In the spirit of our very own Seven Wondrous Experiences of the World, Lonely Planet Magazine has launched their own awards, recognising those experiences which really make a trip unique and the results of the inaugural survey are now in!

Meet Nguyen van Chuong, our Tour Leader in the spotlight for August. Chuong leads tours for Explore in his home country of Vietnam and he consistently receives great feedback from those who have travelled with him.

The Shirley Meacock Spirit of Explore Award was added to our Tour Leader Awards this year as we have so many amazing Tour Leaders who have consistently received great feedback year after year and we wanted to recognise that fact. Meet the inaugural winner, Pok.

A runner-up last year, in this year's awards Richard Beal has gone one step further and been named the Explore Tour Leader of the Year.

Stunning total solar eclipse follows dramatic night after a spectacular electrical storm over Easter Island on Saturday night knocked out electricity and communications on the Island. Clear skies followed the next day allowing a great viewing of this year's total solar eclipse.

The Shirley Meacock Spirit of Explore Award recoginses an Explore Tour Leader who, over years of leading tours for Explore, consistently receives amazing feedback from both customers and Explore staff and who really embodies the ethos of the company.

In this year's Tour Leader Awards we received more than 1000 nomintions for over 200 Tour Leaders. After reading all the nominations and hearing about all the amazing things our leaders have done to make your adventures special, we have whittled them down to the final 16.

Meet Hannah Jordan, our Tour Leader in the spotlight for June. Rather than asking her to write about her life as a Tour Leader as we often do, we thought we'd get her to tell us what the view from her 'office' is, and we're glad we did as her answer really bring to life what being an Explore Tour Leader can be like!

The M/V Plolar Star is currently offering a 20% discount on selected Antarctic Cruises, so now you can follow in the footsteps of some of the world's greatest explorers for less. View offer and trips details...

They're four members of the Explore Head Office team who have taken on a huge challenge! They've signed up to take part in Oxfam's Trailwalker UK - a 30-hour, 100km walk across the South Downs. What a lovely way to spend a weekend!