A journey can have several beginnings, but usually has only one ending. This expedition began just a week ago in St. Johns, Newfoundland—where we will end tomorrow. However, this ship, National Geographic Explorer, has made a much greater journey in distance and time this northern hemisphere summer. The two main anchor points for expeditions aboard this vessel are at the poles. She spends November through March each year in Antarctic waters and then swiftly crosses the equatorial area of the globe on her way to the Arctic. The Arctic season began in Copenhagen in Northern Europe in late May and continued up the coast of Norway and on to Svalbard, from there across the North Atlantic to Iceland-Greenland—Baffin Island—then south to Labrador and Newfoundland and on further south to Nova Scotia.
Today we visited the French overseas dependency, St. Pierre et Miquelon, originally a Basque and French fishing hamlet with a colored history all its own. We were for all intents and purposes in Europe though, and it was a nice end to a full summer voyage for the ship that began in Copenhagen four months ago.
