Discovery Cruises

Expedition cruising is as much about activities for the mind as well as the body.

 

A hallmark of expedition cruising is learning, discovery and enrichment. Expedition cruise companies excel in providing knowledgeable, expert lecturers and guides to help you extract maximum benefit from your new environment, whether it's the vivid nudibranchs hiding in the coral, a perplexing cultural ritual or a historical overview of a tiny ice-locked island deep in the arctic.

Many lecturers become minor celebrities on board and you can expect to find authors, explorers, veterans, academics, scientists and media personalities filed among the ranks. We speak to three prominent guides and lecturers who regularly travel with cruise vessels around the globe.

Diminutive doctor Nancy Sullivan, a consultant anthropologist, has spent the past 20 years living and working in Papua New Guinea among the people she has grown to love. Nancy's affection for the resilient, colourful and resourceful Melanesian people is obvious in her animated presentations. She speaks in fluent pidgin to the adults and children, and before long you'll see her draped in infant islanders transfixed by her alabaster skin, blue eyes and blonde hair.

"Tourism is good for Papua New Guinea," repeats Nancy, almost as a mantra. "It brings much-needed funds to remote communities, encourages them to maintain a traditional lifestyle and prevents young men, in particular, from having to work in cities where they are subject to many dangerous influences."

The affable Mick Fogg has a background in marine biology, zoology and chemistry, and a seemingly insatiable appetite for more knowledge and research. Despite his arsenal of academic qualifications, Mick has the gift of communicating simply and clearly without condescension. He is a regular aboard MV Orion, but has also guided and lectured aboard Coral Princess vessels.

"People [aboard expedition ships] are looking for a full experience behind their travels," says Mick. "They want the whole story, not just another photo for their album. They're asking questions and filling in gaps in their own understanding and often sharing their knowledge - just don't ask me about global warming!"

Robert (Bob) Headland is a charming anachronism of a man. A specialist in polar history from the august Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge, he's tall, bombastic and possesses a wit as sharp as the katabatic winds. But, you'll quickly find his haughty air is all theatre and he loves nothing more than to chat about his vast wealth of polar experience over a whisky or three.

In the true spirit of adventure, when the Quark Expeditions-chartered icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov attempted its farthest south by vessel, Bob led a second party by Zodiac, which furthered the record. "It took almost 100 years to break Fridtjof Nansen's record, so I wanted to really drive it home. Magnificent seaman as [Nansen] was, I think it's about time an Englishman reclaimed that one!"

Written by Roderick Eime, Issue 25 Spring 2006