Cruise Costa Rica and Panama with National Geographic

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Few organizations in the world command as much respect as the National Geographic Society. And few tour companies are as favorably rated as National Geographic Expeditions, the society's travel division launched in 1999.

Today, National Geographic Expeditions operates more than 300 trips each year, spanning more than 40 countries on all seven continents. Every October through March it offers week-long cruise-tours along the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and Panama, and including a crossing of the Panama Canal.

National Geographic Expeditions trips are offered in partnership with Lindblad Expeditions, the world's premier expedition company, founded in 1958 by legendary explorer-entrepreneur Lars Eric Lindblad.

A signature of these programs is the "National Geographic Experts"—anthropologists, archaeologists, biologists, explorers, historians, naturalists, photographers, and filmmakers—who accompany specific departures and work alongside National Geographic Expedition's full-time expert naturalists and historians.

It's my honor to have been appointed as a National Geographic Expert in 2007. Since then, I've participated on several "Costa Rica and the Panama Canal" trips. This coming winter I'll do so again, on the Dec 25, 2010–Jan 01, 2011 and Jan 01–08, 2011 departures, during which it will be my pleasure to share my insights, knowledge, and passion for a region I know so well.

Even before I joined National Geographic Expeditions, I'd made similar journeys a half dozen times with the now defunct Temptress Cruises and with Cruise West.

I've always considered these nature- and adventure-oriented journeys a tremendous way for encountering wildlife you might not otherwise get to see, such as monkeys, crocodiles, sloths, and poison-dart frogs. They've also been my modus operandi for getting to some of the most hard-to-reach places (such as Casa Orquideas, Corcovado National Park, and the region south of Drake Bay) that I need to investigate on a regular basis to update my Moon Costa Rica guidebook.

That the journeys also include such highlights as Manuel Antonio National Park is icing on the cake.

So please join me for either (or both) of these special Christmas and New Year's departures this winter aboard the National Geographic Sea Lion.

For further information about travel in Costa Rica, buy Moon Costa Rica

If you're traveling only to San José and the Caribbean, buy Moon Spotlight Costa Rica's Caribbean Coast pocket guide.

If you're traveling only to the beaches of Nicoya, buy Moon Spotlight Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula pocket guide.

If you're traveling only to Arenal and/or Monteverde, buy Moon Spotlight Costa Rica's Arenal & Monteverde pocket guide.

Disclosure: I occasionally accept free or discounted travel when it coincides with my editorial goals. However, my opinion is never for sale. The opinions you see in Cuba & Costa Rica Journal are my unbiased reflection of the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Copyright © Christopher P. Baker