Sure, you may have sauntered in the temperate, tropical waters with humpback whales in Australia or Hawaii but swimming with orcas dwarfed by imposing glaciers and surrounding Norway’s icy oceans is next level exhilaration.
Both swimming with orcas and the Northern Lights are two experiences that usually feature at the top of most people’s bucket list and now you can get ‘twofer’ with eco-tourism company Majestic Whale Encounters who are offering both experiences in November.
The expedition starts as travellers embark the MS Stonstad, where six days are spent sailing through the stunning surroundings of the Norwegian Fjords before taking to the water to freely swim alongside the largest of the dolphin family – orca whales. Onboard the MS Stonstad passengers can treat themselves to a soak in the hot tub or enjoy the comforts of the central heating whilst waiting for a glimpse of the enchanting northern lights before disembarking at the town of Tromsø.
Once on land, guests will have the opportunity to participate in a husky safari and reindeer experience before retreating to the quaint cabins nestled at the base of Tromsø’s breathtaking mountains for a warming aquavit, seagull egg, or tørrfisk (dried cod).
The Majestic Whale Encounters’ Norway tour package includes six days onboard with all transfers, meals, orca swim, reindeer encounter, husky safari, Northern Lights tour and three nights accommodation in Tromsø. Get packing!
When you slide into Cenderawasih Bay from the inflatable Zodiac, the first thing you’ll see is the colossal gaping mouth of the world’s largest fish. Those formidably sized jaws – they look big enough that one enthusiastic inhalation will suck you into the shark’s gullet – belie the gentle nature of these docile giants.
Finning alongside bespeckled creatures the size of a school bus is an extraordinary moment to treasure forever. Fishermen from Kwatisore village have developed a relationship with the whale sharks that congregate year round in this bay in West Papua.
The giant fish are attracted to the bycatch from the fishermen’s bagan platforms – they’re like large anchored outrigger boats – where nets are lowered each evening to lure bait fish with bright lights. Fishermen believe the whale sharks bring good fortune and reward them with anchovies when a catch is particularly successful. Working with the World Wildlife Fund, fishermen record daily sightings to help monitor the sharks’ numbers and identify any potential threats.
Because these are wild creatures whose appearance is not guaranteed, this long-term relationship between whale sharks and fishermen improves the opportunity for Coral Expedition guests to swim with the largest fish in the sea. You’ll be wowed by the experience.
More than 40 years ago, one Kenyan family decided to do something practical for the threatened wildlife of its country and so the Sheldrick Wildlife Trust was born. As well as full range of conservation projects, the trust runs one of the most successful elephant rescue and rehabilitation programs anywhere in the world. To date, the carers have raised and re-introduced to the wild, more than 240 elephants and about 17 rhinoceroses.
Not surprisingly, visiting the orphan babies – some of them have lost their mothers to poaching, others have been found down wells – is one of the most popular attractions in Nairobi. Each day, for precisely one hour at 11am, guests are invited to see them drink their milk and have a mud bath.
It can all get pretty messy and noisy. The babies trumpet to one another, flop into the red pool and spray the mud over themselves and whoever happens to be standing nearby. During the whole adorable event, there’s commentary from one of the keepers about the work of the trust.
You might do a double take when you first spot the Bush Rover Company’s luxury mobile suite.
Forget soggy canvas tents, unzippable sleeping bags and drab cabins, the Bush Rover comes equipped with a stunning elevated bedroom and balcony, tasteful wood-panelled bathroom (complete with bath) and spiral staircase, as well as solar power to full hot water, lights and power sockets – you’ll need to recharge your camera batteries, after all.
This go-anywhere LandRover comes fully functional and equipped to ensure a luxurious and unforgettable African safari. But when its not traversing the vast plains of the Serengeti, rumbling through the Ngorgongoro Highlands or attempting crossings at the mighty Grumeti River, its transformation into a chic rooftop dwelling is something to behold.
Unlike fixed camps and lodges, the Bush Rover can move as often as the wildebeest migrate. The camp simply folds up and moves to the next exciting Serengeti destination leaving no trace.
The Bush Rover Company allows you to experience a safari without limitations – you can be as flexible as you want and, most importantly, you don’t have to return to a base camp at the end of every day.
Given the opportunity to cover so much more of the African landscape than on a traditional safari, you can head into isolated, remote pockets of the wilderness that aren’t normally visited. Everything is then packed up with the vehicle and carried on to your next destination, which could be anywhere along the Tanzanian migration route.
It’s the closest thing you may ever get to a sleepover with lions, elephants and wildebeest!
When it comes to Finland, ski slopes and saunas are two things that are synonymous with the territory. But what about a sauna, built into a gondola floating above a snow-slathered mountain? Throw in some heavy metal music and traditional karelian pies (they’re filled with rice or mashed potato normally and topped with hard-boiled eggs), and you have yourself the ultimate Finnish experience.
Get your Finn on at Sport Resort Ylläs, where snow bunnies can unwind in the Ylläs 1 Gondola after a day carving up the slopes. The world’s first suspended sauna cruises a two-kilometre line, treating up to four riders at a time with 20 minutes of spectacular views of Lapland’s powder-white landscape.
Skiers looking for extra respite should book a two-hour package and soak in the outdoor hot tub at Café Gondola 718 (where there’s another sauna if you haven’t got sweaty enough), situated on the mountaintop. It can be enjoyed privately by up to a dozen guests.
As Coral Adventurer drops anchor off Syuru village, the ship is surrounded by war canoes paddled by standing warriors dressed in full tribal regalia. Once feared for their cannibalism – they purportedly used human skulls as pillows – their gesticulating towards guests is more friendly than formidable.
On its Papua New Guinea circumnavigation, Coral Expeditions includes a visit to Syuri village using the ship’s specially designed Xplorer tenders to take passengers ashore. The women of the village welcome guests with a traditional dance before travellers are invited into a longhouse to view the artworks for which the region is famous.
Located on the flood-prone delta of Asewets River, buildings are constructed on stilts a couple of metres above the ground and are connected by elevated boardwalks. Negotiating the rickety ladder-like steps into the longhouse requires steady concentration. The striking artworks of the Asmat have found their way from the coastal villages of New Guinea into art collections and museums in New York and Amsterdam. These elaborately stylised wood carvings, artefacts and shields are highly prized for their exquisite motifs honouring Asmat ancestors.
Later, guests explore the town of Agats, a former mission station, where the Asmat Museum of Culture and Progress showcases a large collection of antiquities. There’s also the chance to purchase exquisite artworks direct from the craftsmen at the village of Syuru.
It’s something of a rite of passage for those who cruise to Antarctica. Generally, leaving the decks of the ship would mean rugging up and donning a waterproof top layer. But adrenaline junkies on board do the exact opposite when they choose to take the polar plunge.
There’s no dipping your toes to test the temperature. No wetsuits to offer a hint of resistance to the cold. Participants are simply tied to the deck then it’s one, two, three and in for all those who choose to take the polar plunge.
Of course, everyone who has chosen to stay warm(er) and dry gathers on the deck with their cameras, giving the atmosphere a definite buzz.
What to expect? Well, your heart will be pounding in anticipation then seconds after hitting the water you’ll feel as though all the air has been pummelled out of your lungs. Then you’ll be heading straight for the ladder out since the water in these southern parts is usually about –2ºC.
Grab a towel then head straight for the hot spa and contemplate your next icecapade. When the ship arrives at Deception Bay, there’s the chance to leap into this sheltered harbour from the shore.
Raja Ampat is a bejewelled Indonesian archipelago whose islands are rimmed by dazzling white-sand beaches lapped by an emerald sea. With 1500 islands straddling the equator and a foot in both the southern and northern hemispheres, Raja Ampat is renowned for its natural beauty.
The best way to discover this remote region is by travelling expedition-style on a small ship cruise among little-visited treasures like Misool, Kofiau and Wayag Islands.
The stone gardens of Misool stretch across hundreds of saltwater lagoons where guests can swim, snorkel and kayak among mushroom-like weathered islands undercut by the sea. Birdwatchers are spoiled for twitching opportunities at Kofiau Island, where lush tropical rainforest is home to endemic species like the Kofiau paradise kingfisher and Kofiau monarch. Small villages are dotted across the islands. Guests are welcomed into village life or they can relax on the beach or snorkel through vividly coloured coral gardens.
Wayag Islands are a similarly picturesque island group renowned for magnificent marine life and limestone outcrops clad in vegetation that clings determinedly to near-vertical cliffs. Energetic guests can hike to the summit of Mt Pindito where they are rewarded with unforgettable views over this stunning island group.
Stepping ashore at the coastal village of Tana Beru on Sulawesi’s south coast, the first thing you’ll notice are the finely crafted timber hulls of traditional pinisi boats on the beach. They poke out through the coconut palm canopy in various stages of construction.
As you wander through laneways the steady ‘thunk’ of timber being struck creates an ear-pleasing soundtrack to village life. Skilled craftsmen scamper across hulls and teeter upon bamboo scaffolding as these vessels emerge on to the beach without blueprints – their builders follow memorised plans by master shipwrights and passed down through generations.
Early pinisi trading ships were strictly sail-powered, carving an elegant swathe across the sea as sails billowed with the trade winds, but these days are more likely to have an engine.
Take the opportunity during a shore excursion to clamber into the timber hulls of these magnificent vessels and admire the elegant lines created by hand-hewed planks caulked with coconut husk fibre. UNESCO recognises the cultural significance of boat building, alongside Indonesian batik and shadow puppetry, in South Sulawesi as part of a millennia-long seafaring tradition by Bugis and Makassan mariners.
An archipelago known as the Islands of Love is always going to attract attention. Polish anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski can take responsibility for drawing attention to the dating rituals of Trobriand Islanders. In the early 1900s he was intrigued by matrilineal courting customs of women and men of this Papua New Guinea island group where the females were actively encouraged to pursue blokes who took their fancy.
Malinowski was equally fascinated by the tradition known as the kula exchange, which remains little changed today. Men risk their lives sailing across open seas in rudimentary canoes to trade trinkets decorated with shells in a complex hierarchy of promises and pacts to improve their social status. A kula ring is formed as each receiver passes on the gift to another, creating a constantly evolving circle.
But shells are much more than trading currency – they are equally significant as decorations.
As passengers alight from the Coral Adventurer and step ashore at Kuiawa Island, shells adorn the islanders waiting on the beach. Ladies wear elaborately dyed grass skirts, their waistbands bejewelled with cowry shells. Shells dangle from beaded belts slung around wispy waists. Men’s biceps are bound with decorated armbands. Strings of shells and beads dance upon the chests of foot-stomping youngsters whose exuberant dancing ensures the culture-rich Trobriand Islands are an unforgettable destination on Coral Expeditions’ Papua New Guinea cruises departing from Cairns and Darwin.
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