An Arctic Journal - August 2008

Sunday morning, August 17, 2008 – Longyerbyen, Svalbard

We departed on Wednesday, August 13th flying first to LA on Delta and saw Robert in passing as we left the Virgin Atlantic lounge for our flight to London. He looked a little tired, too. We flew Upper Class across the water and as usual we ate and slept well. I read John Man’s “Genghis Kahn” and watched “Iron Man.” What a combination. Terminal 3 in Heathrow had its packed 3rd world feel in spite of having just been remodeled and I was sweaty and grumpy by the time we found our way to the VA lounge where we were revived by a freshly prepared lunch and surprisingly good chocolate chip cookies. Then it was off to Oslo on SAS. It was 10:00 PM by the time we reached our hotel next to the Oslo Doma, which was surrounded by scaffolding for reconstruction.
The next morning we had a fine Norwegian buffet breakfast replete with multiple Salmon dishes and then the three of us wandered through the city until we found the small ferry to Bigdoy island and the Viking Skipmuseet. The black ships in the spare cross-shaped building like a puritan church always seem to make everyone reverential. And why not, there is divinity in such perfect function, design and historical aspiration. In the afternoon we took the ferry back and the tram to Frogner Park where we photographed the statues and had ice cream and beer. The dragon embracing the woman remains my favorite and I put my arms around Lynn in the same way and looked as dragonish as possible for a photograph for Robert. Then it was back to the hotel so that Robert could catch his flight to Longyerbyen and we ate an early buffet dinner (more salmon) and went to bed. Lynn fell asleep with the tv remote in her hand before she could select a movie to go to sleep to.
We slept late, had lunch, bought a few souvenirs and caught our flight to Longyerbyen. The plane was packed but the older man sitting next to the window asked if he could have the isle seat which was fine with us as we wanted to be able to see. It’s unusual now, but we spent the entire flight chatting with him. He’d been a sea captain in the north sea and had also done significant work in the pacific before moving to the oil business. He was surprisingly well informed about US politics and we laughed about CNNs current strategy of self-aggrandizement. He left us at Tromso and, to my surprise the flight filled again on the last leg to Longyerbyen. There were broken clouds most of the way but we managed a view of Bear Island. I hadn’t felt like we were north until we saw the severity and grandeur of the glaciers and bare mountains of Svalbard. Something, possibly iron deposits, stain the ice pink below the cliffs and the mountains are jagged, bare and young. This is a very new place for us and I can’t imagine what the rest of trip will be. Robert was waiting outside the front of the Raddison SAS hotel for us and whisked us off to dinner at fine place, Krao, where we had lobster, pepper steak and chocolate fondant. Robert regaled us with tales of how he’d spent the day. Even though it’s against the law (for good reason), he’d climbed a nearby peak and saw an arctic fox but no polar bears, fortunately. However, he had seen polar bear scat on the way back. The cliff he climbed is beautiful and the views must have been extraordinary and I could sense a bit of what it must have been like when he said it was spooky when he went beyond the peak both because of the severity of the terrain and the obvious danger. It was after midnight when we went to bed and of course the sun never set.


Tuesday afternoon, August 19, 2008 – Longyerbyen, Svalbard



Sunday morning, after breakfast, Lynn and I walked down to the beach where we were bombarded by skuas until we changed course and presumably missed their eggs. Then we walked back up and visited the small, exceptional museum. Everywhere seems to have a stuffed polar bear which alludes to their proximity. In addition the museum had a fine dynamic exhibit showing the expansion and contraction of the arctic ice-pack, a room devoted to Svalbard’s interesting history during World War II, sections on hunting and whaling, replete with 17th century clothing and gear. How did they brave this land in short breaches and jackets with cotton insulation? There was a produced film showing the sights of Svalbard the tangential star of which was a brave young Norwegian girl who participated in a number of naturalists activities, including standing off a polar bear by scaring it off with a flare gun. Lynn said that the girl was going to be her role model for the rest of the trip. We then shopped for a bit in a well-equipped expedition outfitter with a good selection of Arcteryx gear. Lynn bought some very good pants.
We returned to our room and napped while Robert went hiking illegally once more up to a small knoll above the town. He said he carved my name in a block of ice there and was amazed at its hardness. In the evening, the three of us ate at Hussen, a restaurant in the oldest building in Longyerbyen and far up the valley. The food was exquisite. Lynn had reindeer, which she said was very good while I had char and Robert had halibut. The bread and butter alone were worth the cost and over all it was as good as, and more original than, most meals we’ve had in London or New York. We finished with cloudberries and cinnamon ice cream.
Monday morning, a pleasant young man collected us at the hotel and took us dog-sledding. All three of us imagined that it would be a low intensity, mostly non-participatory activity. Were we wrong. Another couple, Carolyn Foreman and Phil Chanel, who were also scheduled for the cruise on the Antarctic Dream, joined us. After a thumping ride along dirt roads in to a low remote canyon in a Land Rover, we came to the end of the road and a farm house with kennels filled with large, barking dogs. We first met Joplin, a diminutive bitch with new puppies who was shivering and less than enthusiastic about leaving them to lead the team. But the young man told us she was the best leader and he demonstrated how to harness the dogs. Then it was our turn. We fitted the harnesses to the dogs, took them from their kennels one at a time and hitched them to the team that was staked to prevent them from bolting. I was amazed at how strong they were and how much work it was to set up the three teams. One of the dogs, a black one name Arok, which we were told means “black devil” decided to mark territory, including my leg. I understood why we’d been told to put on over-alls first.
Then we set off with minimal instruction. Lynn rode with our guide on the first wheeled sled, followed by me driving the second with Robert as passenger and Phil and Carolyn following. The road switch-backed down and the dogs demonstrated that they were able to move at good speed. My team had a tendency to veer to the right when ever we picked up speed which forced me to brake more than I would have liked. That in turn, forced Carolyn and Phil to overtake which I later learned shouldn’t be done. Nevertheless, we made it to the closed mine which was our destination. There we switched drivers, turned the teams around and rode back. We decided to forgo coffee and snacks to play with Joplin’s puppies and then returned to the hotel feeling like newly minted heroic arctic adventurers.
We shared our cab to the port with a group of women who graciously and unexpectedly paid the bill. Boarding the Antarctic Dream that afternoon was more complex than we anticipated as another ship, the Grigory Mikheev was docked between and we had to cross its deck to get to ours but in spite of the confusion we found our way to our cabins along with our luggage. Robert had some good news: he would not have to share a cabin. We departed and had dinner as we steamed out of Longerbyen. Of the fifty passengers, we were the only three Americans. The majority were British, German and Dutch.
Tuesday morning we were educated on proper Zodiac procedures, including the sailor’s grip for disembarking. Then we went ashore to see the fourteenth of July Glacier, (named after the national holiday of Monaco by a Monaco team.) An Indian woman, Shubha Chawla, who had been an investment banker in London before becoming a full-time traveler introduced herself on the Zodiac as she’d met Robert the night before. After inspecting a verdant micro-environment in an alcove sheltered from the winds, we set off across the tundra to walk to the edge of the glacier. Glacier ice has a wide spectrum of blues and was much more beautiful than it ever appears in photographs. It was also cavating. The glacier thunder caused by large segments of ice breaking off and falling into the sea reminded me of blasting avalanches at Alta, Utah, where we ski. On the way back the seas had picked up and we had a taste of how quickly the weather can change.
After lunch we stopped once more, at Ny-Alensund, the furthest most settlement which serves as a research station for twenty countries and a jumping off point for many polar expeditions. We walked around the spare village, inspected the shop and the bust of Roald Amundsen, along with the tower that was used to moor the dirigible that he and Umberto Nobile used to trans-navigate the North Pole.
In the evening, just before dinner, the seas picked up even more and I suddenly found myself seasick as they were serving the Caprese salad appetizer. I abruptly left and retreated to the cabin in spite of the opportunity to see whales later that night. Robert, who stayed up, saw them but Lynn came to bed before they appeared.



Wednesday, August 20 - At sea, south of Mollen Island



As I was getting dressed, John Neran, the expedition leader, announced that we had the first polar bear sighting. We grabbed our gear and went out onto the passenger’s bridge where we were greeted by two extraordinary sights. First, the ship was crawling through heavy pack ice, sometimes riding up over it only to plow heavily into the sea again. The other sight was a cream colored ursus maritimus traversing the ice in the near distance. We photographed and photographed and photographed. The captain navigated the ship very gently through the pack ice for several hours as the bear wandered, disappeared into the sea and possibly reappeared, if it wasn’t another. All together I had four different sightings.
Later we passed just south of Mollen island where observed walruses collected on the bare shore.
In the afternoon, we took a long walk across the tundra in beautiful afternoon light at a place called rein deer flats. There were no rein deer but the flora was intriguing and included spider plants, miniature trees (a few inches high) and others. The tundra is very soft and walking across it is a little like walking on a cushion. It takes more energy than walking on firm ground, although you don’t notice it at first. In places it was marshy and I could appreciate the danger of mud that we’d been warned about. Lynn reminded Robert and I of the Dead Marshes in the Lord of the Rings which was apropos because of the general desolation.
The low, dramatic sunlight persisted through the evening making the bare rust-colored sandstone mountains clear and unusually beautiful. There was an evening walk to see some of the only geo-thermal activity on Svalbard which Lynn and I declined.



Thursday, August 21, 2008. At Sea in the Sorgfiord, south east of Mollen.


We were wakened at 7:00 by an announcement that we were in pack ice once more and there was a fog bank that the captain was appraising. At breakfast we sat with Michelle van Dijk, a lanky Dutch girl who was one of our guides. She explained her theory of polar bear psychology. She perceives them as rather binary. Either they’re curious and following the straightest path to pack ice, even if it means crossing mountains or towns, or they perceive something as food at which point they become enraged. She demonstrated a bear, only deeply curious, approaching an egg, smelling it closely, deciding it was food and then using all its force indiscriminately to smash it. Obviously, that kind of sudden rage could be helpful when they pull a 400 pound seal through a blow hole with one foreleg. Michelle said that she never prayed except when she was camping in a tent on Svalbard, for protection from ice bears.
After breakfast, John Neran announced that we were going to anchor off the headland on the west side and go ashore. This walk would be unique because the area was almost completely bereft of vegetation, offered good visibility from a small promontory, and would be one of the few placed we’d be allowed to wander on our own. Bears were rarely sighted there.
We were in one of the last groups in. Most of the others had already ascended the promontory to see a cairn with John. Our small group, including the two bird watchers from South Africa, the guide Geordie and the young Dutch girl, Greta, who tends the bar, dispersed. I considered walking with Geordie and Greta but didn’t because I needed to change lenses. Lynn had a similar moment.
I imagined that it was a little like walking on the moon. Then I imagined what it would have been like to be an early explorer walking the same ground knowing that the land was unknown and completely wild. I sensed my breathing was slowing and I was feeling completely alone when I heard John, ¼ mile away on the stony promontory, ordering the group about him back to the boats. It could only be one thing: a bear. I spotted Lynn just below the ridge behind me and began to make my way to her.
We met and went to the ridge where others were gathering. The guides had spread out evenly and were backing in, their weapons ready. John, who was now with us, spoke to Geordie who said the bear was coming along the beach and that he didn’t like the situation. All the zodiacs had been launched from the ship and were either already beached or nearly there.
The group boarded the boats promptly, a few were laughing and some were looking about for the bear. The two South African birders said they seen it and photographed it and that it had been less than 50 yards away when Geordie and the Greta discovered it. Lynn and I were on the last boat out and as we pulled away we could saw it for the first time nosing something on the ridge not more than ten yards from where we’d been a few minutes before. It didn’t seem large but was clearly a mature bear with the distinctive creamy coat they have.
Back on deck everyone watched and photographed the bear for some time. One of the guides speculated that he might have a cache there and someone said that the thought they saw the remains of a reindeer, although I couldn’t make anything out. My photographs were reasonable and I was beginning to think that all my shots of polar bears would be from a significant distance.
I was writing this journal just before lunch in the dining room, when one of the birders sitting across announced that he’d seen an Ivory Gull, one of the rarest birds in Svalbard. I grabbed my camera and crossed in time to get a shot of it flying past but something else caught my attention and everyone else’s. There was a large patch of dark blood on the pack ice and rising from it, another polar bear. He was very close and not concerned by the ship’s proximity.
For the next three hours we watched him as he napped, rolled around and stretched on the ice, defecated and swam almost completely around the ship. This time the photos and videos were very close. At one point I saw him blinking and his dark pupils surveying the ship.
John said that it was the best sighting this season. We then proceeded further north into the pack ice. Several times the ship was stuck in the ice and was forced to motor out to the side or backwards. I decided there was a remote possibility we’d be stuck. The weather improved but by dinner time the ice was beginning to fill in. After a lengthy consultation between the captain and the expedition leader we turned south. Our most northern point was 80 degrees 30 minutes of latitude. We were now on the north east side of Svalbard with the winds and currents coming out of the north. The coming days would be significantly colder. We were 600 nautical miles from the North Pole.
In an hour the seas were clear again. In the orange light of the low sun we passed two massive ice bergs. As ominous as the pack ice had been, the floating islands of ice in the open sea were equally foreboding and other-worldly.



Friday, August 22, 2008 – At sea – Lomfiord, north east coast of Svalbard


After an early breakfast we Zodiac’d a significant distance to a glacial valley for a walk-about. The four guides, John, Georgie, Mitch, Roger and Michelle established a wide perimeter and we made a gentle climb along the northeast ridge of some cliffs. There we met Mickwho had found some polar bear and reindeer remains which we examined. There was also some polar bear fur which turned out to be quite soft, contrary to my expectations. From there, I started up the ridge leading to the top of the cliffs and was soon joined by Robert. About half way there, we encountered John, along with Adam Riley and James Wakelin, the South African birders coming down. They had also climbed the cliffs, but from the east, using a culoir which had been precarious, according to Adam. Robert and I continued up and reached a small plateau. We would have climbed further because the reindeer social trail among the loose shale was good and the incline wasn’t increasing. However, John waved us down in order to keep us in sight. From the top I took a few nice photos of Lynn walking alone in the distance.
Then it was back to the ship for a quick cup of tea whilst we motored up another inlet as far as there were charted soundings for the ship. From there we Zodiac’d out once more, this time to the base of a glacier no one on the guide team had ever explored before. The hiking in the glacial bed reminded me of an immense stream bed: it was muddy and filled with worn stones like river stones although they’d obviously been shaped by the motion of the glacier itself. Then we came to the glacier which had the appearance of concrete dusted with ice. As we climbed we saw small breaks where we could see the particular blue color of the pure glacial ice below. Where the snow began we stopped and John started a snowball fight which he got the worst of, naturally.
Now it’s afternoon, Lynn and I are back at the ship, and have decided to forgo a long Zodiac cruise in the wind to see Kilamots in the cliffs of Alkafellet. I doubt there will be another excursion today as the seas and winds outside the fiord are strengthening. I’m reading a bit of “Andre at the North Pole: With Details of His Fate” by Leon Lewis which I happened to see in the dining room. It appears to be a wonderful piece of 19th century science fiction and I’ll need to find a copy when we return.


Saturday, August 23, 2008. At sea – off Torellinesfillet on the north east coast of Svalbard.


Last night just before dinner we sighted whales, and not just any whales: Bowheads and Right Whales. Both are rare in these waters, particularly the Bowhead which was thought extinct here until just last year when they were sited again for the first time. Only the captain was able to get a really good photograph but the evidence was good enough and sufficiently exceptional to merit official reporting of the incident. It was cold and very windy. Those that stood out on the prow were deeply chilled. Robert stood out on the passenger’s bridge without a jacket for which he is developing a reputation.
This morning we landed the Zodiacs at Torellinesfillet to see a large herd of young male walruses clustered together on the beach. We were able to come very close to them and watch them scratching, waving their flippers and snorting. Then we proceeded onward 2 ½ miles to the edge of the 3rd largest ice cap in the arctic. The land was a moonscape of small rocks sometimes well-compressed and easy to walk on and sometimes not so that it was like walking in gravel. The weather was temperate and sunny and at times the plane appeared to go on forever. We also saw ancient remains of whales along with corpse of a Polar Bear cub that must have died recently.
This afternoon Micelle gave a lecture on Dutch whaling in Svalbard in the 17th and 18th centuries which raised more questions than it answered which was a very good thing. Now we are traveling eastward around the south side of Nordaustlandet island into the pack ice in hopes of sighting more Polar Bears. The sea is extraordinarily calm and glassy. It makes me wonder whether S. T. Coleridge’s surreal seascapes weren’t based on real experience.



Sunday, August 24, 2008. At sea – at the west end of Freemansuet, between Barrensoja and Edgoya.


Yesterday evening we entered the pack ice once more. It’s an entirely different element, not land, not sea but something other. We had fine weather. The low sun cast an afternoon glow over this other world that stretched off in every direction around us. Only the white cliffs of Nordauslandet to the northwest and sharp peaks of Kong Karl’s island to the south east were visible in the far distance. Soon a Polar Bear was spotted at some distance to the port side of the bow. The ship slowed to approach it, but the bear, preserved the distance between us. I think he was hunting a seal because he often stopped to scent the air and moved with purpose. There were seals on the ice ahead and I expected we wouldn’t be able to close the distance.
Then the captain tried an interesting maneuver. He stopped the ship and, after a few minutes, changed course and began pulling away slowly to starboard.
In response, bear changed direction and began to circle back toward us. Soon everyone was in the forecastle photographing him. He kept coming and soon we could see that he was a young, agile animal and very clean. He kept coming closer.
We ran from place to place to get the best shots of him. I stopped at the rail amidship along with James, who crouched below me below a chain across the gangway. We watched and photographed the bear as he crossed the ice, studied his reflection in the glassy sea, scented the ship and finally came to stand directly below us, not fifteen feet away. Given his curiosity, had the gangway been down he most probably would have come up. I couldn’t help but remember Michelle’s polar bear psychology description. As it was, he sniffed the side of the ship and looked in through a port hole, surprising Anna, one of the hotelier staff on board. James was so focused and leaning so far out over the side of the ship I thought I might have to grab him if he lost his balance because there was nothing else to keep him from falling.
Eventually, the bear lost interest, wandered back, leaping from ice flow to ice flow and finally ascended a small, craggy deep blue berg that had formed from the compressed pack ice. It could have been his castle. Everyone talked about it as such afterwards.
The expedition leader pronounced it “a Champaign moment” and ordered Champaign for everyone on board. Later he told me that it was the best encounter of his career. To celebrate he cranked up some music in the dining room and danced with Michelle who was somewhat reluctant but a good sport.
After one of the better dinners, rack of lamb and jacket potatoes, we went out in the Zodiacs once more. We landed on an ice flow amidst the pack ice and took photos. The best part was wandering around the Polar Bear’s primary environment on foot and seeing it from his point of view.
This morning seas were still calm as we moved down the Freemansuet and entered Stormfjorden. We went ashore at Timertfjellen to walk up a wide river valley for a long walk. The tundra here was autumnal and mist hung about the surrounding mountains. Ancient whale bones were scattered all over the wide plane. Walking there was particularly pleasant: the air was cool but not cold, there was no wind and the footing was much more solid than on the previous walks. When we were half way up the valley, the guides stopped us. Another Polar Bear had been sighted between half a mile and a mile away. We stood about while they observed him and determined that he was coming down the valley. We turned around and retreated to the Zodiacs. From just off shore, we watched him amble down, stopping occasionally to scent and moving back and forth. Still he reached the shore very quickly, where watched us watching him for an hour. This was the first time we’d been able to observe a bear on land for any length of time. I took one photo of him appearing to peak over the ridge which reminded me of how possible it would be to come across one unexpectedly.
We were finally forced to abandon observation by the rapid approach of heavy fog. The ship disappeared entirely for most of our return trip but our Zodiac driver, who was following the Zodiac returning ahead of us, found it without difficulty. Later, in the dining room, James and I spoke and he suggested that it could have been a more interesting situation had the fog come in whilst we were in the valley and if the bear hadn’t been sighted. The situation could have been quite different.
Fin Whales, the second largest species of the Cetaceans, appeared off the port bow as we began our navigation down the central passage of the Stormfiord. We then spent the afternoon and early evening photographing them. It was a challenge as it was cold and the only way to get good photos was to stand outside for long periods scanning the waves. Mostly, I stood on the bridge and went inside when my fingers were numb. As with the Polar Bear, I liked the captain’s and the expedition leader’s strategy: we took the time to watch the animals at length which gives you a much better sense of their behavior.



Monday, August 25 – At sea, in the Hornfiord


During the early morning we rounded the southern tip of Svalbard, Sorketland. Then we entered the Hornfiord and Zodiac’d to a wide river valley where we tracked reindeer. The mountains here are young and dramatic: strata is turned on end and there are expansive rock escarpments, sometimes very black in color. There are curious stone circles which Richard called “polygons” in which an irregular section of tundra is surrounded large stones. Roger said that the prevailing theory is that it is created by variable heating and expansion of the permafrost. Maybe. But given the steepness of the nearby mountains and the runoff in Spring from the snowfields I think it’s possible that there’s another dynamic at work. We saw more yellow and purple Saxifrax flowers and tiny forests of willow trees only a few millimeters tall.
In the afternoon, we disembarked at the edge of a glacier. John announced that there were three different walks to choose from: two relatively easy ones and an ascent of the eastern mountain. To his surprise, I’m sure, most people chose the ascent. And so we set off. Almost all the climb was on loose shale, although we crossed some snowfields as well. Those who didn’t have good cleating on their rubber boots had particular problems. John set a fast pace and we lost people at the first rise; still the majority stayed on, although we were soon spread out over half a mile or so. When we reached the last major plateau, John declared that we’d reached “the Hilary Step,” an allusion I wasn’t particularly fond of. It was much steeper after that.
When we were about 100 feet from the apparent peak, a gray-haired Dutch woman who is one of the companions with Ariene van den Blink, suddenly stopped and declared she wasn’t going further. Many of the rest felt the same and so we stayed while ten others, including Robert, Adam, James, Phil and Carolynn went on. I didn’t think the peak was that close and I didn’t like the steepness on such unsteady terrain. Fortunately, those that did go on, were able to ascend a rocky outcrop although it required climbing with both hands and feet for some in places. Also, those above dislodged some large stones which those below had to move away from. As we waited the fog rolled in, obscuring the ship. I thought the descent might take longer than the ascent and that it might turn into a difficult situation.
It didn’t. Those at the top retuned fairly promptly. It had been the top after all and the fog cleared. Further the descent went very fast as we were able to slide down four long snowfields, which was good fun. Adam, James, Carolyn and Phil demonstrated particular elan in their snowfield slides. Adam was especially impressive as he was wearing only jeans and not water-proof pants.
Robert and I brought up the very end of the group. Even Geordie was below us, almost at the beach. We came across a very well-defined Polar Bear track in the mud which Robert photographed. We’d seen another track on the way up and John had commented that he thought it was a day or so old. I don’t know how he knew. This one looked very fresh to me.



Tuesday, August 26 – At Sea off Torellbreen


We took a moderate hike across the Martin-fielta headland in Bellesund. The gravel beach with three three-hundred year-old whaling boats gave way to gently rolling tundra where there were several reindeer sightings. Michelle, who was on point at some distance had three reindeer wander up by her. The mountains are still severe and the strata more consistently suggests upthrust as a consequence of tectonic plate subduction. We finished on a beach filled with whale bones. Once again the weather was clear and sunny although there was some wind, 25 knots according to the bridge, and returning to the ship was more wet than usual, both from the wind and the swells.
This afternoon we’re sailing to the end of the southern fiord that branches off Bellsund, then will return to about the same spot for some short walks and perhaps another peak ascent.
The peak ascent turned out to be a beautiful low ridge in soft afternoon light and gentle weather. However, our ascent was aborted by radio communication from the ship. This time dinner, a barbecue, could not be delayed. I was concerned as I knew our chef was German and wondered what that word meant in translation. We stopped at a small plateau where Lynn was attacked by a polar bear. Fortunately, it was only the small stuffed polar bear, Gustav, that Robert had brought along in his pack. It proved to be a popular photo-op. On the way back, Yolanda Te Riele, one of Ariene Van den Blink's companions, discovered an unusual plant with a large leaf. John, the expedition leader, and a botanist, could not identify it and speculated that it might be a visitor.
As it turned out, I shouldn’t have been concerned about the barbecue. The chef had brought out three large grills onto the pilot deck and was really barbecuing everything from ribs to lamb. The latter was particularly good, as were the accompaniments which included baked jacket potatoes. All in all, the food on board had been dependably good and this was the high point.



Wednesday, August 27 - At sea, Prins Karls Forland, St. John’s Fjord


The expedition is restless. There are talks of mutiny, taking over the ship and not allowing the next group to board in Longyearbyen and instead commandeering the crew and guides and pressing onto Greenland and Iceland. It’s the last day and there is an appropriate bittersweet ambiance which is appropriate for what has been an extraordinary ten days. Even the guides agree that the combination of weather and wildlife sightings, one of which was unique, and others which exceeded some of their experience, combined to make it one of the best.
In the morning we disembarked at Poolepynten where saw long-tailed Skuas, sand pipers and Walruses on the beach. There were two walrus groups: an older male and his harem in a massive group on the beach and two younger males playing together in the surf. At one point they considered coming ashore where we were and some of the photos of the encounter were exceptional.
After lunch we took our last hike in perfect weather and gray light. As we ascended the ridge, we could see two ominous snowfields, shaped like the detritus of explosions in the great open canyons across the fjord. It was one last surprise of beauty in this severe land, this cold coast, this place of sharp peaks, ruled by Isbjorn, the ice bears.
To quote Michelle van Dijk, who knows this land much better than I probably ever will: “Although it was what I expected, this country filled me..... with happiness, excitement, curiosity and gratitude.
Grateful, because it was still there. An (at first sight) untouched piece of nature, where human beings did not yet conquer.
Something which also attracted me in Iceland, is that the people are still inferior to nature, but in Iceland they fight - maybe unaware of it - and try to forget the old natural laws and religions.
Here in Spitsbergen people live with nature, not always on good terms, but there is a kind of harmony.”