Winter Newsletter December 2017

As I mentioned in our last newsletter, we are running two escorted tours in 2018, at the request of Oxford and Cambridge universities and aimed mainly at their past alumni, but we have been authorised to offer a few places to our past clients. We have a few spaces left on our 2 week trip to Peru from 6-18 April 2018. Entitled "Inhabiting the Andes" trip scholar Dr Nicholas James (Cambridge) will guide participants in an exploration of Peru, including the remarkable Moche and Chimú coastal cultures and the Inca's sacred valley. Dr James, a veteran of Latin American tours, will give a series of short and informal lectures during the trip and be on hand to highlight and discuss the latest research.

Later in the year, from 10-23 November 2018, we have a guided trip to Colombia, with Dr Alexander Herrera. Alex, a delightfully engaging expert, has called this trip "Diversity and civilisation", and it promises a unique insight on Colombia's fascinating cultural history.

If you are interested in either trip please let us know; full details can be seen via the following link:

www.lastfrontiers.com/alumni

Blue Planet II featured some incredible footage from Latin America. Our top three moments (so far!) have been the whale sharks and tuna-hunting sea lions in the Galapagos; spinner dolphins off the coast of Coast Rica; and the wandering albatross in Antarctica.

Whale sharks in the Galapagos

Ecuador’s archipelago is unparalleled for its vast array of wildlife both above and below the water but when Blue Planet II attached suction cameras to the backs of whale sharks we could see, for the first time, the world as they see it. If you are an experienced diver then dedicated dive trips to the northern islands of Wolf and Darwin offer the best chance to see whale sharks (between June and September). Alternatively, you can snorkel with them off the coast of Belize (where this picture was taken by one of our clients) and in Mexico (Baja California or the Yucatán). Belize is best from March to June and Mexico's Yucatán peninsula from June to September, both at the time around a full moon.

www.lastfrontiers.com/belize/regions/the-cayes
www.lastfrontiers.com/mexico/regions/the-yucatan-peninsula

Spinner dolphins in Costa Rica

Blue Planet found their spinners off the coast of Costa Rica, but I will never forget seeing them off the coast of Brazil. Most days up to 2,000 congregate in a bay aptly called 'bahia dos golfinhos' and perform their trademark spinning leap. A nearby cliff serves as a handy vantage point.

www.lastfrontiers.com/brazil/regions/fernando-de-noronha

Wandering albatross in Antarctica

The Blue Planet II team captured some wonderful shots of the wandering albatross, as well as the world's largest colony of king penguins, whilst in South Georgia. To retrace their steps you would need to choose one of the longer 'ultimate' Antarctic cruises, which visit the Falklands and South Georgia on their way to the Antarctic peninsula.

www.lastfrontiers.com/antarctica/itineraries

Emily's second reconnaissance trip for Last Frontiers was suitably exotic, to the unspoilt primary rainforest of Guyana. Birds had never really featured on her radar, but being placed in such close proximity to nature and its residents has undoubtedly changed her perspective. In this article she describes some of her fellow travellers:

www.lastfrontiers.com/articles/view/guyana-how-to-spot-a-birder