arctic ice pack Arctic Complete – (27th July – 18th August 2017)

Celia Hills enjoyed a Wildfoot Travel  trip to the Arctic recently. Responding to our call for ‘Traveller’s Tales’, Celia sent in this summary of her trip along with some excellent photos.
Now that we’ve set the scene, we’ll hand you over to Celia……..

“The trip began with everyone meeting at Longyearbyen airport in Svalbard and going on a coach tour of the town before boarding the Polar Pioneer for the start of the adventure into the Arctic.

Arctic Exploration Cruise Vessel The Polar Pioneer
The Polar Pioneer, a Finnish-built expedition cruise ship operated by the Australian cruise company Aurora Expeditions

The first exciting thing was to be briefed on safety & to do a lifeboat drill as we were leaving harbour. Trying to get into one of two small lifeboats with all 53 passengers & some crew was a challenge with huge lifejackets & little space. As there is permanent daylight at these latitudes at this time of year there was much to see already.

Huge numbers of sea birds to be seen included Fulmars, Glaucous Gulls, Little Auks, Puffins, Black Guillemots, Brunnichs Guillemots, Kittiwakes Eider Ducks & Arctic terns. As the trip progressed the numbers of some of these verged on the staggering with huge seabird cliffs bulging with adults & chicks. Less often seen were the Arctic Skuas & Great Skuas. Geese were also abundant with Pink Footed geese & Barnacle Geese the most common.

Only two days into the trip & the first of 12 polar bears was sighted. This trip was outstanding for bears with the best left to last with a sighting of a mother & cub. One encounter with a male bear on a hunting mission was deemed to be worthy of a “Frozen Planet” sequence by the guides as it had the bear stalk & attack three bearded seals over a 3 hour period.

a polar bear hunting on the arctic shoreline
Only two days into our trip & the first of twelve polar bears was sighted.

Another highlight of this trip were the glaciers & icebergs for sheer beauty of colours, size & shapes & glaciers calving when viewed from a zodiac is amazing with the sound & then mini tsunami.

History is also a strong feature of this trip with various ancient camps, huts and burial grounds of the ancient explorers & trappers.

Walrus were also a highlight with some amazing sounds  & smells in the pushing & shoving of a group of young males, while an encounter from the zodiac of a group of females & young was enchanting.

Walrus were also a highlight with amazing sounds & smells.
Walrus were also a highlight with amazing sounds & smells.

Tiny Arctic Foxes were a delight & some almost tame in their tolerance of close humans. One catching an unfortunate Kittiwake chick that was pushed from its nest showed nature in the raw.

A pod of over 20 Beluga whales was another  of many highlights with them cruising around the zodiacs.

Crossing the Greenland Sea from Svalbard to Greenland was mostly uneventful with birds & fog being the order of the days.

Greenland has certainly got the wow factor with glorious scenery & magnificent rock formations & colours. Scoresbysund being the most amazing place. The addition of Musk Ox in Greenland added to the wildlife total.

Apart from Longyearbyen in Svalbard the only other occupied area visited on this trip was Ittoqqortoormiit, one of the only inhabited area of east Greenland & home to 350 people.

For me one of the best experiences was on the last landing in Greenland where there were a pair of Gyr Falcons, a bird I had never seen.

To summarise this trip is difficult because there were so many highs – Polar Bear, Walrus, Arctic Fox, Musk Ox & the thousands of birds – but what made I was the staff & crew of the Polar Pioneer being so friendly & knowledgeable.

Celia Hills.”

See more of Celia’s photos in this photo gallery

[Best_Wordpress_Gallery id=”15″ gal_title=”Celia Hills Arctic Cruise Gallery”]

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Dog Sledding on Wheels in the high Arctic

Dog Sledding in Svalbard/Spitsbergen Norway

Contrary to what you may think there is little or no snow in Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen in the summer time. Snow will gradually slow from May and start again in October so during the summer months of 24/7 sunlight the sled is swapped for wheels. I honestly think this is one of the best adventure experiences you could experience either pre or post your Arctic expedition.

The dog sleighing lasts for a morning or afternoon and start at one of the local dog compounds of which there are many. The dogs are a cross between the Greenland Husky with a local breed which originates in Alaska and are known as Alaska Huskeys. They are very well looked after and loved by the dedicated dog handlers at these compounds. They are well exercised and then well rested, fed, watered and tended to. If you are dog lover and know dogs you can see that they get very excited about the possibility of going out for a run and could be out on three runs per day for one week then completely rested for the following week. They also breed dogs very selectively and at any time they will have puppies in the compounds being looked after by their dedicated mothers in a separate pen. There were four puppies whilst we were there two of them with bright blue eyes you sometimes find in this amazing breed. They are outside dogs but do have their own hutch and feeding area but really flourish in the extreme cold of the winter months. Sometimes in the summer when the sun is shining and the temp reaches around 10 degrees they get hot easily and required a couple of water stops on each run.

Dog Sledding in the Arctic - The dogs are loved and very well looked after

If you are visiting Svalbard do not miss this adventure and an opportunity to spend time with real Arctic dogs. After the sled ride we had time to see the recent puppies and play with the dogs.

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Brief history of Svalbard

Svalbard - By zodiac

Straight of Freemansundet

Around 10 am last night was an optimum time to see Polar bear as we passed through the straight of Freemansundet between Edgeoya and Barentsoya on the west side of Svalbard. We were not disappointed as we saw at least five bears high of the hills and clefts of the mountain side to our port side. But the surprise of the evening was a group of Belugas on the Starboard side extremely close to the edge of the side jumping and diving. The reason they spend time so far in is to avoid their main potential predictor Orca, that that you would expect to see common sightings of Orca in these parts buts it’s a learnt strategy according to a Russian research student who is studying Beluga and writing a current thesis on Beluga.

Today we are heading for Gustavo Adolfo Land which remained partly un explored and unchartered. Polar expedition vessels keep depths and chart information they have gathered over the years a secret unless shared in an emergency situation to come to the assistance of another vessel. The weather is certainly more Polar like with much more ice flow in this area and this morning we had a little snow for the first time. The wind is between 30 & 40 knots and sea conditions are too rough for landings. We planned to land to see walrus this morning after breakfast which we had to make do from the vessel and then sail on 2 hours to Alkefjellet (Mount Guilliemot). Which is where we are right now. The sea is still swelling and dangerous to cruise of Zodiacs but we have super views of the vast Brunich Guillemot colony and the dramatic towering cliffs with over 60,000 breading pairs.

As we were unable to land This morning two exceptional lectures we given. The first one by Frank Todd on The Polar Bear which was amazing from start to end. The second lecture was delivered by Paul Harris the historian on board on a brief history of Svalbard. Again, a riveting story right the way from 15 & 16 Century to the present day Svalbard and the Treaty of Svalbard.

Vikings supposedly recorded a fist sighting of Svalbard mean Edge if the Ice although it’s not confirmed this was in deed Svalbard however the Norwegians would like to think so to assist in their claim to soverenty.
It’s been the Russians who have tried in recent years to prove a claim to the archipelago by The Pomers, ancestors in 15 Century who were Russian trappers from Siberia who were funded by the Orthodox Church. This again is an unconfirmed claim and not proven 100%.

The first proven and definitive recorded sighting of the land was by a Dutch adventurer in 1596 called Willem Barents who first gave this land the name Spitsbergen meaning the land of spiking peaks. He died possibly of scurvy related illness in 1597 marooned on the Spitsbergen ice with some of his men however a few were rescued which lead to tales of rich pickings, furs, whale oil from blubber and walrus tusk.

In 1607 an English man named Henry Hudson who worked for Muscovy Trading Company started serious seasonal whale hunting and for the first time oil was created from the blubber of the whale and used for many everyday items such as oil lamps, make up, soap, lubricants. By this time the Dutch and British were the main players one nation taking the north and the other the south of the archipelago. Business and profits were good.

Did you know we nearly didn’t have an Horatio Nelson hero figure of the British Royal Navy as our history books record today? In 1773 Young Horatio served as an officer on HMS Carcass and spent time on and around Spitsbergen. Against orders the story goes he went ashore alone hoping to kill a Polar Bear to skin and take home to his father. Once ashore after finding a likely candidate he took aim with his rifle but to his utter shock his gun failed. He tried to escape the tricky situation and used the rifle but end to try to stave off the wild and possibly hungry creature and nearly came to his end until a marksman on board the ship took aim and killed the bear. So Nelson survived to fight another day! This period in Nelson’s naval carrier isn’t as well known as his Trafalgar days.

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Playing safe in Spitsbergen

Today I was picked up first thing to take a hike and fossil hunt close to Lonyearbyen near one of the glaciers. The area we walked to was just outside the settlement but Polar Bear had been sighted up there in the past so there’s a minor risk. Maria our guide for the morning, as well as being fully trained and licensed to carry a rifle also brought along one of the dogs, a three year old half Greenlander and half something else from theses parts called Ram. You can imagine with a dogs sensitive smell and hearing they can raise the alarm for Polar Bear way before a human. Whilst we looked for fossils, and we were not disappointed, Ram obediently guarded us and did a fine job of too. No bears today but some wonderful views back down the Bally towards Longyearbyen and beyond. If you have 3 to 4 hours even if you are picking up an expedition that day it’s an excellent idea to take a hike and get out of the village even if you are not too much in to fossil hunting. Fully recommended and interesting not to mention dead safe.

Strangely on the walk down we passed a group of 8 adventurers going up the track away from the settlement lead by a chap from Chc. Republic and obviously staying out overnight with full pack of tents and sleeping bags etc. Our guide shared her extreme concern with us that the guide carried not gun at all. Seems crazy to even take minor risks in this region especially when you are responsible for other lives, not just your own. Ok it’s rare to see bears around hear as there’s not obvious food source but why would you take this risk and disregard what locals always agree on.

There are various choices of lodging in Longyearbyen from Hostel type accommodation similar to Spitsbergen Guest House and 102 to The Spitsbergen Hotel and Radisson Blu which are probably the highest grade in Spitsbergen. If you are looking for clean but basic digs the guest House and 102 will suit you fine but if you seek high end The Radisson and Spitsbergen Hotel are the best choice. However if you have stayed in other Radisson Hotels worldwide don’t expect the same of Radisson Blu Spitsbergen as it falls a lot short when compared so bring your expectations down a few notches. Even the superior rooms are a little basic of what you may expect from Radisson but it’s very central and short walking to the museum, restaurants and bars in the village plus the staff are helpful and friendly. The Spitsbergen Hotel by comparison is a 15 minute walk with slight incline at the end but better quality in a more classic in style with excellent fine dining restaurant called Funken Restaurant. I,d recommend this hotel over the Radisson to discerning travelers even though The Radisson is more expensive. An alternative is The Trappers Hotel is an interesting themed hotel with only 16 bedrooms and well located in the middle of town. It’s not for every one especially those who don’t like the thought of sitting on animal skins and seeing paintings of trapping scenes plastered around. But I loved the cosy ambiance theme of a trappers log cabin inside the hotel the fact they have cleverly used local washed up beach wood to build the inside of the rooms and hotel common areas.

Embarked MS Expedition at 4pm and set sail at 5pm. We have just seen Beluga from a distance of the starboard side and apparently there were 10’s of them when the vessel came in to dock the early hours and they are still there. Hope this is just the start of a wildlife feast for the next 8 days.

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