Jewel of the Russian Far East
Mike Unwin is a freelance travel and nature writer based in Brighton UK. He writes regularly for the Telegraph, Independent, BBC Wildlife and numerous other publications, and is the author of more than 30 books for both adults and children. In 2013 Mike was voted UK Travel Writer of the Year by the British Guild of Travel Writers.
Here Mike gives us a brief account of his experience on an expedition cruise aboard the Spirit Of Enderby with Wildfoot Travel.
Checking Out Sea Spirit’s New Refit
I was lucky enough to get the chance to visit the M/V Sea Spirit after she had undergone recent refurbishment on all cabins.
The M/V Sea Spirit is a purpose-built expedition ship that takes passengers to the beautiful regions of the Arctic and Antarctica.
She has a very classic look inside with lots of wood throughout along with a modern touch – it is a good mixture of feeling spacious but cosy at the same time.
Being able to accommodate a maximum of 114 guests is just the ideal size in my opinion to enable everyone to get on shore as much as possible.
During my time onboard it was really easy to talk to the other guests and that was in part to the lovely homely surroundings of the ship.
The crew took the time to talk to every single guest and were more than happy to answer questions and regale us with stories on the unique wildlife they have encountered. The vessel has great camaraderie between all onboard and this I felt added to my experience.
The refurbishment has made everything look very fresh and the small touches throughout were very much noticed.
The old and new photographs on each side of the corridors was great – it was very interesting to see the exact same image from years gone by mirrored by the present day.
If you are Facebook user, you can check out a gallery of photos from my visit to Sea Spirit here.
An incomparable coal mine experience and an impressive display from the northern lights
There can’t have been many Arctic holidays quite as enjoyable and fulfilling as that recently embarked upon by our own senior travel advisor here at WILDFOOT. Alas, in our latest blog post, her journey to Spitsbergen is coming to an end, but not without yet more great memories being made.
Day 5: Coal Mine Number 3 Visit & Camp Barentz
Now visiting a coal mine is not something I ever thought I would do, or would particularly want to do. Having visited one I can now confidently say that it’s somewhere I would never like to work! Crawling through narrow tunnels, deeper and deeper into a mountain, with the weight of millions of tons of rock above…then releasing the jacks holding up the roof once a coal seam has been fully mined? No thanks! We did get to crawl through a ‘fake’ tunnel which was a small taste of the experience. It was fascinating to learn though, how the miners plied their trade. They are incredibly brave and hardy – hats off to them! Before the arrival of tourism, coal mining was the main source of income for Svalbard. There are 7 mines in central Spitsbergen, only one of which is currently operational, although the industry here is highly contested with the UN and environmental organisations urging its phase out. All the more reason to preserve Mine Number 3 as a museum piece.
The finale of our trip was a northern lights evening at Camp Barentz. Named after William Barentz, Dutch explorer and discoverer of Svalbard, the cabin where we were to have our dinner was a rough copy of the one built by Barentz and his crew during the 11 months that they were stranded on Novaya Zemlya after their ship became stuck in the ice. With a roaring fire in the centre of the cabin, a hearty stew and chunks of bread to fill the stomach and a glass of wine in hand it was a fitting and fun end to an amazing trip. And the northern lights didn’t disappoint with their strongest display of the whole visit. Perfect!
Making new canine friends in the Spitsbergen cold
It’s one thing to go on an Arctic wildlife viewing holiday, but quite another thing for some of the animal natives to help you on your way! That’s what our travel advisor discovered on the latest day of her trip, and it’s a testament once more to some of the incredible experiences that one can have on a Svalbard break with WILDFOOT.
Day 4: Ice caving and dog sledding
It was back outside with a vengeance today, starting with a snowcat ride up the Longyearbyen valley to an ice cave. The valley runs through the town and up into the mountains, and at its head is a glacier. Within this glacier is an ice tunnel that visitors can explore, with a fresh entrance to the cave being dug each winter to allow access. The track up to the head of the valley is steep and, needless to say, very snowy – so much so that our snow cat, even with its thick treads, struggled at one point. Once 14 well-fed members of my Arctic winter expedition group had been ejected from the vehicle and trailer, it did manage to make it up there, but only thanks to the perseverance of our indomitable driver! Inside the small igloo that has been built around the cave entrance 14 anxious faces gazed down into an icy hole. The nervous mutterings, which had been heard intermittently since the announcement of the planned ice cave visit, were somewhat quietened by the appearance of a reasonably sturdy looking metal ladder leading down into the depths. In fact, it was only a few metres to the tunnel floor and then a simple walk along a narrow channel into the cave – all that worrying for nothing! And it is stunningly beautiful down there, with the contours and colours of the ancient ice.
Back into the fresh air it was time for the next adventure: dogsledding. It may seem cruel to us temperate island dwellers to keep dogs outside in the middle of winter only 800 miles or so from the north pole, but in fact their preferred temperature is around -15 centigrade so for them -20 would be the equivalent of just a bit of a nip in the air. I have always wondered how huskies are able to pull heavy sleds but now I understand – they are incredibly strong. As part of our mushing experience we helped harness the dogs to the sleds and my job was to take Wasabi (a very friendly mid-sized, black and brown boy) from his pen to the harness. Huskies love to run, and once he realised he was about to go on an outing it was as much as I could do to stay on my feet as he literally dragged me from his kennel to the sled. Once given the go the dogs were off, happy to be running. It’s a wonderful thing, guiding a sled pulled by 6 beautiful huskies, through the darkness, with the northern lights flickering above, and the icy silence of the arctic winter all around. Add to that the slight frisson of fear of being eaten by a polar bear and it makes for a truly memorable experience!
A compelling museum visit and a chocolate faux pas
The latest enthralling journey that we are covering on the WILDFOOT blog took our senior travel advisor to Spitsbergen in Norway. As the story of the third day of their trip makes clear, a tailor made Arctic adventure with us is endlessly fascinating – even when it heads indoors.
Day 3: Cultural Tour + Foodie Tour
I think most of our group were quite happy to have a break from the great outdoors today, allowing our frozen bits to thaw out properly. With a population of only 2,600 and no indigenous peoples you might not expect there to be much culture or history in Spitsbergen, but the museum at Longyearbyen where we went that morning, is well worth a visit, detailing the toils, endurance and unbelievable hardship suffered by the early settlers. It’s also got its own stuffed polar bear, which I was starting to realise is de rigueur in indoor public spaces in Longyearbyen (not forgetting the airport arrivals hall, the supermarket has one, as does the Radisson Blu and at least one of the outdoor gear shops in town). Along with the continuous darkness it’s the presence of polar bears (there are more than humans there) that actually makes Svalbard different to anywhere I’ve ever been before. When leaving the town limits, it is the law that you, or your guide, must be armed with a rifle. Polar bears are extremely big and hungry and, as the information in the museum made quite clear, we are food!
Our next stop was a gallery showcasing art inspired by the stark beauty and incredible light of Svalbard. The gallery also had an interesting display of old maps from the days of early exploration. Although some of those maps are hopelessly inaccurate, I did stop and ask myself how I would fare trying to draw up a chart of somewhere so inaccessible. Not too well I wouldn’t think!
The day finished with the unlikely sounding ‘Taste of Svalbard’ tour. Now whilst the early settlers, and indeed the majority of inhabitants until quite recently, would have had a rather unadventurous diet, that’s not the case these days. In fact, the meals I had here were all outstanding. The main highlights of the gastro tour today however were Svalbard’s very own brewery, with its 5 speciality beers, the Polar Permaculture project (where they are trying to grow herbs and vegetables in a greenhouse) and a chocolaterie. Presented with a plate of chocolate samples I am extremely ashamed to say that I had eaten all mine before realising that the owner of the shop was intending to talk us through the subtle taste of each, one by one. Very embarrassing…
Snowmobiling on Spitsbergen in the dark of an Arctic January
Arctic cruises to Svalbard and the Norwegian archipelago’s largest island of Spitsbergen have always been in high demand here at WILDFOOT, and the story of our travel advisor’s latest trip to the region helps to demonstrate precisely why. Brace yourself for her retelling of the first two days of yet another incredible journey.
Spitsbergen 2017
When I was told that I would be travelling to Svalbard in January my first thought was ‘you can travel to Svalbard in January?!’ With the capital, Longyearbyen, having a latitude of 78.22 degrees north, during the winter months the archipelago is in the grip of the polar night, when the sun never comes near the horizon, let alone crossing it! ‘What activities could you possibly do in the dark?’ I thought. I was about to find out…
Day 1: Arrival
Our flight into Longyearbyen, the main town on Svalbard’s main island of Spitsbergen, arrived in the early hours of the morning so of course it wasn’t at all strange that it was dark! There to meet us at the luggage carousel was the first of what turned out to be many stuffed polar bears in Longyearbyen.
Stepping out of the airport the temperature was decidedly fresh but not as bitterly cold as I was expecting – perhaps because the air is so dry? Checking into our accommodation, the Coal Miner’s Cabins, my main concern was: would it be warm enough? I needn’t have worried; it was toasty!
Day 2: Snowmobiling
Following a hearty and delicious breakfast we set out on the first of our activities: snowmobiling. With the outside temperature -21 centigrade, and an approximate distance of 140kms to be covered, it was definitely a case of ‘in at the deep end’…
Once fully kitted up for the cold we had a brief introduction to snowmobile handling and then were off! Riding a snowmobile is pretty easy actually – like riding an automatic scooter but more stable – there aren’t any gears and you don’t really even need to use the brakes, just ease off the gas if you want to slow down. Our snake of snowmobiles twisted off into the darkness of the Advent Valley, a line of light in the black of the polar night. In late January, in fact there is a little light in the sky; for around an hour and a half at midday the sky turns from black to a beautiful dark blue, with just enough light to hint at the shapes of the magnificent snow covered mountains lining both sides of the valley. I can’t deny that the whole experience left me a tad chilly (multiple layers, balaclava and heated handlebars notwithstanding) however it was utterly magic to experience the wildness of such a pristine and deep-frozen landscape.
Wrapping up an Arctic excursion…
Despite having recently left the Russian archipelago Franz Josef Land, John found an intriguing remnant of Russian history during his visit to Svalbard. Here is more about what he encountered during his final two days on the kind of Arctic cruise you can book with our wildlife travel specialists.
Day 14
This was our last day on board. In the morning, we spent time walking around the abandoned Russian mining settlement of Pyramidan. Although Spitsbergen is Norwegian, it has a special status – and other countries with a historical stake in the island still have rights of residence and other activities there, including mining.
There are two such Russian mining areas on the island; this one was in operation until about 1998. It then fell into disrepair; however, many of the buildings have been partly restored in recent years. In its day, it was a model Soviet settlement with a school, fully-equipped sports centre and rare heated indoor swimming pool.
We had a look around these buildings, most of which still look like everybody just walked out a few weeks ago. The outside of one of the accommodation blocks, however, has become a ‘cliff’ for nesting kittiwakes, whilst there are also wild reindeer roaming the outskirts. As the canteen remained manned, we called in for a rather smooth shot of vodka.
So not laid back, it’s almost vertical
We enjoyed an interesting final excursion that afternoon. Billed as a steep climb rather than a hike or walk, it turned out to be a very steep scramble up a near-vertical slope of loose scree and soft tundra. Most people sensibly gave up a little over halfway. However, of course, I – along with 5 others and our mad Russian ‘guide’ who had not actually been up there before and had just heard about it – continued up to see this ‘spectacular’ waterfall trickle emerging from the sheer rock face.
We perched with friable footholds looking at the, admittedly, beautiful scene across the fjord and the red dots of our now quite relieved companions on the shore below. We were back down more quickly than on the ascent and felt, actually, a little smug – despite the wobbly limbs and scratched hands!
Before dinner, we had an excellent slideshow with a compilation of images that the expedition photographer had taken and featured all of us and the places and experiences enjoyed. Then, a pleasant evening in good company, brought to an abrupt halt when we docked at the pier and our ‘barmaid’ rang a bell to tell us that no more drinks could be served. We were back in Norway and that country has some quite strict alcohol sale/consumption laws!
Day 15
After breakfast, we disembarked and went by bus to the airport to wait for our flight from Longyearbyen to Oslo. The departure lounge was absolutely chocker with passengers from our ship and the Ponant ship, which also disembarked that day. Most of their passengers were on a charter to Paris, whilst the rest of us were on the very full flight to Oslo.
Time for farewells and to reflect on the intense experiences in Franz Josef Land, what a superb couple of weeks…
Norway’s Svalbard Archipelago Cruise
In John’s previous report of his recent Arctic adventure, he focused on a visit to Norway’s Svalbard archipelago. In this update, he tells us more about what he got up to there. Remember that here at WILDFOOT, we can arrange for you to enjoy a luxury Arctic cruise like this.
Day 13
Monday. After leaving the islands of the northeast, we steamed at 14kt over the top of the Svalbard archipelago and down the west coast of the main island, Spitsbergen. This name came from the early Dutch explorer, Barents, and literally translates as ‘pointed mountains’. We could see why – for hours, we watched jagged peaks, bisected by glaciers as we headed south.
We could not land on the island anywhere without guns, because of the threat of polar bears; however, we were not allowed to have any firearms on board when entering Russian waters. So, the expedition leader decided that we should, rather than just make Zodiac excursions along the coast, instead sail at full speed back to Longyearbyen and pick up guns. This would enable us to at least make two landings on our last full day, tomorrow.
A relaxing break from all of the exploring
So, it was decided that we would arrive in Longyearbyen late that evening and then continue on up the Isfjord. This meant that Monday was spent very much at leisure, skipping breakfast and sleeping in, attending a couple of talks and enjoying the early farewell cocktail party. This was a delightful, relaxed affair, where we enjoyed a couple of martinis before dinner in good company.
Later, the German-speaking group on board took over the bar and enjoyed a boisterous pyjama party, whilst we watched The Red Tent, a 1960s film about the Nobile airship expedition to the North Pole. Sean Connery, Claudia Cardinale, Peter Finch and Hardy Kruger star in the film, which is very dated but quite entertaining.
Then, we returned to the bar for a series of nightcaps with our new friends – even after all this time, we have not really become accustomed to the fact that it is still broad daylight – quite disorientating!
Awe-inspiring icy scenery on a journey to Nordaustlandet
John has recently said goodbye to Franz Josef Land, an Arctic archipelago – but not long before he embarked on a trip to Nordaustlandet, a large island with an impressive ice cap. On the way there, he got to indulge in Arctic wildlife viewing like that on offer if you book with us at WILDFOOT.
Day 12
Sunday: I opened the curtain to another foggy morning; I couldn’t see anything of Kvitøya (otherwise known as White Island, a name given by an unimaginative Norwegian explorer years ago). It made me realise just how lucky we all were last week with all that clear sky and sunshine.
Nevertheless, after breakfast, we went out on a Zodiac cruise into the mist and through the dense, floating ice. It was quite cool today, around the zero mark. Here, we came across lots of walrus – singly, in pairs and in large groups – hauled up onto chunks of ice. Even though we have now seen loads of these animals, this was a different environment again, with lots of ice and fog.
Lots of ice, ice, baby!
Heading back, the ship gradually materialised like a ghostly ‘sea spirit’ out of the mist! There was a relaxing day ahead now, as we sailed towards the big island of Nordaustlandet, which had the third largest ice cap in the world after Antarctica and Greenland. Would we actually see any of it? 
Well, believe it or not, the answer was yes! The island not only has that icecap but also the longest ice cliff in the northern hemisphere at some 250km or approximately 160ml. The fog cleared for us just as we approached the coast. So, we slowed down for half an hour and just stood on the balcony, sharing a bottle of wine with our Aussie neighbours as we passed through the brash ice and watched the cliff go on for as far as the eye could see in both directions, with the glacier sloping away behind. 
We also had talks on polar bears and the history of Svalbard this evening – so combined with a night cap or so in the bar, it’s another past-midnight-in-broad-daylight night!
A big glacier and a big walrus on a final day in Franz Josef Land
John certainly got close to nature during his recent time in the Arctic – and today, he’s going to tell us about the last of the awesome sights he enjoyed before leaving the Russian archipelago of Franz Josef Land, a place you can also enjoy thanks to our wildlife travel specialists.
Day 11
Saturday: 85% of Franz Josef Land is covered in ice – and this morning, we again looked out on the snow-clad landscape, albeit under grey skies. Over the last few days, we have seen amazing glaciers, but our trip out this morning really took the breath away.
We caught sight of a rugged, intimidating and purely magnificent glacier with a jagged wall, over 100 feet high, creaking and breaking and, as we moved along the front, the classic slope down to the sea. And all this under a brooding sky with the mist coming in, changing perspectives in seconds. Just when you think you have seen it all, nature still has the power to surprise… 
Where did all of the ivory gulls go?
Later that morning, we were back off Alexandra Land and went out especially to see a rare nesting site of ivory gulls. This particular species does not migrate far and has a very limited distribution. It is also unusual in that it does not always return to the same nesting site each year. This was proved today; there were flocks of them here last year, apparently, but not one to be seen now!
Nevertheless, we did have the bonus of a big fat walrus posing for us on an ice floe, just a few yards away, with that beautiful glacial background. That was it – our last excursion in Franz Josef Land. We were then on our way back to the Russian military station where the officials would return on board to process our exit from the country.
That really was that for Wednesday. Steaming (figuratively) south, we expected to be off Kvitøya in northeast Svalbard the following morning. However, before that, there was – I’m afraid – another big night in the bar…
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Simon Rowland
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