Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1543174
viking.com | 55 S U M M E R I S S U E 2 9 I never enjoyed science classes at school, couldn't understand the point of Bunsen burners and looking at boring rocks under a microscope when there was a rich world of literature to explore. Yet here I am in Antarctica on board the Viking Polaris, rushing back from a penguin colony visit to an ornithology lecture, happily risking frostnip to watch the release of a weather balloon and tracking whales with the sort of laser focus I normally apply to tracking down online shopping bargains. Buoyed by the idea that the research we participate in on this 11-night cruise will contribute real data to real scientific discoveries - could possibly even inform the way people look at and understand the world - I am a citizen scientist convert. It is as thrilling as it is surprising to me, and it's all part of Viking founder Torstein Hagen's plan. Viking's river and ocean cruises minus casinos, kids and butlers have always focused on cultural enrichment and learning, albeit on beautiful ships with all the luxury comforts. With the introduction of Viking Expeditions to Antarctica and the Great Lakes of the United States, the focus is just as sharp. From a family of modest means in Norway, Hagen's early wanderlust had to be satisfied by airmailed exchanges with penpals. What he wanted most of all was a stamp from the end of the world. In 1957, the 14-year-old Hagen devised a clever plan, writing to his sister at a fictional address in Ushuaia, Argentina, the gateway to Antarctica. Unable to locate the addressee, the post office returned the registered letter, stamped in that faraway land, to sender. Hagen has been fascinated by Antarctica ever since. Today, the the chairman and CEO of Viking has a new dream: To put scientific exploration and discovery at the heart of cruising to Antarctica and the Great Lakes. A physicist by training and a scientist by self-identification, Hagen handpicked a team of the experts to bring his dream to life, in partnership with a constellation of world- class science organisations including the University of Cambridge and Scott Polar Research Institute. > Viking Polaris & Zodiacs, Antarctica