Most Inspirational Moment
In general, seeing all the wildlife reclaiming their habitat and allowing us to walk amongst them without fear after the near genocide that our kind had inflicted on them, e.g. standing on high ground overlooking the massive colony of King penguins in St. Andrew's Bay on South Georgia was quite overwhelming. The first of many such experiences on the trip. Paddling in silence amongst the ice bergs and up close to wildlife.
Thoughts on Group Leader
The Quark Expedition Leader was excellent. His experience and constant monitoring of the weather conditions meant that the programme could be adjusted to ensure safe activities everyday. This would not have been possible without the the captain's advice and cooperation so a dream team!
Advice for Potential Travellers
The Quark supplied footwear and clothing was of excellent quality and suitability. As it was my first trip with Quark, I was cautious about quality so I brought my own, which meant that my luggage was over the 15 kg limit for the internal flight and so had to pay excess baggage on one of the flights. I will trust Quark supplied footwear and clothing in future.
Suggestions
The only glitch in the trip was that I didn't receive confirmation and details of my return transit and hotel in my final joining instructions from Exodus. I queried this but didn't receive confirmation prior to departure. As I don't like uncertainty about my travel arrangements, I booked and paid for my own accommodation with transfer while I had internet connectivity onboard. By the time I received a reply form Exodus these arrangements were already in place.