Ever since Christopher Columbus discovered that his route to the Orient was blocked by a new and unexpected continent, the quest for a Northwest Passage – a sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific around the New World’s northern extremities – has been the dream of explorers and adventurers. Drake, Cook and Hudson were among the early seafarers who joined the search, but it was not until the 19th century that arctic exploration hit its peak with England leading the way. The twin arctic quests of the discovering a Northwest Passage and reaching the North Pole became a matter of great national prestige and pride.
Throughout the 19th century dozens of ships and hundreds of men ventured into the vast, unexplored Polar Regions. The tales of their heroic but often ill-fated expeditions provide some of the most thrilling adventure stories ever written. Perhaps the most well-known was the ill-fated Franklin expedition in which Sir John Franklin and his 128 man party left England in 1845 in search of the Northwest Passage and vanished into the Arctic forever. Over a dozen relief expeditions were launched to find the Franklin party but they, too, were unsuccessful, many resulting in further loss of life. It was not until 1905 that Roald Amundsen, a Norwegian, would complete the first successful navigation of the Northwest Passage. Four years later, in 1909, Robert Peary, an American, claimed the North Pole.
In any discussion of the great polar explorers, we should not fail to mention our own son-in-law, Whit Jackson who, as a young college student, spent a summer crossing the high Arctic in a walrus-skin umiak with a National Geographic expedition team, attempting to retrace the migration route of the native Thule Inuit people from Alaska to Greenland a thousand years earlier. Certainly Whit deserves to be included in any panoply of heroic Arctic explorers.
Today, one hundred years after Amundsen and Peary, commercial ships make seasonal transits of the Northwest Passage, giant nuclear submarines patrol the seas below the Arctic ice cap and tourists arrive on giant ice breakers to have their photos taken at the North Pole. Fast forwarding another one hundred years, ships may well be traveling in open waters from Europe to the Far East over the North Pole, if global warming continues at its current pace.
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
2 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.