All Modes of Travel View All Ships:    Clipper Adventurer    Clipper Odyssey    Isabela II    Island Sky    Kapitan Khlebnikov    Le Diamant    Le Levant    Le Ponant    Maldives Aggressor    Oceanic Discoverer Other Modes of Travel:    Eco-Expeditions       Gulet    Excursion Crafts    Air

Air travel is a fundamental part of any expedition to a far off land but many of our trips offer scenic flights that are an integral part of the travel experience. By using local flights within our itineraries, we are not only able to maximize our time in each place but also showcase unique scenery that often cannot be accessed by any other means. Each itinerary and the use of flights within it is unique, but we have several trips that stand out as truly special. 

On the West Coast of South America, we use small planes for a scenic flight over the Nazca Lines, a World Heritage Site. These enormous geoglyphs, animal-motif remnants of a pre-Incan civilization that flourished between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500, are etched into the desert surface and can only be fully appreciated from the air. Our flight takes us over these mysterious and enigmatic figures as well as over sand dunes, mountaintops, and fertile valleys. On Australia’s Kimberley voyage we fly via helicopter to the Mitchell Plateau to visit Mitchell Falls, a series of waterfalls and pools culminating in a deep gorge carving its way through the Outback. We explore the surrounding area on foot and have a chance to enjoy a refreshing swim in the rushing freshwater pools before being whisked back to the boat.  Our Fire & Ice voyages offer a helicopter excursion to the Valley of the Geysers—an unforgettable adventure to a wonderland discovered only as recently as 1941. We swoop through the landscape for an eagle-eye view of the lush green tundra, Kamchatka brown bears, winding rivers, wooded hillsides sheltering idyllic small lakes, and a steep-sided canyon. The view of Karymsky Volcano is a showstopper.

In addition to these sightseeing gems, many of our Eco-Expeditions include flights on small regional planes as part of the itinerary, providing a unique perspective of the habitat, scenery, and region. In Mongolia we use both helicopters and small planes to access the Gobi Desert and the Mongolian steppe. In Botswana and Namibia flights are the only access to remote camps nestled in the Namib Desert or the wetland paradise of the Okavango Delta—scenery that has to be seen from above to appreciate its vast beauty.