Listen to the fascinating David Tanguay speak about the polar regions. From the Antarctica to Greenland, David is one of the most trusted travel experts for all things cold and remote. Discover different polar travel options and get some tips for a dream Antarctica trip. Travel with David to Greenland as your host Stephen Bailey asks the questions you always wanted to ask about the Arctic.

David

Hi, how are you? It’s good to be here. And I’m not sure if I’m the most specialized person in the polar regions, but I’m definitely a very passionate person. That’s for sure.

Stephen

I like your modesty, David. So, normally if you’re a regular listener to the show, you’ll know that I take you on a journey — six, seven, 10 minutes to a different place around the world. Today’s show is a little bit different. It’s going to be around 20 minutes long, basically finding out information about the polar regions. I haven’t traveled much in the polar regions. Not many people have. So today’s an opportunity to learn more about what goes on in one of the — or perhaps the most — undisturbed, untouched, unexplored place of our planet.

David

You’re absolutely right. I can look back. I mean, I’ve been with Quark Expeditions now for almost nine years and the polar regions for me was a total discovery, to be fully honest. I remember back in the day, I used to be a person who loved beaches, who loved the tropical destinations.

And I did enjoy the winter — I mean, being Canadian myself — but I had never thought of going to Antarctica and the Arctic. And then when I joined Quark Expeditions, it was a huge discovery for me. And that I’ll always remember the first time I went to Antarctica, it was a huge revelation. I discovered something completely new. I immersed myself with people who are so passionate, they were sharing their experiences guiding through expeditions in Antarctica or the Arctic.

And I was just like — wow, like, this is just incredible. And I got addicted and eight years later, I can say that I’m very privileged to have had the chance to travel to Antarctica twice in my life and to the Arctic, you know, three, four times. And every time it’s just a new discovery. You can go to Antarctica 10 times and every single time it’s going to be a different experience, which is one thing that I love about these unexplored regions, — like you said, these very remote locations.

‘Cause if you’re a person who loves exploring new horizons, if you’re a person who loves to be in a place, and having a plan — but your plan will obviously change and you have these amazing surprises, like wildlife encounters or communities encounters in some regions of the Arctic. That’s, that is the destination you want to go, if you’re that type of person. And I am that type of person, I’m a person who likes to plan, but also always keep some flexibility in my travels. And like I said, it was a huge discovery for me.

Stephen

It’s interesting you say that, because Antarctica is at the top of my bucketlist. For the listeners, that was about a week ago, this show, what’s at the top of my bucketlist. What you said reminded me of the first time I went to Africa. Because the first time I visited Africa, Africa was the top of my bucketlist. And it was going to be that one trip of a lifetime to Africa, and then I’d have done it and enough to go into Africa.

I realized, oh, wow, Africa is a continent. Just like Antarctica is a continent. I can’t do one trip. I have to do a second trip, have to do a third trip. I have to do — I still want to do — so many trips there, even though I’ve spent so much of the last few years.

So, it’s a bucketlist experience, top for many. If you’ve never been to a polar region, what are some of the experiences? I wouldn’t say typical because I don’t think anything’s typical, but what are some of the kind of major experiences, bucketlist things to do that people look forward to, people really want to do, or especially that Quark is able to deliver?

David

That’s a great question and I get these questions asked to me so many times from different people. They always ask me, as you said, if I’m a traveler who’s never been there, what would you recommend? Or, if I had thought about going, is there a specific itinerary that you recommend? To be honest with you, there’s no designated itinerary for a first-timer. It always depends on what do you want to see or how long do you want to go on an adventure? Do you have something in your bucketlist that you want to make sure that you have the highest chances to see?

Because there’s one thing that I can totally relate to in what you’re saying about Africa. I’ve been myself to Africa as well. And I saw a full correlation in regards to the experience in an African Safari and an Antarctic polar expedition, because you go with a plan, but you never know actually what you’re going to see, right? Like there’s no guarantee that you’re going to see a specific type of penguin or that you’re going to see the specific type of whale, because you just have to go with what nature will offer you during your experience.

So back to your question, I think the first question that you need to ask yourself if you want to go to Antarctica is, how long do you want to go for?

Because there are different types of experiences, going from very short itineraries of five days on the ship, up to 19 nights on the ship as well. So obviously the longer you stay, well, the more you will see, of course. So that’s the first question that you should ask yourself.

The second question is, do you only want to go to Antarctica? And a lot of people forget about that, or they know Antarctica very well, but what they don’t know is that there are some subantarctic locations that are totally worth going to.

And I can give you two examples: the Falkland Islands — or Islas Malvinas, depending on who you talk to — and also South Georgia. Falkland Islands and South Georgia are two archipelagos that are located on the east side of South American continent. And they also offer a completely different experience that many people would not even think of.

And I’ll take the Falklands as example. If you are a person who loves birds, who loves to observe different types of birds in different locations, the largest nesting colonies of albatross are located in the Falkland Islands, including also Diego Ramírez, which is in the south of the South American continent.

But that’s one example. You have also types of penguins that you would see in the Falklands, including the Rockhopper penguin, the macaroni — sorry, I said the macaroni penguin — the Magellanic penguins as well. So I think we’re going to have to edit this part cause I totally messed up.

Stephen

I think you’re fine. I’m looking forward to seeing a macaroni penguin.

David

But just to go back, it’s definitely one of those locations that offers a completely different wildlife experience than Antarctica. And then you have South Georgia, which is an island or an archipelago located a little bit more east of the Falklands. And what I hear is, it’s even more incredible with — a lot of people call it the Galapagos Islands of the Antarctic, offering these unique wildlife encounters.

And one of them is encountering the largest colony of King penguins in the world. We’re talking about up to half a million King penguins in one single location, which is out —

Stephen

That sounds — I’m just trying to think of what it will — I can picture like maybe a hundred, but half a million?

David

Think about it, right? Like when we arrive at this location, what we do is we put those Zodiacs in the water and we slowly start to bring our passengers to that location and imagine yourself, you’re in that Zodiac. And then you see — getting closer and closer — half a million King penguins, right in front of you. There’s nowhere else in the world where you can experience something like that.

And that is a powerful experience that will make you realize how beautiful the world is and how important it is to protect this environment and to be more sensitive to sustainability.

And that’s why a lot of people say that it is a life-changing experience to go to these regions because you disconnect from the rest, from your reality, from your day-to-day reality, from the wifi, the fast-paced environments that we live every day. And you just reconnect with yourself and you’re surrounded by this complete, natural environment around you. And it’s just — it’s life-changing.

Stephen

That sounds a bit like that first time I did a really proper safari as well. You know, that feeling of being humbled by nature. Not just taking a few photos of animals, but really — okay, I’m here for a week, so many impressions, so many nuances, so many subtleties, so many — so much stuff that is much more, beyond…

So, Antarctica, we’re obviously hopeful that next year, it becomes easier with flying to Argentina and Chile. Because that’s where you start an Antarctica trip.

Closer to Europe, the Arctic regions — I’ve seen some awesome things that you offer in the Arctic, like bathing in hot springs, like the hiking, the kayaking, the ice sheet. What are your favourites in the Arctic regions? What are your personal favourites?

David

You know, first of all, every destination in the Arctic is very different. So, what I would say is my favourite might not be what somebody else would love as an experience in the Arctic. But just to give you the background, I’m a person who loves hiking. I’m a person who loves the immensity of nature. So for me, being surrounded by mountains with very dramatic scenery, that’s what I personally love. That’s the type of landscape that — I get really inspired and I get very happy when I’m surrounded by that. And I found that environment when I was in Greenland.

And I had the opportunity to travel to the Canadian Arctic and Spitsbergen as well. And I totally loved those destinations as well, for many reasons.

But Greenland for me was my biggest discovery with Quark Expeditions. I had the opportunity to travel twice in Greenland, one time on the west coast, where you have the opportunity to encounter many communities. There are many Greenlandic communities that are located on the west coast of Greenland. And I also had one opportunity to travel in the northeastern coast of Greenland in two fjord systems.

Which was a completely different landscape, with very large fjords. We’re talking about the largest fjord system in the world, we’re talking about 300-kilometre plus long fjords. We’re talking about immense glaciers. We’re talking about mountains that are just incredible.

And Greenland for me was just that type of destination that I had an idea of how it was going to be, but when I got there and I saw with my own eyes, that’s when I realized, oh my God, I need to come back here. And I can tell you so many stories — and I’d love to share a walk with you that I always will remember for the rest of my life.

When we were in Northeast Greenland. And maybe you were not aware of that, but every two years, the Danish government sends a crew of four people — highly trained people — who will go there to be going as park rangers. Because the northeastern part of Greenland is actually the largest national park in the world. That’s what it is. And what they do is — since Denmark is a country that has some political power over Greenland — to bring their contribution to the preservation of Greenland, they bring four people who are highly trained.

And during two years, these four people will be patrolling the entire national park. And one person was actually on our expedition and sharing his experience of how — first of all, the training was going It’s military style, definitely very robust, they’re trained to be alone for most of their time. And what’s interesting is that they patrol the national park, mostly with dogs. Which is really, really interesting, right? So he shared with us his experience when he was patrolling, like some of his challenges of being alone.

And, when we were attending this lecture on the ship, I was like, oh my God, I have done nothing in my life.

Stephen

There’s nothing like meeting another professional who has a much cooler job than you.

David

Exactly, exactly. And that was very inspiring. But what was really incredible is that we actually were able to go to the base station where these guys are located in Greenland for half a day, because this guy who was on our expedition vessel had these contacts and he called the station and said, Hey, I’d like to introduce the ship to you guys and show what you guys do and learn a little bit about your patrolling experience in Greenland. And they said, yeah, come. So we came over — the entire ship, we’re about 130 people — and we disembarked the ship.

We went to the station and we had the pleasure to meet with them. And they have tons of dogs. You know, the dogs were so friendly and they were running around us. So we had such a cool encounter with true Greenlandic dog sledding. And they’re such a beautiful species, very bright eyes. It was remarkable. And we went hiking at that location as well, to explore a little bit the environment and the dogs were following us, which again was incredible. We went hiking for a couple hours and came back. And that for me was one day that I’ll always remember because there’s so many people out there who do so many great things.

And sometimes we forget about that. We forget that there are some people out there who live in these remote locations, that they dedicate their life to protecting the environment, and making sure that it’s preserved. And for me, that was a huge inspiration.

Stephen

And I think it also goes to show the serendipity of travel. You never quite know what you will encounter. And you know, every trip you can end up with something completely different, you know, the next person can do a very similar trip and have a completely different experience. Especially in these very remote unexplored and not seen places where you definitely don’t have hop-on hop-off bus tours.

David

You’re totally right. One thing I might want to add to that is, this is a great example also of what an expedition cruise is about. A lot of people are afraid of expedition cruises because, you know, maybe they’ve never been on a cruise before. They’re like, “oh my God, I don’t want to be on a ship where I’m going to be dictated what I’m going to do all the time.” No, an expedition cruise is not like that. Expedition cruising is about going for the surprises. It’s about looking for new places to visit all the time. It’s really about the destination. And like I said earlier, you have a plan, but the plan is obviously going to change for so many variables.

Like the ice condition is going to change, the weather condition is going to change. And it’s important to have staff on board who do know the regions very well, because they’re the ones who will orchestrate the experience for each passenger and make sure that they see the maximum possible and that they also learn as much as possible as well. So that’s why for me, expedition cruising was also a huge discovery because I was also the guy who was backpacking, was always looking for the adventure and being on the ship like that I was a bit at first uncomfortable with it due to my style of travel.

But then I totally discovered that expedition cruising is also my style of travel in a different way, which I totally loved.

Stephen

It still has the randomness, it still has the good unpredictability of travel in that it’s “Okay. Wow. Here are some whales. So of course our schedule is going to change a bit because we’ve encountered these whales or we’re able to do something else.”

So if you go to Kated.com and search for Greenland, you will see quite a few of the experiences David’s just been talking about including, well, one that you didn’t mention, but is really on the top of my bucketlist, which is a chance to kayak out in Greenland in that fjord system.

There’s also some itineraries — expedition cruising itineraries — on the Ultramarine, which is their new ship. So head over there to get more ideas. Greenland, definitely on my bucketlist, Antarctica, top of my bucketlist.

David, beyond your job and exploring the Arctic regions, what is on your personal travel bucketlist?

David

Oh my God, I have so many, but —

Stephen

Don’t worry. I’ve got hundreds and hundreds.

David

No, it changes a lot over the years, because the one thing that I’m very privileged is, because I work in the travel industry, I meet so many inspiring people who represent different brands or present different experiences around the world. So when I meet with them, I’m like, “Oh my God, I should do that as well.”

So like you said, I end up with a thousand things to do on my bucketlist. But having said that, there are a few things that are in my priority. The first one is Bhutan. I would love to do Bhutan, which is again, another isolated area of the world that — so many people have shared with me their experience, and — it seems to be such a life-changing experience as well in so many different levels.

So that’s one thing I have on my bucketlist. And then when I went to Africa for the first time, last year, I got bit by the bug. I was actually warned that once you go to Africa, you’ll always want to go back. And they’re absolutely right. So I had the pleasure to go to Botswana on my first experience and South Africa. And I would love to go to Rwanda and Zimbabwe in my next travels as well.

Stephen

Awesome. I definitely share Bhutan on my bucketlist that it has always had it for me as well. The idea of this Himalayan kingdom, quite secretive, mysterious, quite — it’s hard to predict it. It is on Kated. We do have some Bhutan experiences and itinerary. We also have Rwanda — a real favorite of mine from being in Africa — and Zimbabwe as well. I have a great friend who hosts is in Harare times.

David

There’s so much out there, right? I could go on and on, and I’m sure everyone who loves travel can go on and on. But what’s interesting is my style of travel has definitely evolved. I started travelling when I was 18 years old, backpacking in South America, living the very minimalist lifestyle.

Stephen

On a shoestring the Lonely Planet guide gave it.

David

Exactly. And today, I travel still the same way — it’s an adventurous way, but just in a different style, and that’s great. That’s what I’m totally enjoying about the travel industry, that there is an experience for everybody and it’s evolving. And with what’s going on right now in the world, it’s going to evolve even more, the travel industry, in the future. And I personally find it exciting because styles are going to change, new destinations are going to come. And maybe styles that were very popular before will not be as popular as they used to be. So I’m excited for the future.

Stephen

I’m excited for the future as well. And I think, as you say, our own travel styles evolve, we always see something new, which is great. That’s why we have a bucketlist.

And I’m really hopeful for travel as well, that travel is going to evolve more. There’s been a big shock, people aren’t able to travel. And now that gives you time to think, “Okay, what do I actually want to do when I travel?” And not just, going on holiday for the sake of it. “Okay. What I’m really interested in, what really inspires me?”

David

And I think most people now, that’s what they’re looking for. I speak with a lot of people or agents who have clients and that’s one of the first things they say, my client wants to be inspired. They’re looking for this very unique experience. They want to immerse themselves. Right? So this is something that more and more people are looking into and also in a smaller group, the large crowds may not be as popular as they used to be. So a lot of people are looking for bespoke or small-group experiences as well, which I’m excited about because I’m also a little bit like that.

So, I’m excited.

Stephen

So yeah, travel different. Don’t follow the hop-on hop-off bus tours. Don’t go with the crowds. Find your own experience. David, thank you very much for being on the show.

David

It’s my pleasure. Thank you for inviting me. I enjoy talking about the polar regions and it’s my pleasure to share my stories. And I hope to see you one day travelling with us in Greenland or in Antarctica.

Stephen

Both, I hope. Double fingers crossed.