Travel

Arctic Adventures

I recently went on an Arctic Adventure cruising from Longyearbyen in Svalbard to East Greenland National Park and returning via Iceland. What an exciting trip – in the Arctic Circle with continuous daylight for ten days. The weather was perfect – sunny and still with temperatures about 10 – 12 C.

We saw polar bears, whales – fin, minke and humpback – seals, narwhal, musk oxen, little auks, fulmar, Arctic tern, puffins. We went ashore in several places and also out amongst the icebergs in zodiac boats.

Our ship was the hybrid, diesel and electric, eco-friendly Roald Amundsen run by Hurtigruten. The ship was so quiet you could hear the flapping of birds’ wings and their splashes as they ran over the water.

The scenery during the trip was breath-taking. East Greenland National Park is visited by only a handful of people each year and when on shore the only sounds were us. You could stand there and drink in the silence.

We spent days on the expedition without seeing another ship or human being – just wonderful nature.

Below are a few photos I took on the trip.

First view of Svalbard
Leaving Svalbard for Greenland
There was lots of sea ice
The first polar bear. It turned round and looked at us before swimming away.
Icebergs in Myggbukta, North East Greenland
Another polar bear
The trapper’s hut in Myggbukta. We went ashore here.
Some of the delicate Arctic flowers
Seal on the ice floe
Ittoqqortoormiit
Houses in Ittoqqortoormiit
Giant icebergs
Iceberg getting close
Close to the ice in Scoresby Sund
Mountains and glaciers in Ofjord
View from the hill behind Hekla Havn
Leaving Hekla Havn for the open sea
A whale coming close to the ship

You can see more by following the link to the Greenland 2019 video on YouTube or watching it below.

We then went to Iceland, but that is for another time.

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