The remarkable islands of the Svalbard Archipelago lie far to the north of the Norwegian mainland and high above the Arctic Circle. This series of remote islands, which are part of Norway, cover an area of 62,000 square kilometers, about the same size as Ireland or Tasmania. The Archipelago, a place of deep fjords, mountains and massive sheets of ice, is made up of three large islands and numerous smaller islands, and rocky outcrops. During the summer, the sun never sets, the tundra is carpeted in wildflowers, and the ice-choked fjords echo with the thunderous roars of glacial ice crashing into the sea.

Itinerary
(All Meals Included While on the Ship)

Day 1
Departure from North America

We will leave North America for Europe.

Day 2
Arrive Europe
There are a number of flights to Norway including connecting flights to Oslo through London, Amsterdam or direct flights to Oslo from North America. We usually connect with a late flight to Longyearbyen, the administrative capital of Svalbard. There are both hotel and guest house accommodations in this town.

Day 3
Arrive Spitzbergen / Board R/V Akademik Sergei Vavilov
We expect to have some free time to explore the small colourful town of Longyearbyen. There are bookstores with field guides to the flora, fauna and geology of the region and the Polar Museum that is well worth the visit. After boarding our expedition ship, the Akademik Sergei Vavilov, in the late afternoon, we'll get together for introductions to the expedition staff and passengers, learn a bit about the ship and its layout, discuss the itinerary, and participate in the obligatory lifeboat drill.

We'll then set sail northwards from Adventfjorden, the first fjord on the cruise, to Isfjorden. It will be daylight for 24 hours a day in these very high latitudes as we sail onwards, through the night, to Prins Karls Forland and Kongsjorden.

Days 4 -11
Exploring Svalbard Archipelago
In the following notes there are descriptions of the places that we may visit, depending on weather and ice conditions, during the next nine days.

Glacier Bay / Ny Alesund
We'll drop anchor in this bay, on the west coast of Spitzbergen, before breakfast. After a safety briefing we'll board the Zodiacs, steer towards the glacier, and spend some time cruising along the edge of its spectacular ice-cliff. Then, on our first landing in the archipelago, we'll look for and identify some of the many species of northern plants that grow on this location. We'll see the birds from the large kittiwake colony, that nest in the cliffs above the landing site, and which provide the natural fertilizer to stimulate the growth of the rich vegetation found here. We may also be fortunate in seeing Pink-footed Geese or Barnacle Geese on shore.

After lunch, we'll visit the settlement of Ny Alesund, one of the most northerly settlements in the world. It was originally a mining settlement but, after a series of serious accidents, was abandoned in 1962. Since then, Ny Alesund has served as a base station for international Arctic research, with a population of approximately eighty scientists and support staff.

We will all have the chance to visit the station shop and also send mail or postcards from the most northerly mailbox in the world.

A highlight of this location are such northern birds as Arctic Terns, Arctic and Long-tailed Skuas, Purple Sandpipers, Common Eiders, Barnacle Geese, Long-tailed Ducks, Black-legged Kittiwakes, Glaucous Gulls, Snow Buntings et al. Several reindeer are also seen regularly on the periphery of the research station.

We won't miss the opportunity to stand near the airship mast that was used to moor the famous airships Norge and Italia. In 1926, Roald Amundsen used the Norge to fly over the North Pole from this historic site to Alaska. A few days earlier, Richard Byrd had taken off from the tundra near Ny Alesund and later returned claiming to have reached the North Pole before Raold Amundsen. This will be a hot discussion topic for the historians on board.

Smeerenburg
Smeerenburg, or Blubber Town, is located on the northwestern corner of Spitzbergen and was a Dutch whaling settlement in the first half of the 17th Century. During our visit, we'll hear about the whaling industry, hunting techniques and harsh living conditions experienced by the European whalers while here. Blubber ovens, whalebones and other remnants from this industry can be observed in the shadow of the mountain that the whalers used as a lookout for the passage of the Bowhead Whales.


Virgohamna
We plan to visit one of Svalbard's best-known historic sites. Virgohamna was the stepping off point for explorers and scientists in their "search for the Holy Grail of the 19th and 20th Centuries". The site is strictly protected and managed by the Governor of Svalbard and its land management methods are respected worldwide.

We'll gather on the beach and listen to the stories the guides will be telling about the importance of this place as a staging area for several celebrated expeditions.
· Arnold Pike, an eccentric English gentleman, who undertook ornithological studies in the winter of 1888 while living in a prefabricated house that he had imported from England along with his cook and butler.

· Salomon August Andree used Virgohamna in his tragic attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon in 1897.

· Walter Wellman brought his airship America to Virgohamna and attempted, unsuccessfully, to reach the North Pole in it.

Ytre Norskoya / Norvestoyane, Hamiltonbreen / 80'N / Moffen
Expect the temperature to become noticeably cooler as we near our most northerly destination, Norskoya. This is another High Arctic whaling station from the 17th Century that we will be able to explore as well as hiking into the lower part of the island.

Later on, we'll gather on the ship's bow to celebrate our crossing of Latitude 80'North, less than 1000 km from the North Pole. After dinner, we will visit a small atoll-like island further to the northeast called Moffen Island. Moffen is a wide gravel plain with a lagoon in the middle, not more than a few metres above sea level. This island is a well-known and protected Walrus sanctuary where we will see these huge sea mammals hauled out on the shore or swimming out to our ship to greet us. This is the island where, in the past, we have been lucky to observe Polar Bears on shore and Sabine's Gulls overhead.

Sparreneset, Nordaustlandet
This will be our first landing on Nordaustlandet, Svalbard's second largest island. It is rather barren with few plants and animals living here. However, the scenery found in and around this "polar desert" is fantastic and our walks to the various scenic points will prove very stimulating.

Phippsoya & Martensoya, Seven Islands
In the early hours of the morning, we will be approaching our most northerly landing. We'll drop anchor close to Phipps Island that is just beside the termination point for the British Trans-Arctic Expedition led by Sir Wally Herbert in 1969. This is also a great place for a hike and has often proven to be a popular locale for Polar Bears and Walrus. There is also a small hunters' hut, with large whale vertebrae and other bones strewn about, and an old boat that adds to the antiquity of the area. We'll have a thorough search of the area for "Ice Bears" before landing.

Later on we'll try to land on Martensoya whose Precambrian rocks are five hundred to one billion years old. In addition, there is a large accumulation of driftwood washed up on the beach with many of the logs having originated from Canada and/or Russia. This always stimulates discussions about the Polar Drift, a phenomena where currents and gyres of the Arctic Basin carry articles and ice across the polar sea.

Kraemerpynten & Andreeneset, Kvitoya
We will all be on deck as we approach the large ice-domed island of Kvitoya. The western part of the island is only 98 km from Victoria Island in Franz Joseph Land, which is part of the Russian Arctic. There are often large herds of Walrus in the vicinity and, if conditions permit, we hope to see these animals on ice floes or in the water. This is a rarely visited site, so before going safely on shore at Kraemerpynten, we will have our expedition staff scout the area for Polar Bears. Since the ice dome covers everything except three small spits of barren polar-desert land, we will land on one of them to visit a cairn that has been erected to commemorate where the Andree Expedition came to its tragic fate in 1897.

Isispynten & Vibebukta, Nordaustlandet
We hope to go ashore at Isispynten, on the southeast corner of Nordaustlandet Island, after a Zodiac cruise amongst the floes and sea ice. Here there is a headland marked on the nautical charts as a point of the mainland that turns out to be an island. It is an excellent place to walk, beachcomb and relax.

After lunch, we'll take the R.V. Akademik Sergei Vavilov on a cruise along the magnificent ice shelf that stretches for 160 km along the shoreline. This is an amazing glacial face whose beauty is enhanced from the perfect viewing platform provided by our ship. If time permits, we'll land at a barren stretch of beach that is known for its plethora of fossils, raised beaches, and strandlines.

Sundneset, Barentsoya / Kapp Lee, Edgeoya
We'll drop anchor on the south side of Barentsoya and go ashore to enjoy the exceptional flora, fauna and scenery and where it is not unusual to have close encounters with reindeer. Very old whalebones are found hundreds of metres inland, which helps to elucidate the theory of isostatic rebound - when land rises after the weight of glacial ice has left. In the past, we have also found a good variety of birds including Long-tailed Ducks, Red-throated Loons, Pink-footed Geese and Purple Sandpipers.

After lunch, we'll land at Dolerittneset near Kapp Lee. After spending the last few days in the barren polar landscape of 80'North, we'll see a noticeable change to the lush vegetation south of 79'. The ground is painted with luxuriant blankets of green mosses and grasses, spattered with blotches of black and orange lichen, and framed with purple saxifrage, yellow cinquefoil and white sandwort. This site also has a large scattering of reindeer antlers, but the huge collection of whalebones makes this landing memorable. This was obviously the slaughtering and rendering grounds for the great whales found in the adjacent seas. These majestic sea mammals were hunted to near extinction in the waters of Svalbard four hundred years ago.

Aekongen, Tusenoyane
If convenient, we will visit a small island in this area and, after going ashore, we will be able to take a pleasant walk to a small pond where, if approached quietly, we should be able to view several pairs of red-throated Loons. A Bowhead Whale skeleton has also been reconstructed from bones on the beach and provides a fairly accurate perception of the gigantic size of the animal. As we continue, we'll also find bleached Walrus and Polar Bear skulls as we walk to the edge of a Black Guillemot colony.

Gashamna / Hornsund
After landing on a gravel beach near a small hut on Gashamna, we will be able to walk into the hills, close to the face of a glacier and enjoy fantastic views atop its moraines.

We'll then sail into Hornsund, a spectacular Sound with several bays and fourteen glaciers that flow into the sea. This is where we hope to see Bearded and Ringed Seals, Polar Bears and a large congregation of seabirds.

Day 12
Bourbonhamna
Beluga Whales often transit the narrow Sound near Bourbonhamna. The adults are pure white and the younger animals a mottled grey colour. It is estimated that there are from five to ten thousand belugas in the Svalbard population. After using our Zodiacs to see and hear the belugas up close, we'll go ashore to Bourbonhamna. This is a particularly interesting area because we will be able to see artifacts from whaling times and also a Russian coal mining settlement at Barentsburg.

Day 13
Voyage ends at Longyearbyen, Flights to Oslo
We will arrive back in Longyearbyen early this morning and, on disembarking the ship after breakfast, we will be transferred to our hotel or to the airport. Please note that, depending on air schedules, we may have to stay in Oslo for one night on our journey home.


Day 14
Flights to North America