Arctic Discovery: Svalbard, Franz Josef Land and Novaya Zemlya
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ARCTIC DISCOVERY: SVALBARD, FRANZ JOSEF LAND AND NOVAYA ZEMLYA Only the most intrepid explorers have been on a voyage like this. Your life-changing 19-day Arctic Discovery expedition cruise aboard our boutique ship takes you via remote Russian and Norwegian archipelago at the top of the world before ending on Siberia’s mighty Yenisei river. We cruise past majestic fjords and through ice-choked waters which reveal rarely seen arctic wildlife - belugas, bowheads, narwhals, polar bears and walruses - and millions of seabirds. Your unforgettable journey takes in some of the least-visited spots on the planet, from the relatively unexplored islands in the Russian High Arctic, which were closed to visitors until recently, before arriving on the Yenisei river to learn about history and tradition from the Nenets ITINERARY indigenous people. DAY 1, LONGYEARBYEN Longyearbyen is the world’s most northerly town and with it comes the world’s most northerly high street and pub. On Spitsbergen, Svalbard’s largest island, Longyearbyen is home to The North Pole Expeditions Museum which chronicles early efforts to reach the pole by air. The nearby Svalbard Global Seed Vault preserves duplicates of seeds held in gene banks worldwide. The surrounding Arctic waters are populated by whales including bowheads and narwhals, while walruses are regularly seen hauling. DAY 2, BELL SUND Surrounded by snow-capped mountains, glaciers and tundra, Bellsund is a 20 km long sound - wider than a fjord - on the west coast of Spitsbergen. Brünnich’s guillemots, black-legged kittiwakes, little auks and northern fulmars make their breeding homes on the cliffs while pink-footed, barnacle and brent geese nest below. Reindeer roam the lush tundra flats strewn with 01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com whalebones. Bellsund attracts thousands of moulting ringed steep cliffs. seals inviting unwarranted attention from prowling polar bears. DAY 6, ALKEFJELLET DAY 3, HORNSUND The towering cliffs of Alkefjellet - meaning guillemot mountain - Considered by some as the most beautiful fjord in Spitsbergen, on the northeast coast of Spitsbergen overlooking the icy Hornsund is surrounded by spectacular landscape, mountains, Hinlopen Strait, teem with 60,000 breeding pairs of Brünnich’s glaciers and drift ice (bergs and growlers) due to a unique polar guillemots. Our Zodiacs will get up close to this incredible sight current that also attracts migrating polar bears. The climate where arctic foxes and glaucous gulls hunt for chicks as they creates a high-polar ecosystem drawing scientists to study the hatch. The rocks are an excellent example of doleritic intrusion concentrated mix of subarctic and high arctic fauna in one small dating back to the Jurassic or lower cretaceous age, made more space. Part of the South Spitsbergen National Park, most of spectacular by cascading meltwater waterfalls. Svalbard’s little auks breed here and you can often see Svalbard reindeer. DAY 7, NORDAUSTLANDET One of the three largest islands in Svalbard, separated from DAY 4, EDGE ISLAND Spitsbergen by the icy Hinlopen Strait, Nordaustlandet is mostly Huge herds of walrus haul out at Kapp Lee near 18th-century covered in ice caps including Austfonna. Part of the Nordaust- ruins of a Pomor whaling station on the northwest coast of Svalbard Nature Reserve, the coasts are made up of rocky Edgeøya, or Edge Island, the third-largest island of Svalbard. beaches and cliffs filled with seabirds. In the north, you may Part of the Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve, the rich tundra spot polar bears in their denning area and snorting Atlantic here at Tryghammna supports a high arctic vegetation including walruses hauling out, while Svalbard reindeer roam the mosses and cotton grass where the once-near-extinct Svalbard cushiony tundra of this polar desert. reindeer graze and arctic fox hunt. Large numbers of polar bears follow the sea ice and spend summer here. DAY 8, KVITOYA Almost completely covered by the Kvitøyjøkulen ice cap, Kvitøya DAY 5, BARENTS ISLAND (White Island) is the easternmost island in Svalbard. Part of the Uninhabited Barentsøya, or Barents Island, lies between Nordaust-Svalbard Nature Reserve, the ice-free land is barren Spitsbergen and Edge Island to the south. Part of the and rocky. Huge numbers of female Svalbard walrus calve at Søraust-Svalbard Nature Reserve, barren glacial areas dominate Kraemerpynten in the east, one of the archipelago’s greatest the eastern side of the island, while the west has large flats haul-out sites. It was also here in 1897 that a balloon covered in tundra vegetation where arctic fox skulk around and expedition to the North Pole, led by Salomon August Andree, the once-declining Svalbard reindeer are thriving. Polar bears ended and all three passengers perished at Andréeneset. congregate at denning areas to the south at Freemansundet sound near Kapp Waldburg where a kittiwake colony nests on DAY 9, ALEXANDRA LAND, FRANZ JOSEF LAND 01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com The Franz Josef Land archipelago is one of the planet’s last most stunning wildlife. They share the real estate with colonies great nature reserves where polar bears, whiskered walrus and of ivory gulls, Brünnich’s guillemots and little auks. Although bowhead whales can be seen. Only accessible by icebreaker, one of earth’s least trodden chunks of rock, Cape DIllon, to the 1,000 km from the North Pole, Alexandra Land is the gateway west, reveals traces of the pioneering age from the Fiala Ziegler to the Russian High Arctic. The remote airstrip at Nagurskoye (1903–05) and the 1874 Tegetthoff expeditions who climbed airbase recently gained notoriety when Russian scientists Cape Brünn to map the island. discovered a secret Nazi military base and weather station said to have stored some of Hitler’s looted gold. DAY 14, AT SEA As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea DAY 10 - DAY 11, ZEMLYA GEORGA, FRANZ JOSEF LAND savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your Prince George Island is the largest island in Franz-Josef-Land. destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard Much of the island is under an ice cap with tabular mountains experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing and some ice-free lowlands where only mosses and lichens live treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy on the sparse tundra. Cliff-dwelling birds include little auks, some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with Brünnich's and black guillemots, northern fulmars, black-legged newly found friends: the options are numerous. kittiwakes and glaucous gulls. Much of the area was mapped on the Jackson-Harmsworth Expedition (1894-97) in the mistaken DAY 15, SEVERNY ISLAND belief that Franz Josef Land extended to the North Pole. Until recently, Novaya Zemlya was closed, strictly controlled by Russian Armed Forces. The archipelago marks the boundary DAY 12, HOOKER ISLAND, FRANZ JOSEF LAND between an arctic desert landscape and low-lying tundra with Rubini Rock is the largest seabird rookery in Franz Josef Land lichens, wildflowers and the polar willow. Brünnich’s guillemots where flocks of screeching seabirds - Brünnich’s guillemots, and glaucous gulls nest on the ice cliffs of Severny Island where kittiwakes, black guillemots, little auks and glaucous gulls - icebergs calve from the glacier’s tongue, and seals and walrus create their nests. Formed from towering cliffs of volcanic haul out. A former nuclear weapons testing base remains at columnar basalt, the rock sits in Tikhaya Bay, or Tikhaya Cape Zhelaniya, the northeastern most point of Europe. Bukhta, where visiting ships weigh anchor. On shore lie the ruins of a Soviet-era research and polar expedition base. Polar DAY 16, AT SEA bears roam free and the island’s cushiony tundra supports lush As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea vegetation and lichens. savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard DAY 13, MACKLINTOK ISLAND, FRANZ JOSEF LAND experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing Dominated by sea ice and almost completely glaciated, the treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy sprawling land is very much the domain of some of the world’s some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with 01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com newly found friends: the options are numerous. Please Note: Itineraries are subject to change. DAY 17, DIKSON Russia's Arctic capital at 73° North, Dikson is the world’s northernmost mainland town at the entrance to the Yenisei River. With 82 polar nights from December to February, the river ice breaks up from mid-June until October. Separated by a 1.5km strait where walrus and beluga are spotted, the mostly abandoned Dikson island is home to a few polar bears, where lichens, mosses, saxifrages and arctic poppies make up the lush tundra. DAY 18, YENISEI RIVER One of the world’s largest river systems, the mighty Yenisei river is more than 3,400 miles long from Dikson on the Arctic Sea to Mongolia. As we pass through the Taymyr Peninsula, we get to meet Nenets, an indigenous people from northern arctic Russia. Mostly reindeer herders, they move gigantic herds more than 1,000 km from winter pastures south of the Arctic Circle to summer pastures in the north, crossing the Yenisei river as it freezes. DAY 19, DUDINKA Siberia’s largest port, Dudinka is the northernmost stop on Yenisei river cruises. The open-air complex, Taimyr-Mou, promotes indigenous peoples’ culture and includes a ‘chum’ living space made of reindeer skins.