamically up and down to the very surface of the water, their six-foot wingspan almost slicing into the sea. These creatures are true seabirds, only returning to land to nest. They spend the majority of their lives on the wing before loyally returning to the island they were born on to court and then breed. Like Odysseus, they return from the far reaches of the globe, somehow navigating through a wild and dangerous world to their own fair Ithaca. While we leave them behind on our own odyssey of chasing the horizon, it is hard to resist the sirens’ call that is this magnificent part of the planet. Thankfully home is where the heart is as they say, and this ship has certainly won most of ours as we head ever northwards.
