Ice Free Destinations

Our ReQuest-trips can be described as luxurious adventures in warmer climates. These destinations, offering a unique mix of mighty predators, colourful birds, historical places and exciting cultural meetings, are often difficult or impossible to reach as an individual traveller. Accommodation is carefully chosen and we try to stay away from the beaten track as much as possible.

South America

Galapagos ReQuest with the Highlands of Ecuador 2013

The Galapagos Islands are located on the Equator, in the Pacific Ocean, nearly 600 miles off mainland Ecuador. Here we can swim with penguins, photograph iguanas and giant tortoises and play with sea lions. The…

Europe

The Orkney, Shetland & Faroe Islands 2014

Join us on a magnificent expedition cruise to the Orkney, Shetland and Faroe Islands on board M/S Quest ! PolarQuest proudly presents a brand new expedition that includes three exciting Groups of islands. The expedition…

Svalbard with Lofoten & Bear Island 2014

Join us on an expedition cruise along the dramatic coastline and magnificent fjords of northern Norway, via the legendary and seldom visited Bear Island to the realm of the polar bear: Svalbard. It is a…

Lofoten, Bear Island & Svalbard on board M/S Quest 2013

Join us on an expedition cruise along the dramatic coastline and gorgeous fjords of northern Norway, via the legendary Bear Island to the realm of the polar bear: Svalbard. This is a busy time of…

Africa

Zambia & Malawi ReQuest 2013

PolarQuest proudly welcomes you to a unique expedition in the heart of Southern Africa. In focus are close encounters with wildlife and unspoiled scenery in peaceful Zambia and friendly Malawi, where the bright atmosphere has…

Botswana, Namibia & Zambia ReQuest

Three African countries oozing with magic. An ocean of sand in the Kalahari. A hard-to-beat safari with elephants, lions, zebras, giraffes and leopards in the vast Okavango Delta. A sunset cruise among crocs and hippos…

Coral II

The Coral II accommodates 20 passengers and is custom designed to fulfil the expectations of the modern traveller. The passengers are accommodated in 11 air-conditioned, outside cabins. All cabins have private bath with a shower,…

Adam Rheborg

Guide and expedition leader

Swedish Adam has been guiding adventurous tourists like yourselves amongst polar bears and walruses in Svalbard since 1998. He works full time as expedition leader, dive master, television reporter, journalist and lecturer with the whole planet as his working ground. During the Swedish summer and winter you find Adam in the Polar Regions and in the spring and fall at destinations such as India, Galapagos Islands and Brazil.

Adrian Nordenborg

Guide

Adrian has spent most of his life adventuring in over 80 countries around the world. As expedition leader and guide, he has done almost everything – from leading treasure hunting in Morocco and skiing in Iran to walks in Turkey to kayaking outside Manhattan. Adrian has a great love for nature and wildlife and has guided for PolarQuests since 2006. He has been on our trips to Svalbard and Antarctica, as well as to Greenland, India, Mongolia, South Africa and Namibia, Botswana & Zambia.

Andreas Bergström

Guide and expedition leader

Andreas grew up in Botswana and in Sweden and have studied biology at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science. In 2003 he started working as a guide and has been guiding ever since. He has also been working on different research projects and research stations, from gerbills in the Kalahari desert and green sea turtles in Costa Rica, to glacier research and bird ringing in northern Sweden. Andreas started guiding in Svalbard in the summer of 2008 and since then Svalbard has more or less been his home.

Annette Scheepstra

Guide

When Annette conducted fieldwork on barnacle geese in Ny-Ålesund in Svalbard, she got infected with the polar bug. Her love for the polar areas later made her Coordinator of the Willem Barentsz Polar Institute, a conjunction of Dutch polar researchers. Since a young child, Annette has loved going on nature holidays, walking and camping. Living in the Northern part of Groningen, she discovered the Waddensea – Netherlands’ biggest nature reserve. There, Annette became a mud walk guide, specializing in guiding small groups.

Axel Broman

Guide and expedition leader

Axel is an environmental engineer, part time blues musician and used-to-be reporter/photographer who lives in Gothenburg. In recent years his mind has been firmly set on he Arctic. He first came to Svalbard visiting his girlfriend (now wife), and during that first week, he became more and more fascinated by the stark beauty of the country, its wildlife and its fascinating history. He now returns again and again, now as a PolarQuest guide, eager to share his passion for the Arctic.

Betulia Machado Eriksson

Guide

Betúlia was born in Brazil, grew up in the United States and has spent 13 years living in Sweden. She has a graduate from The Academy of Travel and The International Tour Management Institute in San Francisco, CA, and has been working within the tourism branch since 1989 and has travelled far and wide. In 2000, Betulia, Anders and their 3-year-old daughter, Alma, sailed to Brazil on board their 42 feet sailboat. Betúlia both guides and organise or trips to Amazon and Pantanal.

Ditte Hendrichsen

Guide

Ditte was born in Denmark and dreamt of Greenland adventures, dog sledging and Arctic nature from an early age. Eventually this interest led to a PhD in Arctic biology. She has travelled all over the world and has been a guide, expedition leader and lecturer since 1998. When not busy studying muskoxen, reindeer, owls, foxes, salmon and whatever else catches her interest in East Greenland, Svalbard and northern Scandinavia, Ditte works as a guide in those same areas – or in Antarctica and South Georgia.

Dierk Ronneberger

Guide

Dierk was raised in South-Africa, Germany and Canada. He studied medicine in Germany, France and Martinique, and in the latter he also became a dive master. After finishing his studies in 1996, Dierk worked in diverse medical specialties for many years, and got a specialist degree as a general practitioner in 2005. Over the last years Dierk has made several trips to the Arctic and Antarctic, working as a physician and/or guide on expedition ship cruises. He feels strongly both about people and the Polar Regions!

Elke Lindner

Guide

Always fascinated by cold and snow, Elke soon discovered the Polar Regions. This German scientist has spent extended periods of time in Svalbard and shorter periods of time in Greenland and in Antarctica as a student, field biologist and naturalist, working on various expedition-cruise vessels. Her main field of interest comprises polar ecology. Elke finds it very interesting and inspiring to meet people with a common interest in nature, history and culture.

Henrik Løvendahl

Guide and expedition leader

Henrik has worked as an expedition leader and dive guide in the Arctic and Antarctic since 1998. He has lead voyages to Northeast Greenland, Svalbard, the Antarctic Peninsula, Papua New Guinea, the Norwegian Coast and Scotland. Henrik’s adventurous spirit and love of travel caused him to leave Denmark for Australia more than 20 years ago. He has scaled Andean peaks, trekked in the Himalayas and dived in many exotic locations; but his greatest passion is the Polar regions and ice-diving.

Lisa Ström

Guide and expedition leader

In August 2001, Lisa moved to Svalbard to study Arctic technology at the university, as a continuation of her studies in Sweden. Lisa has worked as a guide in Svalbard since 2002. During the winter her work mostly consists of dogsledding, but sometimes the winter expeditions are accomplished by scooter or on skis. During the summers, Lisa guides on expedition ships, zodiac excursions and walking tours. She has guided many expeditions for PolarQuest over the past years, and she has a passionate interest in the Polar Regions.

Martin Enckell

Guide and expedition leader

Martin was born in southern Sweden. He worked as a dive master working on board large ships. He moved on to expeditions on board smaller ships traveling to the Seychelles, Africa, New Zealand, the Shetland and the Hebrides among many others. Martin first set foot in the Polar Regions in 1999, when he went to the Arctic. The same year, he made his first visit to the Antarctic, and he has since then crossed the Drake Passage more than a 100 times, with more than 15 trips to South Georgia and the Falkland Islands.

Mats Forsberg

Guide and expedition leader

Mats is a naturalist, nature photographer and explorer from Sweden. He began his career on board the world famous Lindblad Explorer in 1982. Since then he has worked all over the world, on all the seven seas and in the Polar Regions. This includes a number of seasons in Svalbard as well as many trips to Greenland, the Canadian and Russian Arctic, and the Antarctic. He devotes his life to spreading the knowledge of the Arctic and its natural beauty, and to raise people’s awareness about the environment.

Morten Jørgensen

Guide and expedition leader

Morten was born in Denmark and has always loved the natural environment. As a child he lived in Afghanistan, Tanzania and Malaysia. Since the mid-eighties, Morten has been an active ornithologist, a passion that has been supplemented with a love for marine mammals, whales and dolphins, seals and polar bears alike. Since 1997, he has been working as a guide in the Arctic. He has also worked in the Antarctic and the Indian Ocean, among other places. When not in the field, Morten doubles as the Staff Manager for PolarQuest.

Olle Carlsson

Guide

Olle is a former teacher who left his profession in order to write, photograph and travel. Olle has travelled extensively in the Atlantic sector of the Arctic, including the Northwest Passage, Greenland and Svalbard. Since 1991, he has spent the northern winter seasons in Antarctica. He thereby shares the migration route of the Arctic tern, always heading for summer, in the north and in the south! Olle has been working as expedition leader, naturalist and lecturer on several expedition ships in Antarctica and around Svalbard.

Pär Skog

Guide

Pär’s interest for travel and nature has followed him throughout his life. After his military service in the Mountain Rangers, he has been on big and small adventures all around the world. By now Pär has traveled in more than 100 countries. He started his career in the travel industry within the hotel business in the United States, continued in mountain hotels in Sweden, and has worked with the indigenous people in Finland and on expeditions in Norway. Pär has been working for PolarQuest on several expeditions since 2008.

Rickard Berg

Guide

Rickard was born in Stockholm and found the spirit of adventure at an early age. His polar career began after he had completed a ship’s officer exam and started working as an adventure guide. He went to Svalbard for the first time to drive a dogsled, a great interest of his. By now Rickard has worked a number of winter seasons in Svalbard as a dogsled guide, as well as in Canada. He loves his job as a guide, and admits he is hoping for a bit of wind, because then he really feels at home!

Ronald Visser

Guide & expediton leader

Raised in the flat northern part of The Netherlands, Ronald has a profound love for wide barren landscapes. Working at the Marine Biology University of Groningen has brought Ronald from the Antarctic to the Arctic and many places in between. In 2008, Ronald worked for the first time as an expedition guide, travelling to an Antarctic research base on a cruise vessel. He began guiding in Svalbard in 2010 and has had many guiding experiences since then. He really enjoyed these trips and soon realized that much of the enjoyment lies in sharing his passion for the Polar areas with other people.

Sue Werner

Guide

Sue has worked well over a decade as an assistant expedition leader, guide and naturalist on High Arctic and Antarctic voyages. Sue has a great passion for the Polar Regions with a keen interest in the flora and fauna of Svalbard and Greenland. Sue was born in Victoria, Australia. In 1990 she went trekking in Nepal and from that time, her adventurous spirit took control. She made her first visit to Antarctica when she assisted on an expedition cruise for Climbers and Photographers in 1996.

Thor Larsen

Guide

Thor Larsen has been an Arctic “aficionado” since he came to Svalbard for the first time in 1961, as a student and assistant for the Norwegian Polar Research Institute. He has a PhD on polar bear ecology and population dynamics based upon research in Svalbard, Arctic Canada, Alaska, Greenland and in the Polar Basin. Thor has more than 30 Arctic research expeditions behind him, and has been expedition leader on more than half of these. He is now professor emeritus at the Norwegian University of Life Science.

Galapagos ReQuest

In Galapagos you can swim with penguins, photograph iguanas and giant tortoises and play with sea lions. The animals are unafraid of humans and for anyone interested in wildlife, the archipelago is a true oasis!

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Ice Free Destinations

South America

Galapagos ReQuest with the Highlands of Ecuador 2013

Europe

The Orkney, Shetland & Faroe Islands 2014

Svalbard with Lofoten & Bear Island 2014

Lofoten, Bear Island & Svalbard on board M/S Quest 2013

Africa

Zambia & Malawi ReQuest 2013

Botswana, Namibia & Zambia ReQuest

Coral II

Adam Rheborg

Adrian Nordenborg

Andreas Bergström

Annette Scheepstra

Axel Broman

Betulia Machado Eriksson

Ditte Hendrichsen

Dierk Ronneberger

Elke Lindner

Henrik Løvendahl

Lisa Ström

Martin Enckell

Mats Forsberg

Morten Jørgensen

Olle Carlsson

Pär Skog

Rickard Berg

Ronald Visser

Sue Werner

Thor Larsen

Galapagos ReQuest