FJORDS AND GLACIERS OF SPITSBERGEN
Longyearbyen, Spitsbergen Roundtrip
Somewhere
in the High Arctic, between 76 and 80 degrees latitude North,
Spitsbergen, meaning "pointed mountains”, awaits you for
seven days of unforgettable travel looking out for wild life.
You
will lift the anchor in Longyearbyen, where colourful wooden homes dot
the landscape with a human presence that will certainly be the last you
see for a while.
The
sea rolls on, and the white-striped mountains, which gave the region
its name, rise up from deeply tinted waters. The polar light combines
with the changing weather of the Arctic, a big blue sky, the horizon
scattered with clouds, the enveloping mist erasing the border between
the land and the sea: these variations all provide the magical, almost
surreal, setting with new nuances.
The
ship is escorted by Arctic fulmars. The first ice appears; still
discreet, it seems to be dancing around you. At the end of a fjord, you
will find yourself before an immense glacier. Black-legged kittiwakes
share an iceberg, while Arctic terns fly over the area. Aboard the ship
or a Zodiac dinghy, you will admire the power of nature while becoming
aware of its fragility. The music of the thaw has begun its soft
melody: a combination of cracking, roaring, murmuring and fizzing
defies the silence of the polar desert.
On
land, you will set foot on malleable earth, known as moraine. Only
moss, lichen and a few rare flowers have managed to adapt and to take
hold here, forming the tundra. On these inhospitable lands, Svalbard
reindeer and Arctic foxes coexist with walruses, lying on the beach. It
has been a long time since the Pomor settlers, of which traces remain,
came to hunt them.
Here,
the lord of the Arctic, the polar bear, is never very far away. The
crucial aspects of this cruise involve searching and keeping an eye
out. On board, the team of naturalists will scan the horizon so they
can provide you with marvellous sightings of wildlife and, in
particular, the polar bear. The region’s elusive fauna
upholds its mysteries while the uncertain nature of the encounter
be
