Spitsbergen, Eastern Greenland, Iceland
Multiple Departures
Start: Longyearbyen
Finish: Reykjavik
Day 1
Longyearbyen – Embarkation
This three-country Arctic adventure begins on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen at Longyearbyen.
Day 2-4
Exploring Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest of hte Svalbard Islands, an Arctic archipelago, first visited by Europeans in 1596. We’ll spend the next three days exploring, taking advantage of local weather and ice conditions to seek polar bear and walrus.
Anticipate visits to the 14th of July Glacier, the settlement of Ny Alesund and Monaco glacier. Sightings of Arctic Terns, Arctic Skuas, Long-tailed Ducks, Kittiwakes and Glaucous gulls are possible.
The temperature drops as we continue northward, crossing 80°, 965 km (600 miles) from the North Pole. Polar bear and walrus are known to inabit the waters around Phippsoya, a small archipelago, the most northerly in Svalbard!
Day 5-6
Greenland Sea
While at sea, the Expedition Team will deliver illustrated presentations about the wildlife and cultures you will encounter in Greenland, the second of the three Arctic countries you visit during this expedition. Greenland is under home rule, but its internation relations are conducted by Denmark. The naturalists assist with seabird identification from the deck of the ship. You may participate in as many, or as few shipboard activities as you choose.
Day 7-12
Eastern Greenland
The coast of eastern Greenland is wild, rugged and often ice-bound, an excellent habitat for wildlife that require ice floes to thrive. We’ll sail the ice edge searching for walrus and polar bear. We will lower Zodiacs from time to time to cruise at ocean level or to go ashore.
We’ll compare cultures as we visit the remains of ancient Thule settlements and a remote modern-day village. At all times, we’ll be on the alert for musk oxen, because 40% of the world’s population lives on the eastern coast of Greenland.
Before leaving Greenland, we plan to sail into Scoresbysund, the largest fjord complex in the world, and the birthplace of many icebergs.
Day 13
Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar)
The history of the Westman Islands is as shrouded by the mists of time as a Norse Saga. We know that westman was the name used by the Norse to refer to Irishmen. In the 1600s, a fleet from the Ottoman Empire that included Barbary pirates raided the islands, capturing 400 Icelanders.
You’ll learn more of the history of the islands on a walking tour of the town of Heimaey. You’ll see a documentary about the 1973 eruption of Eldfell. Like the rest of Iceland, the Westman Islands are volcanically active, creating, as recently as 1973, a new island, Surtsey.
Day 14
Reykjavik
This expedition disembarks in Reykjavik, the capital of the third Arctic country you visit, Iceland.