If you want to combine your love of reading with your passion for adventure, you can join Margaret Atwood, best-selling author of The Handmaid’s Tale, The Blind Assassin and this month’s newly released The Testaments, on a Canadian cruise expedition next year.
Adventure Canada, provider of group eco- and adventure tours, announced last week that Man Booker Prize-winning novelist Margaret Atwood will be joining this year's Atlantic Canada Explorer expedition, the Canadian author's 18th year travelling with the Adventure Canada team. Previous expeditions included a transatlantic voyage from Southhampton, England to New York City, as well as a journey through the heart of the Arctic. This year's expedition will take guests on a journey through the spectacular gems of Canada's Atlantic coast in early June, when the waters are warmed by the Gulf Stream and springtime flowers are in full bloom.
The first port of call is the French island of Saint-Pierre, just off the coast of Newfoundland, where guests can experience French food (with boulangeries and pâtisseries aplenty), wine and culture before sailing to the fishing village of Chéticamp on Cape Breton Island. They'll be taught about the history of the French and English colonial power struggles at the historic fortress of Louisbourg, visit Roosevelt Campobello International Park and discover the sandstone cliffs and record-breaking high tides of the Bay of Fundy.
Guests will also make a rare landing on Sable Island, home to the world-famous Sable Island horses and the world's largest breeding colony of gray seals. As a special onboard guest, Atwood will deliver a presentation—and perhaps a reading—while enjoying the wonders of Atlantic Canada with her family.
"There’s nothing quite like Adventure Canada. Really nothing. That must be why their expeditions attract so many multi-trippers: the experience they offer is profound, but also entertaining," Atwood said in a press release. "Adventure Canada takes its subject matter seriously, but not themselves. That, to me, is deeply Canadian: we don’t suffer stuffed shirts gladly."
You can join Atwood on the Atlantic Canada Explorer from 15 - 26 June, 2020. The cruise sets sail from St John's, Newfoundland. Prices start from CAN$3995 (US$3013) but guests who book before 31 October, 2019 to receive a 15% early bird discount.
