Photos from Northwest Passage trip

[Mike B Landlubber]

I thought these would be of interest, but wasn’t sure of the best place to post them. Admins, move if necessary and accept my apologies. The trip was with a smaller “expedition” line that doesn’t have a forum.

 

This is a map of our actual track. It was pretty close to the projected track. We began in Kugluktuk, Canada, and ended near Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Both embark and debark were by Zodiac!:)

 

 

We were on a converted car ferry modified to deal with ice, so it was a decent-sized ship, but still seemed small compared to the wilderness!
 

 

 

Moving through loose ice floes.

 

 

I will post more when I’m sure this is the appropriate place and verify appropriateness and interest….!
 

 

[Alberta Quilter]

I’m interested!  Please tell us more and post more pics!  I’ve been looking at something like this for several years, though Adventure Canada.  I didn’t realize the embark/debark was by zodiac!  How did that go?

[Mike B Landlubber]

5 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

I’m interested!  Please tell us more and post more pics!  I’ve been looking at something like this for several years, though Adventure Canada.  I didn’t realize the embark/debark was by zodiac!  How did that go?

As it happens, my trip was with Adventure Canada. I was very impressed with them, they had numerous expert staff who took great care of us and did their best to accommodate individual needs and interests. The geologist and archeologist were especially good, as were two Inuit guides. Food and facilities on the ship were great, especially considering we were in the far North.

As for this particular itinerary, it was an amazing trip and worth the admittedly high cost. After I had booked it, an experienced guide I took a different trip with warned me that wildlife would be around, but probably not plentiful on the trip and he was right. I had created an expectation in my mind that wildlife would be plentiful and close as in a trip to Antarctica I took several years ago. It ends up that this wasn’t a fair expectation. Most larger animals have been hunted and avoid humans, and the operator deliberately avoids being close to polar bears, though we did see over a dozen bears at a safe distance from our Zodiacs on one spectacular day. The other big wildlife sightings were walruses from a distance one time, and a narwhal. I didn’t see other whales, though a couple I was friends with reported seeing some from their cabin early one morning. Lots of seabirds. Some Zodiacs sighted seals.

 

What we did get was amazing scenery and experiences among icebergs and wilderness. We got chances to interact with Inuit, including some with local residents as well as the two Inuit guides, and visit very small towns that were different than anywhere else I’d ever been. In between excursions they offer almost nonstop presentations by their experts, and most experts were excellent explainers and presenters. If the history of Arctic exploration interests you, there are plenty of opportunities to see stuff associated with the Franklin expedition, old Hudson Bay Co. or Mounty stations, pre-Columbian sites, etc. One of my adventurer friends who has been to Antarctica, the Aleutians, and Greenland has declared herself insanely jealous after seeing my pics, and intends to take a similar trip!

At this time of year I had no expectation of seeing Aurora, and they warned us it was possible but unlikely, yet we did get a nice Aurora light show one night!

 

Embarking and debarking via Zodiac was no big deal. At boarding we literally rode school buses from the basic airstrip to the shore to board the Zodiacs from the beach! We disembarked near a former US Air Force base in Greenland where we had a dock to step on to from the Zodiacs. We then rode commercial hired buses for about twenty minutes to the airport. Neither was especially difficult. They moved our checked luggage to and from shore by Zodiac, but crew took care of it. We were able to take carry-ons with us and keep them under our control if we wished. and I took a small bag with medication and expensive cameras. Crew assisted with holding it while I boarded the Zodiac. Getting on and off of the Zodiacs at sea for excursions was sometimes bouncy, but I didn’t see anybody with serious difficulties despite an older group of passengers. We got a lot of help from staff getting on and off the Zodiacs. One passenger had a missing checked bag on the flight out, it was apparently mishandled by the charter airline and we were told a couple of days later it had been found at another airport, which of course was no help to the poor traveler! We were told that for specialized cold weather stuff the ship had some loaner equipment to take care of them, but I don’t know specifics.

AC emphasizes that this is an expedition, not a cruise, and things are uncertain and subject to change. One of our landings was delayed and rearranged at the last minute because polar bears were too close to the expected site, and one was cancelled completely because of rough water and fog. We deviated for about two days from our expected itinerary because of sea ice (I was completely happy with the alternate route and this is not a complaint, just reporting a part of adventuring in a remote area). We had daily briefings on conditions, forecasts, what they were doing, and why.

 

You will get the most out of the trip if you are fit and a good hiker. They usually had two or three options at each landing based on hiking ability. I have been putting off a knee operation for a couple of years, which meant I couldn’t do some things I would like to do, but I was still pleased with my experience. Since I returned, I’ve scheduled the operation so I will be ready next time! 🙂

 

I will post more pictures.

[Mike B Landlubber]

Street signs are hard to mount and maintain in frozen permafrost, so they put them in buckets of gravel. Most that I saw had toppled over anyway!
 

 

 

In Gjoa Haven, they made a big deal of our visit. This fellow does a traditional drum welcome dance. 

 

 

Polar bears froma Zodiac. This was with a 500mm camera lens, about the same as a binocular view.

Edited October 2, 2023 by Mike B Landlubber

[dawnvip]

Really interesting! I had no idea this type of itinerary was available!

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

[Mike B Landlubber]

One last set of pics….

 

Before we went ashore, the staff checked the area out for polar bears. We wouldn’t go ashore if bears were near. Once ashore, we still had armed bear guards!
 

 

Graves of three men from the doomed Franklin expedition in the 1840s, plus one casualty of another expedition sent to search for them. 

 

 

The town of Qaanaaq (Sorry, it is in Greenland). So far north, the playground can see icebergs!

Edited October 5, 2023 by Mike B Landlubber

[Alberta Quilter]

Wow, thanks so much for posting your pics and telling us about the trip.  If you want to, I'd love to hear and see more.

[Mike B Landlubber]

7 hours ago, Alberta Quilter said:

Wow, thanks so much for posting your pics and telling us about the trip.  If you want to, I'd love to hear and see more.

Here are a few more…

Our Zodiac pulls away from the mother ship on an iceberg exploration mission. If you look at the driver’s right wrist, you’ll see a red loop, connected to the motor with a coil of red. This is a deadman switch. If she falls overboard, the red thing will be yanked out of the motor and the motor shuts down. Essential if you’re driving one of these by yourself, and here it helps her avoid a helpful passenger trying to use the motor for an rescue and running her down! They provided oars for us to use in that situation….

 

 

 

 

Masochists had the opportunity to do the “Polar Plunge” and jump in freezing water. I am a wimp and stayed warm and dry.

 

I understand villages like this one typically get deliveries by two of these small cargo ships a year. We were quite lucky to see it!

 

 

We had the opportunity to land on a free-floating bit of sea ice. Quite an adventure!

Edited October 8, 2023 by Mike B Landlubber

[Mike B Landlubber]

It occurs to me to do a batch showing how BIG the icebergs and terrain were. In one shot taken over the heads of people, don’t miss our ship next to the icebergs. I will do one more batch of photos oriented towards the ship and some practical matters, but not tonight.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited October 8, 2023 by Mike B Landlubber

[Mike B Landlubber]

Our charter jet arrives in Tugluktuk. The truck carried our checked bags and (I was told) some fresh food that was cargo on the plane to the ship. After checking our bags at Edmonton Airport, we didn’t see them again till they appeared outside our cabin door after dinner the first night.

 

 

 

My Cabin on Ocean Endeavor.

 

We received daily briefings on what was happening, what decisions were made, and details about landings, including hiking routes and options. The colorful large-scale map is a sea ice forecast!

 

A typical menu. Food was great, especially considering where we were.

 

We lucked into an Aurora display on the last night. You can see the ship’s radar in silhouette.

Edited October 9, 2023 by Mike B Landlubber

[kathynorth]

Thanks for posting your trip review!