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Home , Ayon Island, Bennett Island, De Long Islands, Zhokhov Island

EASTERN & 19 DAY BOUTIQUE EXPEDITION

Cruising on the edge of the ice spotting polar bears or seals is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Our boutique ice-class ship takes us to the edge of the pack ice past far- flung Russian islands at the top of the world. Off-limits for years, we step ashore onto land where once mammoth and sabre-toothed tigers roamed. Frozen seas and boggy tundra provide a backdrop where hundreds of polar bears and walruses, puffins, snow geese and rare spoon-billed sandpiper flourish in one of the world’s least frequented areas. Here, in remote lands we get to meet Siberian Yupik who share their traditions with us.

ITINERARY

DAY 1, NOME Nome is the most famous gold rush town in Alaska (the town’s welcome sign is marked on the state’s largest gold pan). This wind-swept tundra landscape is a haven for wildflowers. Hardy muskoxen forage, bear and caribou roam, and the mountain streams provide a freshwater habitat for spawning wild Alaskan salmon. Excursions include mushing, panning for gold on the beaches and trips to the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com DAY 2, PROVIDENIYA destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard The gateway to the Russian Far East, this former Soviet military experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing port on Komsomolskaya Bay is at the southern limit of the Arctic treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy ice pack. The town has a small museum charting the history of some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with whaling and fishing and the displacement of the indigenous newly found friends: the options are numerous. Siberian Yupik that caused irreversible cultural change. From seal fishing to their renowned dancing, we learn more about DAY 6, Yupik culture on a visit to a settlement at Novoye Chaplino This mostly low-lying tundra island lies off the coast of the overlooking a picturesque fjord. Chukotka peninsula on the west of the Bering strait and is part of the Northern Sea Route, or Northeast passage. Ayon Island’s DAY 3, CAPE DEZHNEV & UELEN VILLAGE indigenous Chukchi population are herders. Many live The easternmost point of Russia, here on a clear day, you can in Ayon Village, a coastal settlement where we are guaranteed a see Alaska. It is a good hike up the headland where you will warm welcome especially at the small museum set up by reach a lighthouse and a monument to the Russian explorer children. On the outskirts of the village is a Neolithic settlement Semyon Dezhnev, who rounded the Cape in 1648. Further up we can explore. the coast is Naukan, an abandoned Yupik village, and Uelen, the only still-inhabited village on the cape. Home to Siberian DAY 7, MEDVEZHYI ISLANDS Yupik Eskimos, Uelen is the closest Russian settlement to the Also known as Bear Islands - on account of the polar bears that US. have taken up residence on this isolated archipelago - this far-flung island group is located above Russia, in the DAY 4, KOLYUCHIN BAY & KOLYUCHIN ISLAND inhospitable . The arctic flora draws naturalists Conservationists will guide you over soft tundra and point out for wildflowers - buttercups, yellow poppies and rockfoil - rare lichens, mosses and wildflowers where scurrying ground lichens and mosses on the hammocky tundra. Natural rock squirrels hunt for food. Kolyuchin also has some of the Arctic’s pillars stand sentinel on Chetyrbok Stolbovoy (Four Spires most spectacular bird cliffs, with puffins, guillemots and gulls, Island), where you can go ashore and hike to see an and a photogenic walrus haul-out. Off the north coast of the abandoned weather station. Chukotka Peninsula, this small island was once an important centre for research into polar bears and walruses, one of a DAY 8, AT SEA number dotted across the Arctic. As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your DAY 5, AT SEA destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with polar bears, walrus and seals among the ice floes in the newly found friends: the options are numerous. distance. Listen to the ice cracking and groaning while around you is just stillness. Sadly, changing weather conditions means DAY 9, DMITRIY LAPTEV STRAIT & LYAKHOVSKY ISLAND the ice is receding, so store this sight in your memories. Separating the Siberian mainland from the Lyakhovsky Islands, part of the , the Dmitry Laptev Strait is DAY 12, EXPEDITION named after Russian Arctic explorer Dmitry Yakovlevich Laptev, Five islands make up the uninhabited De Long archipelago. who was one of the first Russians to live among the indigenous is renowned for its preserved mammoth remains Yupik in the area. It is an area where the sea generally stays found in the boggy tundra. On , plumes escaping below freezing for nine months of the year, but the permafrost is from the melting permafrost are sometimes visible in space. thawing at an incredible rate and cliffs are collapsing into the Thought to be methane escaping, they remain scientifically sea. Prehistoric bones, mammoth tusks, sabre-toothed tiger and unexplained. As global warming affects permafrosts, cliffs here other megafauna fossils have all been found on these islands - are falling into the sea. Shore landings get you close to tundra well-preserved by the permafrost - with some plant material wildflowers, with possible sightings of arctic fox, lemming and believed to be up to 130 thousand years old. The current flora plenty of seabirds. consists primarily of low-lying grasses, sedges, lichens and mosses. Lyakhovsky Islands are the southernmost group of the DAY 13, AT SEA New Siberian Islands of which Great Lyakovsky Island has a As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea weather station that was mentioned in Jules Vernes’ novels. savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard DAY 10, AT SEA experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard newly found friends: the options are numerous. experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy DAY 14, USHAKOVA CAPE, WRANGEL ISLAND some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with Breaching grey and beluga whales, ringed seals and bearded newly found friends: the options are numerous. seals swim close to the shore. Inaccessible for much of the year, changing weather conditions mean that in recent years the DAY 11, ICE EDGE CRUISING island is becoming ice-free earlier and earlier, and the Forging through these icy Arctic conditions can be a challenge occasional finback whale from Mexico has been spotted here. for less-sturdy vessels. Head out on deck as our polar class ship Tundra covers much of this huge island with coastal plains and breaks through the pack ice and keep an eye out for specks of central mountains creating a rich ecosystem with the highest

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com level of biodiversity in the high Arctic. ice pack. The town has a small museum charting the history of whaling and fishing and the displacement of the indigenous DAY 15, CAPE FLORENS & CAPE BLOSSOM, WRANGEL ISLAND Siberian Yupik that caused irreversible cultural change. From Named for the colourful flora and wildflowers on the mossy seal fishing to their renowned dancing, we learn more about tundra, such as yellow arctic poppies, Cape Florens helped give Yupik culture on a visit to a settlement at Novoye Chaplino the island its unique status as the northernmost World Heritage overlooking a picturesque fjord. Site. It is also one of the places we might get to spot foraging Siberian brown and northern collared lemmings (often hunted DAY 19, NOME, ALASKA down by snowy owls), alongside Wrangel’s other inland fauna Nome is the most famous gold rush town in Alaska (the town’s species - arctic foxes, wolverines, muskoxen and reindeer. welcome sign is marked on the state’s largest gold pan). This wind-swept tundra landscape is a haven for wildflowers. Hardy DAY 16, KRASIN BAY & CAPE WARING, WRANGEL ISLAND muskoxen forage, bear and caribou roam, and the mountain Observe the only permanent colony of nesting snow geese in streams provide a freshwater habitat for spawning wild Alaskan Asia as you hike across the tundra to the Mammoth River. salmon. Excursions include mushing, panning for gold on the Twitchers might glimpse other tundra- loving birds including beaches and trips to the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve. spoon-billed sandpipers, peregrine falcons, arctic tern, gulls and skuas who feed on this ancient, protected natural reserve. Please Note: Nearby are the relics of a 3,400-year-old Paleo-Eskimo camp. Itineraries are subject to change. At Devils Creek, the 180° meridian passes through, although the International Date Line lies to the east of the island.

DAY 17, AT SEA As you cruise to your next port of call, spend the day at sea savouring the ship’s facilities and learning about your destination’s many facets from the knowledgeable onboard experts. Listen to an enriching talk, indulge in a relaxing treatment at the spa, work out in the well-equipped gym, enjoy some down- time in your cabin, share travel reminiscences with newly found friends: the options are numerous.

DAY 18, PROVIDENIYA The gateway to the Russian Far East, this former Soviet military port on Komsomolskaya Bay is at the southern limit of the Arctic

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com YOUR SHIP: MINERVA

YOUR SHIP: Minerva >Your Wellbeing The safety & happiness of the guests is paramount to the VESSEL TYPE: 120-strong crew on board as well as the passionate expedition LENGTH: team who'll be serving up thrilling shore excursions and lasting PASSENGER CAPACITY: memories. Cabin Types BUILT/REFURBISHED: The 76 cabins including 6 suites have all the amenities you will need to feel comfortable including dressing gowns, hairdryers, personal safes and minibars. The stylish cabins all have desks, The 5 star elegant Scandi-design boutique ship offers you an a dressing area and comfy seating. En suite bathrooms all intimate setting from which you will be fully immersed in all the feature glass-enclosed rain showers. sights and scenery of your voyage. Introducing SH Minerva Minerva has been designed to journey to off the beaten path destinations and remote polar regions in style and comfort. The ship incorporates a PC5 ice-strengthened hull combined with extra-large stabilisers to make your journey as smooth as possible. Sophisticated Elegance We know how important outdoor space is, so our spacious, relaxing public spaces provide wide open, unobstructed views throughout the ship. The destination will always be in view.

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com INSIDE YOUR SHIP

Balcony. From Oceanview

Premium Suite Suite

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com PRICING

02-Aug-2022 to 20-Aug-2022 Suite £18405 GBP pp Oceanview £12679 GBP pp Premium Suite £21159 GBP pp Balcony. From £14015 GBP pp

01432 507 280 (within UK) [email protected] | small-cruise-ships.com