Expect to be amazed and overawed: your Antarctica expedition is going to be purely magical.

In Antarctica, expect the unexpected

There’s no such thing as a “typical day” in Antarctica, and that’s because Antarctica isn’t your typical destination!

The land of snow and pack ice, freezing winds and strong currents is a land that’s defined by nature, seasonal differences and daily – sometimes, hourly – climatic changes.

All Antarctic expedition cruises follow an ‘intended route’ with pre-determined landing points, but, on the actual day, anything is possible. But never fear, Antarctic expedition crews are outstandingly experienced: when a specific landing site becomes inaccessible, they will simply find another!

On a fabulous day, you can enjoy between 2 (standard) and 4 landings. On bad days, you won’t be able to set foot on land at all. In this case, you’ll get to enjoy the phenomenal spectacle from the comfort and warmth of your expedition ship instead. Let us assure you, this is not a bad compromise!

One day in a truly extraordinary place –what an average (and flexible) day in Antarctica will entail:

Early wake-up!

The sound of the anchor descending into the frosty depths of the Arctic waters is usually your wake-up call at around 5am. Expedition ships do most of their travelling at night, rocking you (sort of) gently to sleep while driving you to a beautiful spot. If you’re an early riser you can head up to the deck to soak up the views, grab a hot cup of coffee and a freshly-baked muffin to tide you over until breakfast. If not, lounge in bed a little longer until breakfast is served.

7-8am Breakfast Time

Breakfast is usually served buffet-style, with a choice of cold and hot treats. Make sure you fill up as you’ll need plenty of energy today!

There’s always a wonderful, excited vibe in the air at brekky time, as everyone anticipates the delights to be seen and experienced. Make sure you leave plenty of time to get changed into your excursion gear: the action starts pronto!

8-11.30am First On-land Excursion

Don your rubber boots and extra-warm jacket, step on the gangplank and take a crewmember’s hand to get on the Zodiac (rubber ducky) that’ll take you ashore.

After the first few days, the group will have the line-up and hop-on process down to a fine art!

If you weren’t fully awake at breakfast time, you certainly will be when the freezing Antarctic wind hits your face at double-speed! Perhaps you’ll have a colony of penguins awaiting your arrival or maybe a whale will escort you there. No time to ponder though, the boats must zip back and forth to make sure every guest is on land in a jiffy to maximise their excursion time.

Your activities here will depend on where you are but typically, you’ll have a couple of hours to explore, take plenty of photos of waddling penguins and sunbathing seals then walk to a nearby vantage point to soak up sweeping views.

11.30am – 1.30pm Lunch is Served

You’re surprisingly hungry again. How does that happen? Lunch is served and you tuck into a delicious lamb steak, expertly grilled by the crew on the back-deck BBQ.

As you sit back and relax, reliving your morning wildlife encounters, you order a glass of Argentinian vino as you hear the anchor being retracted. The ship begins its short voyage to your next landing spot.

You’ve heard that life in Antarctica is tough…..but not from where you’re sitting!

1.30 – 3.30pm Second On-land Excursion

Time to put that outer gear on again: it’s second landing time!

This afternoon, you’ll visit a scientific research station where you’ll get to meet some of the crew and learn about life in this beautiful but brutal environmental. They’ll share details of the work they carry out here so you can learn more about the importance of this amazing continent and the implications of the research that’s carried out.

3.30-7pm Relaxing Afternoon

Back on board your expedition ship, the Captain announces that there will be no more landings for the day. You change into your comfortable clothes and either take your book to the library for some downtime, join the excellent lecture on Antarctic history in the lecture room or, perhaps, sit on the back deck as the ship begins to move, just to soak up the sights of Antarctica gliding right past you.

6pm Sunset

If you visit Antarctica at a time of year where the sun actually sets, this is the most magical moment of all, and one your Captain will not miss!

Your ship negotiates a narrow channel, flanked on both sides by steep icy cliffs where leopard seals sleep. They’ve noticed your arrival and keep their eyes on you as you spot a humpback whale breaching a short distance away.

The horizon and landscape turn a dusty shade of pink, then a fiery red as you feel the temperature drop. But you wouldn’t think of going inside now – the show is magnificent and you don’t want to miss a mere moment.

7-8.30pm Dinner is Served

Your a-la-carte dinner tonight includes a decadent crème brûlée for dessert which you enjoy while swapping stories and photos of the day’s outings with other passengers. 

Later, attend the after-dinner lecture about penguins, watch a movie in the common lounge or retire to the lounge bar with your newfound friends.

How to get there

Most Antarctic expeditions depart from Ushuaia, Argentina –  the Southern tip of South America –  although a few times every summer, special expeditions depart from Hobart, Tasmania!

These trips are longer (having three times the amount of distance to cover) and more costly given the added fuel and time needed, but are also much more immersive, taking guests to the remote Eastern side of the Antarctic Peninsula, where other ships don’t go.

Depending on your ship, it will carry between 100-200 guests and can offer anything from a pool, spa, sauna and fitness centre to a hair salon and casino!

Chose an adventure style cruise offering camping and kayaking, or a more relaxing cruise including Turkish hammam (yes please!) and theatre room!

No matter which way you chose to travel, a trip to Antarctica is unlike anything else and one you won’t forget. With climate change affecting this continent rapidly, what better time then now to visit this magical wonder!

To book an incredible Antarctic cruise, call Rosie at Mosaic Travel on (03) 5275 4583

The post Expedition Antarctic – What To Expect on an Antarctic Cruise appeared first on Mosaic Travel.

Where on Earth are the Galapagos, anyway? How do you get there and how does one get around and meet all these fantastical creatures?

One unforgettable step at a time. That’s how!

What and where are the Galapagos?

The Galapagos Islands belong to Ecuador and sit about 1000km off the country’s Western shores. To reach this fiercely protected archipelago, you must fly either from Quito (the Ecuadorian capital) or the seaside town of Guayaquil.

The Galapagos are volcanic in nature and surrounded by mineral-rich waters which attract a large variety of birds and an abundance of marine life. The volcanic activity together with the extreme isolation of the Islands, led to the development of unusual animal life which inspired Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection after his visit in 1835.

UNESCO have added the Galapagos to it’s World heritage list calling it a ‘living museum and showcase of evolution’. These 21 Islands are teeming with wildlife but only a few inhabited by man.

What kind of animals can you see in the Galapagos?

Expect to see an array of unique wildlife not found anywhere else on Earth!

Wildlife encounters in the Galapagos are an absolute guarantee and, because animals haven’t been hunted here for decades, they are unafraid and rather curious!

You don’t just spot iguanas, giant tortoises and colourful birds in the Galapagos, you have to walk around, beside and carefully over them! Especially the sea lions, who take up prime position on the beach!

You’ll snorkel with curious seals and dive deep with hammerhead sharks. See hundreds of unique bird species and recognise animals from all those wildlife documentaries you’ve watched. Except in the Galapagos, you’ll feel like you’re living in one!

Best time to go to the Galapagos

It is always a good time to visit the Galapagos! Depending on what you would like to see and do, every month is a winner for one reason or another.

The Equator runs through these Islands but they are anything but tropical. Both the sea and wind currents can be chilly and, although there’s plenty of luscious wilderness, it just doesn’t feel like the tropics. Expect temperatures to hover around 24C degree all year long.

The rainy season lasts from December to May with the rain lowering underwater visibility for divers. But, water and air temperatures are higher at this time.

Wildlife events – nesting and birthing of turtles, courtship of various birds and migration of certain marine life (humpback whales!) – are dictated by seasons, so if there’s a specific event you want to see, you can time your visit accordingly.

The bad news is that no matter when you visit the Galapagos, you simply won’t be able to experience everything this magical place has to offer. The fantastic news, however, is that no matter the time of year, there will always be an incredible event to witness.

Getting around the Galapagos

Although there are some options for land-based visits, the best way to experience the Galapagos is on a short cruise.

Distances are considerable, and if you base yourself on one of the few Islands that allow it, you’ll only have options for a few day trips to other Islands with most of the day spent travelling to and from.

On a typical day of a Galapagos cruise, you’ll wake up at sunrise after having calmly sailed through the night. Anchor by a stunning uninhabited island and after a delicious breakfast, it’s time to disembark the ship and explore!

Every Island on the Galapagos offers something unique: be it a specific colony of birds, resident tortoises, historic sites, stunning beaches or sensational hiking trails. Mornings are usually spent exploring an Island on foot whilst the afternoons are usually dedicated to water sports like SCUBA diving, snorkelling and swimming, so you can explore the underwater World of the Galapagos.

After a day of exploring, enjoy a refreshing drink on the deck, soak up the sights around you and recap the day’s encounters.

The Galapagos are a magical, natural wonderland. No two days are ever the same here, with each stop offering a wealth of great things to see and do and always leaving you in awe.

To book an exciting trip to The Galapagos,

call Rosie at Mosaic Travel on (03) 5275 4583

The post Ultimate Galapagos Guide appeared first on Mosaic Travel.

When you start planning your once-in-a-lifetime Amazon adventure, you’ll come to a crossroad: should you choose a lodge-based adventure deep in the heart of the rainforest or would it be better to cruise along the Amazon River and its numerous branches instead?

Every decision you make about your tour of the Amazon will be consequential to this first choice. Both travel methods offer sensational benefits unique to each other and, as expected, there are also a few downsides.

To decide which option is best for you, ask yourself these questions before planning an Amazon adventure:

• How much comfort do you need in the Amazon, one of the most challenging ecosystems on Earth?
• What is your budget for your Amazon adventure?
• How active are you normally, and how active would you like to be on your trip?
• What time of year will you travel? In the Amazon, water levels are crucial to choosing your travel style.
• How flexible can you be in regards to your travel dates?
• How immersive would you like your Amazon experience to be?

Experience the Amazon by River Cruise

The Pros

Amazon cruises have become increasingly popular, given they offer the kind of luxury and comforts most travellers used to fantasise about.

The Amazon is amazing, that’s true, but it’s also extremely harsh. It can be unbearably hot and humid and an unrelentingly challenge, where a million creepy crawlies constantly remind you that this is a place governed by nature, not man! Amazon river cruises offer a respite to all that, in between phenomenal excursions and adventures.

At the end of a long day exploring the wilderness by canoe or on foot, searching for sloths, toucans, monkeys and anacondas, it’s just heavenly to come back to an air-conditioned cabin, have a refreshing shower and enjoy a gourmet dinner in absolute comfort.

On a luxury cruise boat, you can enjoy a magnificent Amazonian sunrise from the comfort of your bed, as the scenery glides past your floor-to-ceiling window as if on a film reel. 

The Cons

So, what’s the downside? Well, all this comfort and luxury comes at a cost: Luxury Amazon cruises are certainly more expensive than many lodge-based adventures.

Cruises also depart on certain dates, follow a certain itinerary and can’t be changed. Your independence, in this sense, is compromised and you have to plan your travel around the cruise dates and accept their itineraries.

Experience the Amazon by Lodge-based adventure

The Pros

Many travellers dream of an Amazon adventure their entire life: of being surrounded by wild animals and overwhelming wilderness, of feeling like a true adventurer exploring the jungle with a machete in one hand and a bandana in the other, swinging from vines while roaring like Tarzan!

If this sounds like you, then a lodge-based Amazon adventure has your name all over it! 

The lodges are gorgeous places to stay, some of them set in stunning remote Amazonian locations.

Lodge-based journeys are immersive to the max, making you feel at one with nature and giving you an unfiltered Amazonian experience, bugs and all! Choose to stay in a lodge and you’ll be surrounded by it on all sides, seeing monkeys as you enjoy your breakfast and falling asleep to the sounds of the jungle.

Your adventure will be when you want and for however long you want. You’ll have total travel control following whichever itinerary you wish.

Lodge-based Amazon adventures can be the stuff of lifelong dreams.

The Cons

No matter how luxurious the lodge, a few basic rules remain: electricity is limited, insects are not, air-con is hard to come by and meals are a lot more basic than the kind you’re served on cruises. 

Eco-lodges in the Amazon build their beautiful thatched-roof huts with sustainable natural materials, which unfortunately allow insects to crawl through, although mosquito-netting and fans will ensure you won’t be feasted upon at night.

Top-end lodges still won’t give much reprieve from the Amazonian conditions and come in at a steep price!

Amazon Adventures – Other Things to Consider

Water levels can vary dramatically throughout the year and determine which way you will experience the Amazon despite your personal needs and wishes.

During high water levels, on-land excursions are curbed and here is where cruising reigns supreme. You can reach deeper into the Amazon rainforest than ever before, exploring various river off shoots and regions where no lodges have been built.

If you manage to reach a remote lodge to stay in, you simply won’t be able to get around much on foot, leaving you to explore by canoe.

50/50 There are also options for a 50-50 compromise, where you spend a few nights in a beautiful lodge to soak up that wondrous wild experience and then cap off your adventure in style on a cruise for a few nights. What a wonderful way to experience both!

It (almost) doesn’t matter! I’ve never met anyone who’s travelled to the Amazon and regretted the experience, no matter how much they spent or how much they suffered the heat and humidity.

The Amazon is the South American bucket-list destination that has the ability to change the way you think about the World, the way you consider nature, our planet’s wilderness and all the wonderful creatures that inhabit it.

It is an astounding place to visit, no matter how, where and when.

So choose for you: for your level of fitness and budget, for your priorities and your necessities and for your dreams and desires.

Then enjoy the magnificent Amazon!

To enquire about a trip to the Amazon, call Rosie at Mosaic Travel on (03) 5275 4583

The post Lodge VS Cruise – What’s the Best Way to Explore the Amazon? appeared first on Mosaic Travel.

Northern Territory to the East.

Great Sandy Desert to the South.

Indian Ocean on its Western edge.

Located on the northern-most part of Western Australia and covering some 421,451 square kilometres (an area three times the size of England) you find the Kimberley.

Being home to only 40,000 people means that there are fewer people per kilometre than almost any other place on the planet!

Over 60% of this population are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander who have given this region one of its most prized attractions: Indigenous rock art.

To truly appreciate the beauty and brilliance that dominates this region, navigating the Kimberley by 4WD is the way to go!

When to travel

The Kimberley has two seasons: the dry and the wet.

During the wet season – from November to April – monsoonal rains fall and rivers flood, making large areas of the Kimberley impassable.

The dry season typically has clear blue skies, Easterly winds and warm days with occasional cool nights.

If you’re wanting to see water fall’s at their prime, a visit at the end of April or May is ideal after they’ve been replenished from the wet season.

History

This is one of the earliest settled parts of Australia, and provides important geological and fossil evidence (dinosaur footprints!!) of Australia’s evolutionary history.

The Kimberley has been occupied by over 30 Aboriginal tribes for at least 40,000 years and continues to be home to Aboriginal groups practising traditional law in the World’s oldest continuous culture.

People have been drawn to The Kimberley for centuries. Firstly to grow crops, then to herd cattle in the mid 19^th  century. There was the gold rush in 1886 bringing an influx of Chinese and Europeans before pearling boomed in the late 19th century.

Today, people from all over the World come to visit the Kimberley’s National and World Heritage listed parks, its dramatic and beautiful landscapes, pristine beaches, ancient gorges, waterfalls and rugged outback.

Must Sees

Art

The Kimberley is home to hundreds of thousands of rock art paintings and drawings known as “Bradshaw” or “Wandjina” rock art. These beautiful and mysterious paintings are hidden in outback bush galleries on the huge escarpments and terracotta rocks of the North Kimberley.

Coast

More than just the red dirt dessert, the Coast is one of Western Australia’s biggest assets.

Cable beach: beautiful turquoise water for 24km’s.

Broome: World famous for pearls!

Buccaneer Archipelago: A group off Islands just off the Kimberley’s North Eastern coast (a 35minute flight). Rugged red cliffs, cool waters and white sandy beaches.

Waterfalls

You’ll find the most incredible waterfalls in Australia (if not the World) here. Fly above, swim and explore over half a dozen of them!

Purnululu National Park

World Heritage Purnululu is home to the incredible striped ‘beehive’ domes of the Bungle Bungle Range.

The rounded rock towers are made of sandstone and other finer materials moulded together by rainfall over millions of years. Their stripes are the result of oxidised iron compounds and algae.

To the local Kidja people, “purnululu” means sandstone.

Mornington Wilderness Camp

Part of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, the superb “Mornington Wilderness Camp” is as remote as it gets!

Sitting on the Fitzroy River, it’s a scenic 95km drive across the savannah from the Gibb’s 247km mark. Nearly 400,000 hectares of gorges and savannah are devoted to conserving the Kimberley’s endangered fauna and there’s excellent canoeing, swimming, birdwatching and bushwalking here.

Threats

The Kimberley faces a number of serious environmental pressures, including climate change, large wild fires, feral animals, weeds and cattle grazing degradation.

Cruise

Not sure what to see or how to fit everything in while still having a relaxing holiday?

Take a 12 day luxury cruise that includes all the highlights!

You’ll see 6 fresh water waterfalls, Bradshaw and Wandjina art, Buccaneer Archipelago, Montgomery reef, and the list goes on! 

If you’re wanting to explore more, take an optional helicopter flight or fishing trip!

Easily accessible with most Australian capitals flying directly to Broome, the Kimberley is one of Australia’s most under rated holiday destinations packed with so many beautiful landscapes and history that you won’t want to come home!

To enquire about the stunning Kimberley, call Rosie at Mosaic Travel on (03) 5275 4583

The post Australia in Focus: The Kimberley appeared first on Mosaic Travel.

Shortly after boarding in Fethiye (southern Turkey), we were shown our private double cabin with ensuite. This was used mainly as a storage room and the weather was so hot, it was more comfortable to sleep under the stars on the front deck!

We set off for our 4 day, 3 night adventure with 5 other guests and I couldn’t believe my eyes once we’d reached our first stop: Crystal clear turquoise water perfect for swimming.

The day was spent diving off the deck, reading books, playing chess and jumping into the water again once you’d become too hot. Our only interruptions were from the captain and his deckhand ringing the bell for “breakfast!!”, “lunch!!” and “dinner!!!”

At each meal time we were treated to a feast of fresh, organic Turkish food. From freshly caught seafood, to breakfast buffets, salads and (my favourite) BBQ night where we were served freshly made kofta and marinated steak.

Everyone’s dietary needs were catered for with the majority of guests being vegetarian and I was even treated with freshly baked brownies on my birthday!

Someone remarked “how is it possible that 2 men on a boat have served us with food more spectacular than our hotels!!?”

The whole boat has such a laid back feel with an honesty system for drinks, and all meals and snacks included in the boat fare, your wallet stays in the cabin the whole time.

The following days were spent swimming, swimming and swimming – I couldn’t get enough!

I was able to finish a book (a rare luxury) and learnt how to play chess again.

Living on the Ocean is very calming and spending so much time on the water gives you no distractions or worries.

Having no wifi adds to this by forcing you to literally disconnect – this was the ultimate way to relax.

On our last day we were surprised by a treat from the main land: A small speed boat was zipping from yacht to yacht shouting “ice cream”, “ice cream”!

I couldn’t believe it!

I instantly ran to find some coins and wave down my new best friend. His ice cream was protected from the blazing sun by liquid nitrogen and was popular with all the guests on board.

When it was time to disembark, I was sadly greeted with the reality of every day life: bustling streets, shops and internet. But mainly, the realisation of just how relaxing my time on the boat had been.

With my sea legs and sunburn, I arrived at my next hotel hoping the ice cream man would visit here as well.

To book yourself on this heavenly cruise in Southern Turkey, call Rosie on (03) 5275 4583!

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