Hello all,
This past summer, we completed a fantastic two week Arctic cruise. Over the next several weeks, I will be sharing some of the tips that we picked up during this cruise. Most of these tips are general travel tips that could apply to adventure travel anywhere; however, there are a few that are specific to travel in the Polar regions. Before getting into these tips, however, I want to give you an overview of the excursion that we took.
This was our first adventure travel / expedition cruise, and it was very different than previous cruise experiences on the major cruise lines. In our case, the itinerary and excursions were organized by One Ocean Expeditions who rented the Clipper Adventurer ship for their exclusive use during this trip. The ship is leased to other companies throughout the year and sails in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions.
Compared to the larger cruise ships used by the major lines, our smaller ship was more personal, more interesting, and matched our interests perfectly. The Adventurer has a maximum of 120 passengers, and is well suited to expedition cruising with an ice hardened hull, a complement of 10 zodiacs, and the ability to load zodiacs from either side. Our cabin was a little small but extremely well laid out, with two single beds (dressed in comforters), two good-sized windows (not portholes), three closets, a writing desk, a night stand, and an ensuite washroom with shower. The main lounge, where tea, coffee, water, and snacks were served 24 hours a day, hosted our lectures and served as a general meeting location. The dining room sat the entire ship for a single serving, and produced amazing multi-course meals throughout the trip. Possibly because of the smaller number of passengers, the food was much better than my experience with the larger ships while maintaining variety and options (e.g. dinner was 5 courses, with at least 2 salad, soup, and dessert options and 3 entrees, all of which were different each day, and never repeated). There was also a well-stocked library and a back deck, with chairs, that we used for afternoon tea several times during our voyage (yes, we had afternoon tea, outdoors, above the arctic circle. Comfortably.).
Our itinerary gave us an excellent overview of the small part of the Canadian Arctic we sailed through and a glimpse of West Greenland. We took a charter flight out of Edmonton to our starting point in Resolute Bay. From there, we traversed the eastern Canadian Shield visiting Beechey Island, Prince Leopold Island, and Devon Island, before heading over the north-east side of Baffin Island to Pond Inlet. From there, we crossed Baffin Bay to Greenland where we visited Uummannaq, Ilulissat , and Sisimiut before heading down Sondre-Stromfjord to Kangerlussuaq, where we boarded another charter flight for our return to Toronto. As one would expect on an adventure trip, our schedule was flexible and there were several times when our initial plans changed in response to weather, sea conditions, or wildlife. It was a credit to our staff that we were able to work around these interruptions (often without the passengers’ knowledge) and maintain an exhausting excursion schedule.
The focus of the trip was on wildlife and photography and excelled in both areas – a credit to the One Ocean’s team and the Captain. The staff clearly had significant experience in Arctic expeditions, and was able to provide a variety of activities at most of the sites where we landed. In most cases, there were at least 3 distinct options, ranging from zodiac cruises to “charging” hikes, where the goal was usually to get to the top of a local peak. There were also usually at least 2 less strenuous hikes (which was what I usually did). When we stopped at villages, there were cultural options as well – at least one museum visit was included as an option in each town, with the residents of Pond Inlet hosting us for a two-hour, live cultural display at their museum. This range of activities kept the passengers engaged and allowed for everyone to get what they wanted out of the trip. The One Ocean staff also gave regular presentations on a variety of topics and made frequent use of the ship’s intercom system to alert us when something interesting was happening outside that we might be missing. As one might expect, the staff included a couple of naturalists, who were able to put what we were seeing in context. What we were not expecting was the level of experience that the entire staff had, each having spent months at the Poles over dozens of expeditions. A highlight for us was a talk given by one of these naturalists about his experiences leading the last major dog sled expedition in Antarctica. Importantly from our perspective, the staff also included two resident photographers who worked closely with the passengers (in fact, we found out about this trip from one of them). They not only gave presentations about relevant topics and led photography-centric groups on excursions, but provided personalized instruction based on the individual’s level of interest, expertise, and equipment. The opportunity to learn from these experienced professionals, and to ask very specific questions, added significant value to the excursions and turned into one of the highlights of the trip for us.
The ship saw 16 polar bears during our trip, and I personally saw 9 – averaging over one per day until we left Canada (missing several while I slept). My most memorable viewing came when the Captain parked the boat on the edge of an ice floe for about half an hour so we could observe a polar bear on the floe. The bear did not appear to mind us being there: although it did charge the ship once to see if we would back away, it spent most of its time looking for seals and sleeping. As we finally pulled away, the sun came out and gave the bear’s fur a glowing white silhouette as it stretched. Absolutely awe inspiring! In addition, we had several other viewings from both zodiacs and the ship. The staff was extremely diligent in making sure that there were no bears near our landing sites, so we never saw a bear from land – an important safety consideration since polar bears will hunt humans and they are extremely fast. I had an excellent musk oxen sighting, with a small herd letting our group approach fairly close, as well as several distant sightings where the musk ox looked like brown boulders that moved. I also had two close walrus viewings, one from a zodiac where we were able to watch for about 15 minutes before he slid into the water and one where the walrus was sitting on an ice floe that passed by our cabin window as the ship moved between stops late one night. We were told that we saw narwhals as well. Unfortunately, apparently, during the summer, all you can see are the blows – the tusks and most of the narwhal remain underwater and invisible. So while I saw a blow spout, I wasn’t able to clearly identify the type of whale.
Overall, the trip exceeded my expectations – and everyone I talked to seemed to feel the same way. The ship was fantastic, and the wildlife encounters more than you could hope for. However, the staff of One Ocean really made the trip everything I could hope for: they focused on making sure we saw the wildlife and landscapes we went there to see. A few snapshots from the trip are viewable at our Flick site.
Terence
City Escapes Nature Photography
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