THE EXTREME NORTHERN TOP OF EUROPE: SPITSBERGEN AND FRANZ JOSEF LAND
Spitsbergen, Victoria Island and Franz Josef Land
Duration: 11 days
Dates for 2008:
19.07 – 29.07 English/German
29.07 – 08.08 SOLAR ECLIPSE
The Spitzbergen Archipelago, Norwegian Svalbar is a land mutually owned by Russia and Norway, found in the Arctic Ocean to the north of the Scandinavian Peninsula and the Polar circle. The capital town of Longyearbyen is one of the northernmost towns in the world. Spitzbergen is one of the most easily accessible territories in the High Arctic. It is ideal for scientific researches in various fields. There are several national parks in Spitzbergen, several natural reserves and special animal preserve territories. These include 15 special bird preserves. Spitzbergen has always been one of the main starting points for the explorers trying to reach North Pole.
Franz Josef Land archipelago is the closest land to the North Pole in the Eastern Hemisphere (about 540 miles to the North Pole from its utmost Northern point). It has been discovered in 1873 by the Austrian "Tegetthof" expedition. Nowadays it is one of rare 'wild' places left on Earth (it is unpopulated except one small Russian military base in the utmost West). The archipelago consists of 191 islands, 83% of them are covered with permanent ice. Some fifteen years ago the Russian Polar stations were still working on the islands of this archipelago. Now they are abandoned, and the whole archipelago is given back to the Wildlife. Polar Bears come to the very board of the icebreaker, raising onto their rare paws and curiously staring at people. Numerous walruses can usually be seen there as well. Often the passengers get lucky to see Polar foxes, belugas and whales. And they always see lots of Arctic birds.
Day 1
Your independent arrival to Longyearbyen is followed by embarkation the ice-strengthened vessel “Polaris” and… our Arctic expedition starts with an independent exploration of the ship – shouldn’t we know more of our floating home for the next 2 weeks?...
In the evening it’s time to meet our Expedition staff members and crew officers; the presentation of the staff is followed by instructions on zodiac activities – welcome to a Real Expedition.
Day 2 You shouldn’t wait long to demonstrate your zodiac theoretic skills: the same day we plan to have zodiac tour to the sparkling 14th of July Glacier at Krossfjord. Weather permits we’ll land right onto the glacier for a great walking tour.
Day 3
If the weather is on our side today we’ll try landing on Kvitoya Island. It is almost completely ice-covered (White Island) and belongs to the Northeast Svalbard Nature Reserve. On the ice-free parts there are moss beds which can be very colorful. Arctic terns and some other birds breed here. Polar bears and walrus are frequent visitors in this area.
In the evening we are leaving the archipelago and heading for Victoria Island.
Day 4
Today the outstanding Arctic show will be performed for you. We expect to watch Total Solar Eclipse this morning not far from Victoria Island. Our masterly Captain will try to catch the best point for the ship to observe this majestic natural phenomenon. This is the unique event which will probably divide our voyage (and may be not only the voyage) into “before” and “after”.
Well we have much of interesting in the latter part of our expedition. If we have favourable weather conditions we’ll explore Victoria Island with its large population of walruses. Naturalists are not the only creatures attracted here by these Arctic animals - polar bears visit the area frequently to have their “walrus dinner”. We hope to meet them both here while cruising near on our zodiacs.
Day 5
We expect to reach Franz Josef Land archipelago this morning. A landing is planned on Bell Island to visit the house built by Lee Smith expedition in 1881.
Let’s go on learning history of Arctic discoveries during our landing at Cape Flora on Nordbrook Island, discovered by Lee Smith expedition in 1880. They had to winter on this island after the steam yacht "Aira" had been crushed by ice and sunk near the coast. Jackson expedition (1894-1897) dwelled here longer than any other one and made a major contribution to the exploration of the archipelago. In 1897 a memorable meeting of Jackson and Nansen took place on the island. Several memorial steles were erected on the island to commemorate the daring Arctic explorers. A huge sea birds colony finds home on the cliffs towering over the southern side of Cape Flora.
Day 6 We start the day with a visit to Wilczek Island. On the southern tip of the island we’ll find a lonely grave of the machinist Otto Krisch. He was the only victim of the Payer Wayprecht Expedition. “Peace For His Ash” is written on a small plaque attached to the cross at the grave.
Our next possible stop is Hall Island, Cape Tegetthoff. The island sights are very impressive: huge cliffs resembling dorsal fins of gigantic sharks submerge into the depths. The remains of the wooden structures built by the Wellman expedition (1898-1899) add colors to the vivid panorama.
We are at Alger Island. Our goal today is to land at the wintering place of the American Arctic expedition headed by A. Baldwin. If weather permits we will lower our zodiacs to sail among drifting icebergs. Polar bears are frequent visitors here; probably we’ll succeed in catching some… with our camera lenses.
Day 7
Today we plan a landing at Cape Heller on Wilczek Land Island. In 1899 two sailors, members of the Welle expedition wintered there, waiting for the core of the group that was trying to conquer the North Pole. As everywhere on Franz Josef Land, we are very likely to witness Polar bears and sea mammals.
We are at Stolichky and Appolonov Islands. Our expedition activities here are highly dependant on weather and ice conditions. If we are lucky to have favourable conditions we plan a zodiac trip near the islands. The main attraction of the islands is walrus rookeries. Our zodiac drivers will do their best to get to the rookeries as close as possible.
Day 8
A magnificent Champ Island in placed in the very center of the archipelago like a diamond in a precious tiara. The landscape of Champ is majestic: the cliffs and ice-capped mountains are the highest on the archipelago. Here we’ll see the unique nature creations: the stones of ideal spherical shape (up to 3 m of diameter).
It’s a remarkable day for birds lovers; we go on observing bird life in Tikhaya Bay on Hooker Island. The famous Rubini Rock, a huge cliff in the bay, is the shelter for thousands of sea birds. We will try to approach the cliff as close as possible to watch kittiwakes and other Arctic birds. There is an abandoned polar station on the shore of Tikhaya Bay. If weather is favourable we will go ashore to visit the station.
Day 9
We are on our way back to Longyearbyen. There will be enough time to share your impressions with your companions and our experienced lecturers.
Day 10
If the weather and ice conditions are favourable we plan a landing in the region of Sjuoyane Islands. We plan to visit the island of Rossoya, the northernmost point of Norway.
Day 11
In the morning we arrive to Longyearbyen, disembark the ship and go to the local airport for the flight to Oslo.
Prices for 2008
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| Twin non-private | 5.230 |  |
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| Triple non-private | 4.400 |  |
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| Twin private | 5.980 |  |
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| Triple private | 4.900 | |
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| Mini-Suite | 6.730 | |
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| Suite | 7.490 | |
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| Superior | 7.710 | |
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| Corner Suite | 8.160 | |
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| Owner's Suite | 9.970 | |
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Rates per person in EURO, based on double occupancy. The rate of single occupancy is 1.7 times the shared rate.
