Special Adventures on the Ultramarine

     Beyond the usual zodiac tours, shore landings, and even kayaking on the Southern Greenland itinerary, the Ultramarine offers a handful of quite unique experiences for additional charge.

          -  The Camping experience was not the usual out-after-dinner and back-before-breakfast sort of experience.  It was a full 24-hour affair.  Travelers went out in the late afternoon, meeting a local group of Inuit for dinner at the campsite.  They indulged in a variety of local fare - including reindeer meat, tundra salad, etc - before setting up camp for the night.  The following day they fished for local trout and cooked it up right on the spot for lunch.

         -  The Alpine Kayaking group headed for high ground via helicopter, where they enjoyed a kayaking experience in an alpine lake.

         -  The Mountain Biking group struck off for an afternoon of biking on mostly gravel road surfaces, connecting a couple small villages beneath dramatic mountains.

    Of course, with so many active adventures on offer, and so many staff-heavy helicopter operations, there were record numbers of guides and naturalists on board this particular itinerary.  One upside of this was the constant availability of guides and naturalists to sit with at dinner, or converse with during break times.  These conversations are always a highlight of these expedition-style cruises, as we always seem to meet folks with similar backgrounds.  Sure enough, we ran into a fellow alumni of McMurdo Station with shared experiences, and shared friendships.