I have been fortunate to sail on almost all of the five star cruise lines sailing today and have sailed most itineraries. While I would choose an ocean liner for any ocean crossing, for everything else, I look for small.

We began another beautiful morning at Mala Mala searching for lions that had been calling at dawn across the river from the Main Camp. Soon we got a radio call that Keith (the Main Camp Manager) had just sighted a leopard and cub from the camp's deck. We turned and headed to the edge of the river.

Under the watchful eye of an adult, the cubs played relentlessly, probably developing skills that would, in adulthood, make them the most effective carnivores of Africa.

Although my companions and I are far from being swarthy, tattooed sailors full of song and stories, we are in search of the same adventure.

Jean-Baptiste Charcot's expeditions are justly famous for their attention to the creature comforts of men and for success. He explored unknown areas of the Antarctic Peninsula.

An impromptu trip to the Sea of Cortez finds wildlife galore.

"This is the best TV I ever watched. Real reality!"

The same week news broke that Facebook would acquire Instagram, two travelers used the app to shoot their Baja California expedition, capturing a $1 billion memory of a gorgeous wilderness.

All of these amazing photos were shot by naturalists and Lindblad-National Geographic certified photo instructors last year during spring and summer in Alaska.

I have "Left My Heart in San Francisco," had another "Beer in Mexico" and discovered the "Coast of Marseilles." So as I sit on this most perfect palm-lined beach in Costa Rica, with scarlet macaws flying overhead and the surf crashing upon dried coconuts long since fallen, I am searching my iPod in the hopes of capturing it with a song.

That weird mushroom-creature from the Arctic? We still don't know what it is, and we're still working to find out.

While the behemoths make the news -- "bigger is better!" -- small cruise ships carrying 200 and fewer passengers deserve special praise.