October 7, 2025 • 17 mins
Pippa Hudson speaks to travel writer Brian Berkman about his recent 14-day trip to Greenland.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
You're with Cape Talk this Scaparton on lunch right, it
is time to wander the world. And where might we
be going today? We are visiting the world's largest island,
about eighty percent of its surface is covered by a
massive ice sheet, and US President Donald Trump keeps threatening
(00:21):
to an exit. If that last bit doesn't give it away,
then let me tell you Today we are taking a
virtual trip to Greenland together with travel writer and Cape
Talk listener Brian Berkman, who had the privilege of visiting
Greenland in June this year. He spent a fortnight on
board La Common Dance Charcot, which is the world's only
luxury icebreaker, a very uniquely adapted vehicle that can travel
(00:46):
in the Arctic and Antarctic regions through the thick ice
that must be navigated in those waters, and obviously give
the lucky souls on board access to parts of the
planet that very few of us get to explore in person.
We're so grateful to have Brian with us via zoom
this afternoon to share the experience with us. Brian, welcome
to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Thank you so much, and thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
So much for being prepared to chat to us about
this because it's a part of the world that so
few people who had the opportunity to visit. Brian, it
sounds like a real bucketless trip of notes, But let's
start with some of the sort of nitty gritty questions.
How do you South Africans physically get to Greenland? I
mean you went there by ship, But where did you
connect with the ship? If one wants to plan a
trip of this kind, where do you start?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So we started in Raykavic, capital of Iceland, right, and
we connected via Amsterdam. So Captain Amsterdam, Amsterdam, ray Kavick,
and there we got on the ship at gray Kavik.
Fourteen days later we returned and repeated the journey.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Okay, and not just any kind of ship. As I've
referenced in the introduction, there a very uniquely adapted ship,
but one would sounds like it's adapted for luxury as well. Brian,
give us a sense of how you were traveling.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, it's you're correct in saying it's a bucket list experience.
The destination certainly is, but so is the ship itself.
So La Commodore Charcot, which is owned by Ponard Explorations,
a French company, She is designed with a PC two
hule to be able to cut through the ice, and
(02:28):
interestingly she does that with a rounded front hole. It
isn't a pointy holid you'd imagine. So the weight of
the ship breaks the ice, and the captain describes it
as the way you'd break a slab of chocolates into
little blocks, which it really is. An It is an
(02:50):
extraordinary experience to witness this, and in particular to witness
the silence of the Arctic. That's something that I had
no idea would be such an important experience of the
strip is that when you are there and the ship
isn't breaking the eyes, which of course makes the sound,
you hear almost nothing. And of course there are birds
(03:14):
and natural life, but it's the sense of being so
extremely remote. And during the fourteen days we didn't encounter
another ship. We stopped at one village to commit where
there were three hundred and fifty odd people living there,
and we visited with them, but other than that, it was.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Oh, dear, looks like we've just lost the zoom connection
for a second. There. It's so interested to hear his
comment about the silence in the Arctic, because I had
exactly the same impression when I landed in Antarctica a
couple of years ago, and as I got off the plane,
once the engines of the plane shut down and you
sort of braced yourself to hear the sounds, there was nothing.
(03:57):
It was the silence, the vastness really struck you. In
the silence, as it were, there was that sense of
looking around in every direction and only seeing ice in
every direction and the color white in every direction as
far as you could see. But the quiet was what
struck me as well at that moment. So very interesting
to hear that similar impression on the opposite side of
(04:19):
the globe. We are in conversation with Brian Berkman, who
is a travel writer and is talking to us about
an excursion in June of this year which saw him
visiting Greenland by ship on board l Common Dante Charco.
And for those who want to look up the ship
and its owner's Pontante Explorations p na NT is what
(04:40):
you're googling. I believe everything cruising are the partners in
South Africa, Right, Brian, You're back on zoom and I've
got you on phone in the background. I was sinking,
but let's carry on on zoom. So you've got their
flying Amsterdam TORECUABK, you've boarded the ship, you've now sailed
towards Greenland, and as you said, most of your activity
was away from human population. This is, in fact, I
(05:03):
think I'm not mistaken in saying the least densely populated
a settled place on Earth, and not surprising that you
interact with a lot of other people. But what did
you see in terms of wildlife and places where you stopped.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Well, let me say, Papa, that the captain of our
ship during the introductory talk said he would wake us
at any hour if there was something worthwhile seeing. Yeah,
and of course one doesn't really think that's going to happen,
but it did. And at about one thirty in the
morning the first morning of our CRUs we were woken
up and asked to come down to deck five, which
(05:40):
is the promenade deck, to see a polar bear. And
it was beyond my expectation of what that would be
like and our first the bear would be. So it
actually walked towards the ship, so when we first saught
it was about one hundred meters away, but it was
fascinating in it was aware of what of us being there,
(06:04):
and the only sound we could hear were people's cameras kicking.
It was just the most incredible experience. And of course
in Greenland in summertime, it's sunlight for twenty four hours
a day, so even at one thirty in the morning,
it was bright light outside. So that was our first experience.
(06:24):
And then we saw and heard many many kitty eggs,
which are they look like seagulls, but the orphan of
the bird expert on the ship said they're not seagulls.
Kittiwakes are specific Arctic birds which get their name from
the sound they make. They make it like kitty way,
kitty way, kitchi eks out. And we saw little orcs,
(06:47):
which are the most numerous bird in Arctic, and pink
footed geese. That was really a wonderful environmental experience.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Speaking of environmental experiences, Brian, this is a part of
the world which when one thinks of the impact of
global warring and you know, glacier creep, et cetera, you
think of Greenland the most misnomer of a name in
history because it's covered largely pie ice. But did you
see any signs of receding ice or any impact of
(07:19):
climate change, or was that pointed out to you by
any of the experts on board.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, so this was our first experience there, but it
wasn't the first experience for many people on the ship,
and many of the crew who have done this trip
year in year. Art commented on the visible there's no
question as far as they're concerned, the ice is receding,
it's getting warmer sooner, and it's not a case of well, yes,
(07:49):
from the scientist's point of view, the climate change is happening,
and it's happening rapidly up in the in Greenland. Yes,
oh dear indeed, because if I think I don't quote
me on this particular fact, but there is so much
water stored in the ice sheet that if that were
(08:12):
to melt, global sea levels would increase by twenty feet
or something. So it's an extraordinary thing that we need
to be aware of and if you can, if you
have an opportunity to go, now is the time to go.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Somebody asking why is it called Greenland, Brian, do you
I mean I made a quick about it because it
is such a misnomer, but there is an actual reason
behind that misnomous.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Is there is? There is? So Eric the Red, who
was a Viking who committed some crime in Iceland where
he lived, was banished from Iceland, and so he made
up this pr tail about this beautiful green land that
(08:55):
people would discover where if they came with him. Of
course that was the bigger lie, because Iceland is incredible
green and Greenland.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Isn't how funny it was the first, the first pr
stund Yeah, in recorded history, perhaps, Brian. I don't know
if you were there specifically at this time of year
in pursuit of the twenty four hour day, or if
there is a chance of seeing the northern lights at
this time of year. I think that's probably yes. Is
(09:24):
it possible in June?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
No, you see one or the others. So okay, it
needs to be dark for you to see the northern lights,
and we had the twenty four hour day. In fact,
when we arrived back in Red cra Vic, it was
the summer solstice.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Okay, so absolutely not going to happen at this time
of year. But I'm right in saying you can see
them in the opposite yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Absolutely, yes, and and the area is famous for that.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
You also don't really have a real sense of how
large an area Greenland is. So the other North Pole
is at ninety degrees, and we went as far as
eighty seven degrees, which was still still about twelve or
fourteen hundred kilometers away from the North Park. So it's
(10:14):
very very far north and it takes and one of
the reasons why such a trip is so costly is
it takes a long time to get to where you go,
so you know, people will balk at the price. I
was an invited media guests. I'm so grateful for that,
but most of the people on board had paid the ticket,
(10:35):
and when I asked why, they said, well, it's a
once in a lifetime opportunity and it was important for
them to be able to go to where the explorers
of old went. I don't know if you've seen. There's
a documentary I think it's still on Netflix called Two
Against the Ice, and it's the story about Nicholson and Iverson,
(10:56):
who were two Danish Saying explorers and the purpose of
their beadfort was to find the previous lost exploration cruise,
which was called the Denmark Expedition. And you talked about
Ronald Trump earlier. This isn't new. The Americans have been
after Greenland since those early days in the nineteen hundred,
(11:18):
so they claimed that Cap Perry was part of the
American land. But the Danes proved that it isn't, that
Greenland isn't Ireland, and that they have claimed to it.
So it was Ericson and Iverson and they ended up
spending two grueling winters in the area that we were
(11:41):
exploring near Shannon Island on Shannon Island waiting to be rescued.
So if you get a chance to see that, it's
well worthing to watch.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Thanks for the tip on that, and Keith, that does
answer your question about the status of Greenland. It's not
an independent country. It's an autonomous territory falling under the
Kingdom of Grandmark of Denmark. So thanks for that question. Brian.
Let's just circle back to what you said about most
people on board had paid full price. Now, look, it
was a luxury experience. I understand it was Michelin staff,
(12:14):
food and incredibly luxurious accommodations. But what is the price
for somebody who is paying full ticket? What should one
set aside for this buck?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
It's about a million round for a couple. So yeah,
it's five hundred thousand person sharing give or tech. The
prices are euros and punds. It depends what an exchange
r it is. But once you're there, everything is supplied.
It's a fully inclusive experience, including champagne and carrier and
(12:45):
all of those wonderful luxties, but as wonderful as those are,
and they are wonderful, and to eat at an a
lane to cast restaurant on your ship the only ship
that see you with one of these restaurants. Amazing, But
it's a very very dangerous, dangerous environment to be in,
(13:09):
and you have to consider the costs involved in being
able to bring back if something goes wrong. The ship
can survive for three months. It has enough liquefied petroleum
gas on board to operate for three months without visiting
a shore, and each cabin is equipped with two life
(13:34):
preservation suits, which effectively are mini rots, so if something happens,
you are most likely to survive, and that's where the
money is. The money also goes to their science program,
so upon a spent. Last year they spent two point
two million euros on science investments and there are two
(13:58):
laboratories on board and met and interacted with the team's
one French team and one team from Chile, and we
had completely open door access to them. In fact, the
opponent science officer told me that when he isn't on
the he's lecturing at a university in France and people
(14:22):
cannot just walk into his office to talk to him,
to ask him something, Whereas that is what you get
on this experience. You get access to people who are
the world experts in their field, and you're real scientists,
not it's not greenwashing. So I think it's important to
(14:48):
upset that that is also what goes into the elevated price, right.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
So a million round per couple, and on top of
that your flights to get to Recufec to meet the ship,
because that million round is the of the two this
journey on the ship itself, So to spare that in mind,
obviously that is something that is going to be beyond
the reach of your average traveler, but just such an
incredible experience to have lived through vicariously with you, Brian,
(15:15):
before we let you go. I mean, you've spoken about
the impressions of the silence, the incredible sighting of a
polar bear, what other sort of moments will stand out
for you as the highlights of this adventure.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, one of their activities is what they call a
polar plunge, and that is where people sign up to
dive jump into water at minus one point six degrees centigrate.
And I'd actually signed up for this because I'd considered
that the other activity would be too difficult for me
to cope with physically, and then I checked part at
the last minute. The ship started together a very stern
(15:51):
warning of the various risks, but many many people did it,
and everyone survived and said they had enjoyed the experience.
So that is something I'm sorry I didn't do. But
I did walk on skis for the first time in
my life. I went on a dog sled ten went
pulled on over the ice on dog slads with ten
(16:13):
high skys first time. And to arrive back at the
ship after walking on the tundra and have a Champagne
and cavias directly on the ice, I mean that blew
my mind.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
What an incredible experience. Brian, thank you so much for
painting such a vivid picture for us with your voice,
and also thank you. Brian has shared some wonderful images
with us, which we can ask our digital team to
include with the podcast of this conversation. If you'd like
to see his photograph of polar Bear, for example, you'll
be able to do so. Brian. I mean, once in
(16:48):
a lifetime doesn't even begin to touch the surface of
how lucky you are to have had this experience. Thank
you so much for sharing it with us today.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Thank you for But if people want to know about
the cruise, everything cruising is the South African company. Can
I give the number? Do you have double one?
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Okay, it's a double one four six three, double one
seven zero, So that's everything cruising. They are agency in
South Africa and they will make all arrangements and next
year's cruises already almost fully booked to best to look
at the year beyond that, which will give me some
time to start savings. So thank you for the opportunity,
(17:31):
love me.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
To you with us, and thanks for reaching out about
this extraordinary experience. Brian Berkman chatting to us about his
trip to Greenland in June on board La Command Chaco.
And if you have had an absolutely extraordinary and unusual
travel experience that you would like to share with us
on wonder the world. Please feel free to drop me
an email to Pippa h at cape talk dot co
(17:51):
dot a
You're with Cape Talk this Scaparton on lunch right, it
is time to wander the world. And where might we
be going today? We are visiting the world's largest island,
about eighty percent of its surface is covered by a
massive ice sheet, and US President Donald Trump keeps threatening
(00:21):
to an exit. If that last bit doesn't give it away,
then let me tell you Today we are taking a
virtual trip to Greenland together with travel writer and Cape
Talk listener Brian Berkman, who had the privilege of visiting
Greenland in June this year. He spent a fortnight on
board La Common Dance Charcot, which is the world's only
luxury icebreaker, a very uniquely adapted vehicle that can travel
(00:46):
in the Arctic and Antarctic regions through the thick ice
that must be navigated in those waters, and obviously give
the lucky souls on board access to parts of the
planet that very few of us get to explore in person.
We're so grateful to have Brian with us via zoom
this afternoon to share the experience with us. Brian, welcome
to the show.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Thank you so much, and thank you.
Speaker 1 (01:08):
So much for being prepared to chat to us about
this because it's a part of the world that so
few people who had the opportunity to visit. Brian, it
sounds like a real bucketless trip of notes, But let's
start with some of the sort of nitty gritty questions.
How do you South Africans physically get to Greenland? I
mean you went there by ship, But where did you
connect with the ship? If one wants to plan a
trip of this kind, where do you start?
Speaker 2 (01:31):
So we started in Raykavic, capital of Iceland, right, and
we connected via Amsterdam. So Captain Amsterdam, Amsterdam, ray Kavick,
and there we got on the ship at gray Kavik.
Fourteen days later we returned and repeated the journey.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Okay, and not just any kind of ship. As I've
referenced in the introduction, there a very uniquely adapted ship,
but one would sounds like it's adapted for luxury as well. Brian,
give us a sense of how you were traveling.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Well, it's you're correct in saying it's a bucket list experience.
The destination certainly is, but so is the ship itself.
So La Commodore Charcot, which is owned by Ponard Explorations,
a French company, She is designed with a PC two
hule to be able to cut through the ice, and
(02:28):
interestingly she does that with a rounded front hole. It
isn't a pointy holid you'd imagine. So the weight of
the ship breaks the ice, and the captain describes it
as the way you'd break a slab of chocolates into
little blocks, which it really is. An It is an
(02:50):
extraordinary experience to witness this, and in particular to witness
the silence of the Arctic. That's something that I had
no idea would be such an important experience of the
strip is that when you are there and the ship
isn't breaking the eyes, which of course makes the sound,
you hear almost nothing. And of course there are birds
(03:14):
and natural life, but it's the sense of being so
extremely remote. And during the fourteen days we didn't encounter
another ship. We stopped at one village to commit where
there were three hundred and fifty odd people living there,
and we visited with them, but other than that, it was.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
Oh, dear, looks like we've just lost the zoom connection
for a second. There. It's so interested to hear his
comment about the silence in the Arctic, because I had
exactly the same impression when I landed in Antarctica a
couple of years ago, and as I got off the plane,
once the engines of the plane shut down and you
sort of braced yourself to hear the sounds, there was nothing.
(03:57):
It was the silence, the vastness really struck you. In
the silence, as it were, there was that sense of
looking around in every direction and only seeing ice in
every direction and the color white in every direction as
far as you could see. But the quiet was what
struck me as well at that moment. So very interesting
to hear that similar impression on the opposite side of
(04:19):
the globe. We are in conversation with Brian Berkman, who
is a travel writer and is talking to us about
an excursion in June of this year which saw him
visiting Greenland by ship on board l Common Dante Charco.
And for those who want to look up the ship
and its owner's Pontante Explorations p na NT is what
(04:40):
you're googling. I believe everything cruising are the partners in
South Africa, Right, Brian, You're back on zoom and I've
got you on phone in the background. I was sinking,
but let's carry on on zoom. So you've got their
flying Amsterdam TORECUABK, you've boarded the ship, you've now sailed
towards Greenland, and as you said, most of your activity
was away from human population. This is, in fact, I
(05:03):
think I'm not mistaken in saying the least densely populated
a settled place on Earth, and not surprising that you
interact with a lot of other people. But what did
you see in terms of wildlife and places where you stopped.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Well, let me say, Papa, that the captain of our
ship during the introductory talk said he would wake us
at any hour if there was something worthwhile seeing. Yeah,
and of course one doesn't really think that's going to happen,
but it did. And at about one thirty in the
morning the first morning of our CRUs we were woken
up and asked to come down to deck five, which
(05:40):
is the promenade deck, to see a polar bear. And
it was beyond my expectation of what that would be
like and our first the bear would be. So it
actually walked towards the ship, so when we first saught
it was about one hundred meters away, but it was
fascinating in it was aware of what of us being there,
(06:04):
and the only sound we could hear were people's cameras kicking.
It was just the most incredible experience. And of course
in Greenland in summertime, it's sunlight for twenty four hours
a day, so even at one thirty in the morning,
it was bright light outside. So that was our first experience.
(06:24):
And then we saw and heard many many kitty eggs,
which are they look like seagulls, but the orphan of
the bird expert on the ship said they're not seagulls.
Kittiwakes are specific Arctic birds which get their name from
the sound they make. They make it like kitty way,
kitty way, kitchi eks out. And we saw little orcs,
(06:47):
which are the most numerous bird in Arctic, and pink
footed geese. That was really a wonderful environmental experience.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Speaking of environmental experiences, Brian, this is a part of
the world which when one thinks of the impact of
global warring and you know, glacier creep, et cetera, you
think of Greenland the most misnomer of a name in
history because it's covered largely pie ice. But did you
see any signs of receding ice or any impact of
(07:19):
climate change, or was that pointed out to you by
any of the experts on board.
Speaker 2 (07:23):
Yeah, so this was our first experience there, but it
wasn't the first experience for many people on the ship,
and many of the crew who have done this trip
year in year. Art commented on the visible there's no
question as far as they're concerned, the ice is receding,
it's getting warmer sooner, and it's not a case of well, yes,
(07:49):
from the scientist's point of view, the climate change is happening,
and it's happening rapidly up in the in Greenland. Yes,
oh dear indeed, because if I think I don't quote
me on this particular fact, but there is so much
water stored in the ice sheet that if that were
(08:12):
to melt, global sea levels would increase by twenty feet
or something. So it's an extraordinary thing that we need
to be aware of and if you can, if you
have an opportunity to go, now is the time to go.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Somebody asking why is it called Greenland, Brian, do you
I mean I made a quick about it because it
is such a misnomer, but there is an actual reason
behind that misnomous.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
Is there is? There is? So Eric the Red, who
was a Viking who committed some crime in Iceland where
he lived, was banished from Iceland, and so he made
up this pr tail about this beautiful green land that
(08:55):
people would discover where if they came with him. Of
course that was the bigger lie, because Iceland is incredible
green and Greenland.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
Isn't how funny it was the first, the first pr
stund Yeah, in recorded history, perhaps, Brian. I don't know
if you were there specifically at this time of year
in pursuit of the twenty four hour day, or if
there is a chance of seeing the northern lights at
this time of year. I think that's probably yes. Is
(09:24):
it possible in June?
Speaker 2 (09:26):
No, you see one or the others. So okay, it
needs to be dark for you to see the northern lights,
and we had the twenty four hour day. In fact,
when we arrived back in Red cra Vic, it was
the summer solstice.
Speaker 1 (09:40):
Okay, so absolutely not going to happen at this time
of year. But I'm right in saying you can see
them in the opposite yes, yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
Absolutely, yes, and and the area is famous for that.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (09:54):
You also don't really have a real sense of how
large an area Greenland is. So the other North Pole
is at ninety degrees, and we went as far as
eighty seven degrees, which was still still about twelve or
fourteen hundred kilometers away from the North Park. So it's
(10:14):
very very far north and it takes and one of
the reasons why such a trip is so costly is
it takes a long time to get to where you go,
so you know, people will balk at the price. I
was an invited media guests. I'm so grateful for that,
but most of the people on board had paid the ticket,
(10:35):
and when I asked why, they said, well, it's a
once in a lifetime opportunity and it was important for
them to be able to go to where the explorers
of old went. I don't know if you've seen. There's
a documentary I think it's still on Netflix called Two
Against the Ice, and it's the story about Nicholson and Iverson,
(10:56):
who were two Danish Saying explorers and the purpose of
their beadfort was to find the previous lost exploration cruise,
which was called the Denmark Expedition. And you talked about
Ronald Trump earlier. This isn't new. The Americans have been
after Greenland since those early days in the nineteen hundred,
(11:18):
so they claimed that Cap Perry was part of the
American land. But the Danes proved that it isn't, that
Greenland isn't Ireland, and that they have claimed to it.
So it was Ericson and Iverson and they ended up
spending two grueling winters in the area that we were
(11:41):
exploring near Shannon Island on Shannon Island waiting to be rescued.
So if you get a chance to see that, it's
well worthing to watch.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Thanks for the tip on that, and Keith, that does
answer your question about the status of Greenland. It's not
an independent country. It's an autonomous territory falling under the
Kingdom of Grandmark of Denmark. So thanks for that question. Brian.
Let's just circle back to what you said about most
people on board had paid full price. Now, look, it
was a luxury experience. I understand it was Michelin staff,
(12:14):
food and incredibly luxurious accommodations. But what is the price
for somebody who is paying full ticket? What should one
set aside for this buck?
Speaker 2 (12:24):
It's about a million round for a couple. So yeah,
it's five hundred thousand person sharing give or tech. The
prices are euros and punds. It depends what an exchange
r it is. But once you're there, everything is supplied.
It's a fully inclusive experience, including champagne and carrier and
(12:45):
all of those wonderful luxties, but as wonderful as those are,
and they are wonderful, and to eat at an a
lane to cast restaurant on your ship the only ship
that see you with one of these restaurants. Amazing, But
it's a very very dangerous, dangerous environment to be in,
(13:09):
and you have to consider the costs involved in being
able to bring back if something goes wrong. The ship
can survive for three months. It has enough liquefied petroleum
gas on board to operate for three months without visiting
a shore, and each cabin is equipped with two life
(13:34):
preservation suits, which effectively are mini rots, so if something happens,
you are most likely to survive, and that's where the
money is. The money also goes to their science program,
so upon a spent. Last year they spent two point
two million euros on science investments and there are two
(13:58):
laboratories on board and met and interacted with the team's
one French team and one team from Chile, and we
had completely open door access to them. In fact, the
opponent science officer told me that when he isn't on
the he's lecturing at a university in France and people
(14:22):
cannot just walk into his office to talk to him,
to ask him something, Whereas that is what you get
on this experience. You get access to people who are
the world experts in their field, and you're real scientists,
not it's not greenwashing. So I think it's important to
(14:48):
upset that that is also what goes into the elevated price, right.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
So a million round per couple, and on top of
that your flights to get to Recufec to meet the ship,
because that million round is the of the two this
journey on the ship itself, So to spare that in mind,
obviously that is something that is going to be beyond
the reach of your average traveler, but just such an
incredible experience to have lived through vicariously with you, Brian,
(15:15):
before we let you go. I mean, you've spoken about
the impressions of the silence, the incredible sighting of a
polar bear, what other sort of moments will stand out
for you as the highlights of this adventure.
Speaker 2 (15:28):
Well, one of their activities is what they call a
polar plunge, and that is where people sign up to
dive jump into water at minus one point six degrees centigrate.
And I'd actually signed up for this because I'd considered
that the other activity would be too difficult for me
to cope with physically, and then I checked part at
the last minute. The ship started together a very stern
(15:51):
warning of the various risks, but many many people did it,
and everyone survived and said they had enjoyed the experience.
So that is something I'm sorry I didn't do. But
I did walk on skis for the first time in
my life. I went on a dog sled ten went
pulled on over the ice on dog slads with ten
(16:13):
high skys first time. And to arrive back at the
ship after walking on the tundra and have a Champagne
and cavias directly on the ice, I mean that blew
my mind.
Speaker 1 (16:27):
What an incredible experience. Brian, thank you so much for
painting such a vivid picture for us with your voice,
and also thank you. Brian has shared some wonderful images
with us, which we can ask our digital team to
include with the podcast of this conversation. If you'd like
to see his photograph of polar Bear, for example, you'll
be able to do so. Brian. I mean, once in
(16:48):
a lifetime doesn't even begin to touch the surface of
how lucky you are to have had this experience. Thank
you so much for sharing it with us today.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Thank you for But if people want to know about
the cruise, everything cruising is the South African company. Can
I give the number? Do you have double one?
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:06):
Okay, it's a double one four six three, double one
seven zero, So that's everything cruising. They are agency in
South Africa and they will make all arrangements and next
year's cruises already almost fully booked to best to look
at the year beyond that, which will give me some
time to start savings. So thank you for the opportunity,
(17:31):
love me.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
To you with us, and thanks for reaching out about
this extraordinary experience. Brian Berkman chatting to us about his
trip to Greenland in June on board La Command Chaco.
And if you have had an absolutely extraordinary and unusual
travel experience that you would like to share with us
on wonder the world. Please feel free to drop me
an email to Pippa h at cape talk dot co
(17:51):
dot a
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