My wife and I recently returned from a cruise of a lifetime aboard the Explorer. My wife and I have during our 41 years of marriage have traveled a large percentage of the world, from Africa to Asia, the Arctic and beyond. The 20 days we spent aboard the Explorer cruising to the Falklands, South Georgia islands and the Antarctica continent itself has to be the most enjoyable and memorable trip yet. We arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina and were met at the airport by Linblad employees who made certain we encountered no problems making our way through the airport and eventually on to our first nights hotel stay in the city. After a couple of days in Buenos Aires, relaxing and taking part in the exploration of the city, we boarded a charter flight to Ushuaia.

Our stowed luggage aboard the plane was allowed to weigh up to 57 pounds, with a weight restriction on carry on baggage of 17 pounds. As a professional photographer, the carry on weight restriction caused me to be a bit apprehensive as my camera with varied lenses was well over the weight limit and I will not ship camera equipment through checked luggage. This was the only moment of stress I experienced on the entire trip, but the problem was solved by wearing my photographer's vest which has LOTS of pockets. My advise is, if you carry a camera just to take vacation photos, take a smaller camera with a fixed zoom lens. Some guests carried nothing more than iPhones and were disappointed because they were unable to capture whales and Orcas that were seen at a distance. The majority of wildlife upon the shore excursions are relatively close, so these types of cameras are fine usually. But if you want quality images at a distance you will need a camera that has a lens with good reach. I brought two cameras in case one failed I would have a back up. I also carried two different lenses, a 100-400 mm and a wide angle 16-35mm. They proved to be exactly what was needed as I could capture images at a distance as well as close up.

Upon arrival at Ushuaia we were bused to the port to board the National Geographic Ship Explorer and our adventure began. Our cabin was exceptionally clean and well laid out. Two new expedition parkas still in their wrapping were laying on our bed waiting for us. The Parkas were ours to keep and were commemorative 100 year anniversary collectables of the Earnest Shackleton expedition. Read more