Capturing the Moment

    Thoughts from an UnCruise Expedition Leader   I am back in Alaska! Most of the cruise ships are still locked down in ports around the world, but UnCruise ships are filled with guests and leading expedition cruises in Southeast Alaska. As Expedition Leader of the Safari Quest I am just wrapping up my first trip, and we capped off a wonderful week with the infamous polar plunge. I made sure to wait for the coldest water, with icebergs floating by, and a glacier in the distance for my first polar plunge back after missing the entire Alaska 2020 season thanks to the pandemic.    Now, have tested out the frigid, icy waters, I feel like we are officially back in business here in Alaska. It feels very good to be back.

Team Georgia A family that plunges together... All week I threw in little blurbs and hints about a possible ‘polar plunge’ later in the trip. The suspense, excitement, and anxiousness built up within the group as our final day neared. Finally I told them that today was the day, and it just so happens to coincide with us being in front of a glacier. So as ice floated by us we put on our game faces to challenge ourselves with the coldest of polar plunges. High Flying Aussie Me backflipping in front of a glacier   Dawes glacier has been active this year. We saw it calve several times during the morning kayak so we could understand why there was so much ice floating around the boat. The ice, coupled with the imposing Dawes glacier in the background, made for a pretty incredible scene for the polar plunge.  About ¾ of the 21 guests onboard the Safari Quest this week strolled out in their robes with towels and worried looks. Excitement quickly took over as Carol...

Stranded Berg   My last week in Alaska was a big one, including hunting bears, northern lights, and a trip into Glacier Bay National Park. The schedule that I came up with for the week was a little rigorous, taking us to six glaciers over the course of two days to maximize our chance of seeing calving and for different glacier activities. We first woke up at the beautiful Margerie Glacier and the almost all black face of the Grand Pacific Glacier. Little chunks were falling off but the real calving show came from the huge Johns Hopkins Glacier were we went next. Walking Amongst the Ice Fun with the Polar Plunge Dan exploring Lamplugh Glacier   After the amazing calving experience at Johns Hopkins we headed off to Lamplugh Glacier for some good ol' fashioned polar plunge fun into the icy waters. Feeling alive and refreshed from the sub 40 degree water we filled up on lunch and then headed out for hikes, shorewalks, kayaks, and skiff tours around the glacier. ...

 What do you do when you are about to jump into frigid cold waters with ice bergs and glaciers all around?....you go all out. That is what I and many of the passengers aboard our Alaska adventure cruise did last week in Glacier Bay National Park. It takes the term 'polar bear plunge' to a whole new level.    This picture also encapsulates that fun energy that seems to permeate throughout our boat from the crew to the passengers alike. I like to think that I am a small part of that reason that everyone has such an incredible adventure but being surrounded by such an amazing crew and feeding off that energy is what makes the whole experience.    If you are wondering how this plunge went, I will only say that Alaska won this round.