HIGHLIGHTS
- Become
one of the few people to visit the remote Wrangel Island Nature Reserve
with the largest polar bear breeding grounds in the world
- Experience
performances depicting traditional life of the Yupik and Chukchi people
- Zodiac
cruise encounters with grey, humpback and beluga whales, walrus and
thousands of seabirds often landing close by to feed
- Tundra
walks to spot a host of migrating birds including emperor geese,
spoon-billed sandpipers and yellow-billed loons. Landing on Kolyuchin
Island for close, cliff-top views of nesting puffins, guillemots and
gulls
DATES / RATES
Rates are listed per person
|
Start Date | End Date | From EUR | From USD |
Rates are listed per person
|
Start Date | End Date | From EUR | From USD |
ITINERARY
Day
1 Anchorage
Arrive
in Anchorage and transfer to our group hotel. Upon check-in, reception
staff will provide you with your Aurora Expeditions cabin tags. Please
fill out the luggage tags clearly, showing your name and cabin number
to allow us to deliver your luggage to your cabin. Enjoy a welcome
drink and meet fellow expeditioners at our voyage briefing this
evening.
Accommodation:
Hilton Anchorage (or similar)
Day
2 Nome
Transfer
to Anchorage airport, board our charter flight to Nome and embark the
Sylvia Earle. After boarding, there's time to settle into your cabin
before our important safety briefings. This evening meet your
expedition team and crew at the Captain's Welcome Dinner. In the
evening, meet the expedition team and crew at the Captain's Welcome
Dinner.
Day
3 Providenyia
Informative
briefings prepare you for upcoming landings, and sightings of beluga
and grey whales enchant as you cross Bering Strait to Chukotka. In
Provideniya, the administrative centre, you'll be cleared into Russia
and if time allows, visit the museum of history and culture, and
perhaps take in a traditional Yupik dance performance.
Day
4 Lorino Village, Cape Dezhnev
Chukchi
villagers warmly-welcome you into Lorino with traditional dance,
samples of local delicacies and the chance to observe life in this
outpost of reindeer herders and marine mammal hunters. Weather and sea
permitting, you land at Cape Dezhnev, Eurasia's easternmost point, to
explore the ancient Inuit settlement of Naukan, and remains of a
Soviet-era research centre (both now abandoned). Note the massive whale
bones, somehow brought up the cliffs for building material.
Day
5 At sea
Enjoy
informative talks from our team of experts as your Captain navigates an
approach to Wrangel Island. Although pack ice can block the way, it
varies from year to year. Even if the way is clear, it's likely you'll
delight in sea ice in upcoming days.
Days
6-9 Wrangel Island
Your
exploration of Wrangel and Herald Islands depends on ice and weather
conditions. Whether searching pack ice for polar bears, ringed seals
and walrus, or Zodiac cruising beneath slopes dotted with polar bears
(adults and cubs) and walrus haulouts, you'll be joined by local
rangers keen to share their knowledge and love of this special place.
Follow them across a vast landscape in search of reindeer, musk oxen
and arctic fox. Search for fossilised remains of woolly mammoth, a
kaleidoscope of wildflowers and listen to tales of Inuit and Chukchi
hunters, the first European explorers and the survivors of the Karluk
disaster.
Day
10 At sea
As
you sail south, reflect on the wonders you've seen as you edit photos,
enjoy entertaining talks or treat yourself to a gym workout and massage
in the wellness centre.
Day
11 Kolyuchin Island, Kolyuchin Inlet
Weather
permitting and with a wary eye for polar bears, you land on Kolyuchin
Island, with its abandoned meteorological station and some of the
Arctic's most spectacular bird cliffs, where nesting puffins,
guillemots and gulls are easily photographed. The tidal estuary of
Kolyuchin Inlet offers wildflowers and a host of birds from
yellow-billed loons to endemic emperor geese, as well as remains of
dwelling mounds and graves of past inhabitants.
Day
12 Arakamchechen Islands, Penkigngey Bay
Humpback,
grey and bowhead whales feed in the waters around Arakamchechen Island,
while on land is the chance to quietly approach a walrus haulout. Sea
cliffs on nearby Nuneangan Island are home to guillemots, tufted
puffins and crested auklets. Penkigngey Bay, a long fjord, offers
tundra wildflower walks and a scenic dip in hot springs.
Day
13 Ytytygran Island, Provideniya
On
Ytytygran Island, visit Whale Bone Alley, where bones are thickly
strewn for half a kilometre along the beach, and ‘meat pits'
attest to a busy Chukchi whaling camp. Still standing, immense bowhead
whale jawbones and ribs form a monumental, ceremonial archway, while
just offshore grey whales are frequently seen feeding. In Provideniya,
bid a fond farewell to Russia and begin the return voyage across the
Bering Sea.
Day
14 King Island
As
we pass through Bering Strait, separating Russia and North America by
only 100 kilometres / 60 miles, we hope to see beluga and grey whales.
Conditions permitting, we land at King Island and explore the eerie,
ancient village Ukivok, now abandoned after a tragic run of events.
Murres and kittiwakes frequent the surrounding sea cliffs. As we
depart, we celebrate the voyage end with a farewell dinner.
Day
15 Nome & Anchorage
Disembark
in Nome, transfer to the airport and board our charter flight to
Anchorage, where we spend the night.
Accommodation:
Hilton Anchorage (or similar)
Day
16 Depart Anchorage
Enjoy
free time until check-out before continuing your journey.
(Click image to view Ship details)
WHAT'S INCLUDED
- Transfer
from airport to hotel on day 1 & 15
- Transfer
from hotel to airport on day 2 & 16
- Charter
flights: Anchorage-Nome-Anchorage
- One
night’s hotel accommodation in Anchorage including breakfast
on day 1 & 15
- Onboard
accommodation during voyage including daily cabin service
- All
meals, snacks, tea and coffee during voyage
- Beer,
house wine and soft drinks with dinner
- Captain’s
Welcome and Farewell reception including four-course dinner, house
cocktails, house beer and wine, non-alcoholic beverages
- All
shore excursions and Zodiac cruises
- Educational
lectures and guiding services from expedition team
- Complimentary
access to onboard expedition doctor and medical clinic (initial
consult)
- A
3-in-1 waterproof polar expedition jacket
- Complimentary
use of muck boots during the voyage
- Comprehensive
pre-departure information
- Port
surcharges, permits and landing fees
- Gratuities
for ship crew
Exclusions
- International
or domestic flights not mentioned in the itinerary
- Transfers
not mentioned in the itinerary
- Airport
arrival or departure taxes
- Passport,
visa, and vaccination charges
- Travel
insurance or emergency evacuation charges
- Hotels
and meals not included in itinerary
- Optional
excursions not included in the itinerary
- Optional
activity surcharges
- All
items of a personal nature including but not limited to: alcoholic
beverages and soft drinks (outside of dinner service), laundry
services, personal clothing, medical expenses, Wi-Fi, email or phone
charges
ADVENTURE
OPTIONS
- Bird
watching
- Lectures
on wildlife, our environment, history and destinations
- Photography
- Polar
plunge
- Trips
ashore
- Walking
- Whale
and mammal spotting
- Zodiac
cruises