PLA32-20 Antarctic Peninsula, Basecamp

This was the trip of a lifetime and the Crew and Hotel Staff took every opportunity to make that happen. The excursions were the main activities, kayaks moving between the ice or watching out for a whale, patiently waiting in the Zodiak for whale to pass under you or a leopard seal to slide right past your side of the Zodiak, standing still while a Gentoo penguin pecked your leg, the crew can't make these acts of nature happen but they have the experience to know how to give you the best opportunity to be a part of these experiences. The Crew Leader of this Expedition Iain assembled an outstanding team with years of experience and knowledge that was impressive but the way they shared this knowledge is what made the difference to me. They live and breathe what they were imparting to us and therefore it was like sharing knowledge and experience rather than a teacher standing in front of a classroom. When we learned that we would not be able to dock in Ushuaia as Argentina closed their country Iain took his leadership role to new heights by sharing openly what our course of action would be. Since the trip would be longer than expected his team stepped up and went above and beyond.