Svalbard Arctic Circle Expedition Cruising

If you’re looking for casinos, West End entertainment and getting dressed up to the nines, this is NOT the type of cruising for you. However, if you’re into wild nature at its best, with a National Geographic slant; THIS is the one for sure. @aeexpeditions (Aurora Expeditions)

Flying direct from Newcastle to Oslo, with an overnight stay at the Radisson Blu Airport Hotel, and then an early morning departure flight up to Svalbard in the Arctic (with a quick immigration stop at Tromso). Landing in Longyearbyen, was a very surreal experience with its bleak and rugged mountain landscape taking our breath away already. We overnighted again at Radisson Blu in Longyearbyen, before embarkation the next day.

A brief stop at the Svalbard Museum, which gave us a fascinating insight into its history of wildlife trapping. Then off to Camp Berentz to experience the history of this famous explorer and learn a little more about the hostile, but awe-inspiring environment we were in....and welcomed by beautiful, working sled dogs. They are still used to this day for day-to-day activities in and around Svalbard. From there we briefly visited the famous Svalbard seed-bank, where many near-extinct plants and seeds are safely kept and cultivated, just in case they are ever need in the event of a global catastrophe!

Finally onto the GREG MORTIMER ship where we were greeted by the fabulous staff, with drinks and canapés. After settling in we headed to the Lecture Theatre to meet Christophe Bichoux (Expedition Leader) who talked us through the 'plans' for the following day. Being an Expedition cruise, nothing is set in stone, as Nature decides what we can and can't do!

The ship holds 132, but we were 82 from around the globe, including the UK, Australia, USA, Mexico, Germany, the Netherlands, France, the Philippines, South Africa, Belgium, Norway, Namibia and Ireland - an eclectic mix indeed!

The Expedition Leaders are also an eclectic mix of Micro-Biologists, Astro-Physicists, Glaciologists, Wildlife Photographers, Marine & Terrestrial Biologists and Experience Polar Explorers, along with Scuba and Kayak specialists: another eclectic and fascinating mix!

The next day, we were awoken to stunning landscapes, with thick ice floes surrounding the ship. We were all anxious to get out and amongst Nature, but before any beach landings take place, we had to undertake an in-depth biosecurity check to ensure no external seeds or contaminants had hijacked their way from other countries to risk the fragile pristine nature of Svalbard's biodiversity.

Once done, we donned our outdoor Arctic gear. and boarded the zodiacs to get up 'close and personal' with the magnificent nature around us. Just navigating the ice packs was exhilarating (and freezing!) but then to get up close and personal to my favourite creatures: the walrus! What magnificent, noisy and smelly creatures they are. Walrus is a corruption of the old Norwegian word 'hvalross', meaning 'whale-horse' - a very apt description!

After a great night's sleep (despite the 24 hour daylight up here at this time of year) we had our first 'beach' landing. The place had to be vetted first in case there were polar bears around and the Team were on constant Polar Bear alert. My first taste of the real Arctic, with cliffs awash with the cacophony of thousands of nesting and fighting black-legged kittiwakes, Brunnich's guillemots and northern fulmars - what a sight to witness.

We then divided into three groups according to hiking ability and off we went. We encountered so many different species of birds; Atlantic Puffins, Dovekies, Barnacle & Brant Geese, Snow Buntings and Purple Sandpipers, as well as learning about the fascinating geology of the area too.

We went into a long-abandoned hut belonging to the famous Wanny Wolstad - the first female trapper, and it was amazingly preserved: she must have had some guts! The beach and zodiac trips were superb, all the time listening to and participating in Citizen Science experiments. We trawled for plankton to observe some barnacle nauplii and copepods; we conducted Cloud surveys for the ISS as they cannot differentiate between cloud and ice at the Polars from space, so rely on Scientists on the ground to feed them the necessary bi-daily data, then zodiacing back to the ship, it was wonderful just to listen to the noisy silence! The sea was constantly crackling with glaciers, growlers, bergy bits and icebergs - we were surrounded by them all.

Every day presented us with something new and beautiful; from the bluest of blue icebergs, to thick sea ice packs with fresh polar bear prints, to Seals, Puffins, Beluga and Minke Whales, as well as Humpbacks, with their amazing flukes.

We had a chance to visit an abandoned Soviet settlement in one of the Fjords called Pyramiden. When the Svalbard Treaty was signed in 1920, it was deemed that any signatory country to the Treaty could have equal access to Svalbard’s resources…nowadays mainly coal. The Russians set up camp and the workers were treated extremely well. After two years of working here, the average Russian miner could leave with enough money to by both a car and a house back home in Russia ! However, it was finally abandoned in the late 90s. Only a handful of people now live there, and it is indeed a spooky place. (photos on my Facebook Business Page if you’re interested)

Then after nine nights at sea, we eventually had the moment we had been waiting for! After hours of searching we eventually saw the most magnificent Polar Bear walking along the beach. It then dipped gracefully into the freezing waters and started a two hour hunt, crossing the bay, then turning back and swimming between the ice floes. We knew exactly where s/he was headed: to two seals sitting in the ice floe. I know; but it’s nature and we were but observers and it was just like being in a David Attenborough documentary – an experience I will never forget. All told, the most amazing experience I’ve had. Please do feel free to check out my photos on both my Instagram and Business Facebook pages and happy to answer any questions https://www.facebook.com/cathychapmanTC/ cathychapman_travel_counsellor (Instagram)