Scott King and I are on a 23-Day Journey across the Northwest Passage, starting in Reykjavik, Iceland and ending in Nome, Alaska. We left NYC Tuesday night August 6 (actually Wednesday morning at 1:28 am as the flight was delayed). Our cruise ship is the Seabourn Venture. See the following photo lifted from the Seabourn Internet site. This is the same ship that Scott and I cruised on last year for our 15-day cruise to Greenland.
After we fly from Reykjavik to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, our ship ports in Greenland are scheduled to be Kangerlussuaq, Ilulissat, Sisimiut, Karrat Fjord, and in Canada will be Pond Inlet, Philpots Island, Dundas Harbour, Croker Bay, Gjoa Haven, Cambridge Bay Village, Sachs Harbour (although the exact route may vary due to weather, and did), and finally Nome, Alaska where we debark the ship. After Nome we fly to Anchorage and then back to Los Angeles on Friday, August 29th. See the following map (but our exact route/ports may change).
This cruise should take us through some stunning Arctic scenery, the chance to follow in the footsteps of famous explorers and witness incredible wildlife. The Northwest Passage has the Arctic Big 5, that is polar bear, musk ox, walrus, narwhal and beluga whales. I hope to see at least one polar bear.
Day 1: Wednesday (August 7), Arriving in Reykjavik, Iceland
Today Scott and I are here In Reykjavik, Iceland. A cloudy and rainy day, temperature in the mid-50F’s. Since we left NYC late, we didn't arrive in Reykjavik until about 11 am Iceland time, it was a 5 1/2 hour flight on a Boeing 763-300 Twin Jet.
On our ride from the airport to our hotel, our driver jokingly said they didn’t like the tariff that the US put on Iceland, so they had it rain on us.
Later Scott and I took a nap followed by a short walk about, and including a burger.
Later another one of the things we ate was a famous Iceland hot dog. Meh. They are made from mostly lamb and have a variety of sauces. And fried something maybe onions. Like I said meh.
Not much to write about other than there were hordes of tourists. Every bar had a happy hour. We can see a glimpse of the harbor from our hotel room at the Reykjavik Edition. See the following photo.
Iceland utilizes geothermal energy to provide hot water for various purposes. Around 90% of homes in Iceland are heated with geothermal hot water, and it's also a major source of electricity generation.
They make aluminum here because they generate so much electricity and that is what it takes to make aluminum ingots. Again geothermal but also hydraulic. The residents (around 400,000) use 20% of the electricity, the rest goes to manufacturing and export.
As a side note, in Greenland last year Scott and I went to a mine where they mined Cryolite that was mixed with bauxite to make aluminum.
We missed a volcano eruption in Reykjavik by one day, the ninth in this volcanic system since 2023. Yesterday lava was flowing. you could see it from the road. There have been few eruptions in Reykjavik for 900 years, but new eruptions started July 16, 2025 at the Sundhnúkur crater row. The fishing town of Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon had to be evacuated.
The Reykjavik airport used to be a naval air station and the USA turned it over to Iceland in 2006. Tourism is only the 3rd industry, fishing and electricity are bigger.
It’s now late Wednesday night and we are ready for bed, just as the locals are going out. The following photo is of a funny notice our hotel room at the Reykjavik Edition. They have a sense of humor here in Iceland.
Tomorrow (Thursday) we board an Air Charter (Hi Fly) to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, and should arrive there around 1:10 pm. We will then board our cruise ship and leave around 8 pm and and arrive in Sisimiut, Greenland around 8 am Friday morning.
Day 2: Thursday (August 7), Leaving Reykjavik, Iceland for Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
Thursday Scott and I boarded an Air Charter (Hi Fly) to fly from Reykjavik, Iceland to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, and arrived around 1:30+ pm. The Kangerlussuaq airport was originally built as a U.S. military base during World War II, but is now the largest and busiest airport in Greenland, and is just north of the arctic circle.
The photo below was taken from inside of our aircraft (an Airbus A340-300-quad-jet) as we came into Greenland, this was our first view of the ice sheet. Unfortunately my camera focused on the window (and all its scratches, etc.) rather than the ice sheet. What I like is how the wing sort of mirrors the ice formation.
Another side note, last year when Scott and I were on our Greenland cruise, we flew from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, back to Reykjavik, Iceland on an Airbus A330-800. Our meal on that flight was a baloney sandwich with no lettuce and tomato, that the pilot's grandmother assembled for the occasion. The meal on this flight was catered by Seabourn, so it was pretty nice of course.
After arriving at the biggest airport in Greenland, Kangerlussuaq (see photo below), a dilapidated old city bus from Nuuk took us to our ship (the Seabourn Venture), the ride was very bumpy.
Once on the ship we discovered we had been moved from the 5th deck to the 7th deck, but still on the ship’s port side. The Seabourn Venture is a nice ship, it’s classified as an "Ultra-Luxury Expedition Ship." The Seabourn Venture is the first ultra-luxury expedition ship to join the Seabourn fleet, it was launched in 2022 and embarked on its first voyage through the Northwest Passage in August of 2023. This cruise will be the second for the Seabourn Venture through the Northwest Passage. The photo below is another photo of our ship, lifted from the Internet.
Scott and I didn’t have time to unpack as we had mandatory briefing on safety procedures followed by happy hour and dinner.
Day 3: Friday (August 8), Leaving Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and heading for Ilulissat, Greenland, a sea day
The following photo I took from our ship, leaving Kangerlussuaq, going out the Kangerlussuaq fjord to the Davis Strait.
Friday was a sea day, smooth sailing, naps, eating and drinking and meeting new people and getting fitted for parkas etc. a typical sea day with not much to report.
Tomorrow we are scheduled to go to the Ilulissat Ice field. Should be some nice icebergs. But more on that later.
Day 4: Saturday (August 9), almost Ilulissat, Greenland
Our ship was headed for Ilulissat, Greenland today, but the captain came on to say we couldn’t go there because there was too much ice. Ilulissat is the 3rd largest city in Greenland with a whopping population of 4,560.
If you look at the map below you can see the Ilulissat fjord (called Jakobshavn fjord on the map) is white and at the mouth is more white. Note, Ilulissat is the current name of the town, while Jakobshavn was the Danish colonial name for the same town, so either word is fine.
It seems that the icebergs from the glacier 11,000 meters inland had floated to the mouth and grounded there. Because of the high tide from the full moon some had dislodged and allowed the backed up bergs and ice to escape and it was so dense a big ship couldn’t make it through. This is a big disappointment as Ilulissat is the iceberg capital producing 10% of all icebergs. It would have been great to have seen the really big ones.
Ilulissat, Greenland, is famously known as the "City of Icebergs,” and is situated right next to its impressive neighbor, the world-famous ilulissat Icefjord. The Ilulissat Icefjord became part of the UNESCO World Heritage in 2004.
To Seabourn’s credit they arranged for 3 small boats of local people to weave their way to us. We were then taken on a delightful ride through the ice, we saw lots of beautiful icebergs. See the following 3 photos.
The captain of our 12 passenger craft was very informative and provided the above map and also the whale baleen plates (see the following photo) for us to feel. To think a whale’s mouth is lined with that to filter the krill into its system. He said the whale’s mouth is bigger than the boat we were on.
Below is a photo of one of the boats, this photo taken from our ship of course.
Later in the day, a local female entertainer came on board to do the Mask Dance. The Mask Dance is a tradition dating back approx. 4,000 years and which has been used in Greenland over the years to provide entertainment on long and cold winter nights. The Mask Dancer was scary.
She explained that the red V on her forehead was for females and the bloated cheeks and white lines on her chin were for male energies. The purpose of the dance was to help people learn to deal with fear, especially death. Those explanations were somewhat specific and caused a lot of giggles. In the photo below, I tried looking as fierce and ominous as the Mask Dancer, but without the makeup. Are you scared?
Day 5: Sunday (August 10), Sisimiut, Greenland
Our ship arrived at Sisimiut in the morning, Sisimiut is 25+ miles above the Arctic circle,
rough, real, remote, an adventure hub, and the second-largest settlement in Greenland after Nuuk, around 5,500 people. Scott and I signed up for the “Sisimiut on Foot and A Taste of Greenland Experience," about a 3 hour city tour. We were transferred from the ship to Sisimiut by way of one of the ship’s 24 zodiacs.
The photo below shows typical Sisimiut homes on top of a rock cliff with Humpback whale carvings. The artwork was interesting, they had to stop midway because an eagle decided to perch on the rocks for about 2 weeks.
The next photo shows a Zion church that overlooks the center of Sisimiut.
There’s an older church at the Sisimiut Museum that was purchased as a kit from Denmark for 26 barrels of seal blubber and assembled by the villagers. I neglected to get a photo of it, but it is called the Bethel church (aka the Blue Church), it is Greenland’s oldest church, but no longer functions as a church. The Sisimiut Museum is a collection of historical buildings, showcasing the region's history and culture.
The following photo I grabbed from the Internet showing the Bethel church.
Since there are a number of these old churches on Greenland and the houses are wood, most of them were built from kits, the latest in prefab eh?.
The next photo is of a cutie Greenlandic sled dog, a pure strain, they are protected as part of Greenland's cultural heritage and are subject to specific laws and regulations to maintain their genetic purity and well-being.
The dogs cannot leave the island and no other dogs are allowed in Greenland except neutered police dogs, which are sequestered at the station. The Greenlandic sled dogs are not used as sled dogs so much anymore, because snowmobiles and ATVs are cheaper and easier to maintain. The dogs are kept in kennels away from the houses and are usually not pets. The few that are kept as pets are called kitchen grits since they eat kitchen scraps. The lack of trees in Greenland makes it possible for the dogs to pull in a fan formation instead of 2x2 like in Alaska.
The following photo shows a view of part of the town, taken from close to the church.
The next photo is me with a local art formation, two abstract figures seated on a large rock.
For extra entertainment we went to the local Pissifik (a chain of Greenlandic stores). It’s always interesting to see what’s different. The cone shaped cabbages in the following photo caught my eye. They come in both red and green.
And I had to take a photo of the town arch that marks the entrance to the old town area. The arch is made with 21-foot whale jaw bones. See the photo below.
Tomorrow will be a sea day, we are heading for Pond Inlet, Nunavut, Canada.
Day 6: Monday (August 11), Sea Day, heading for Pond Inlet, Canada
Day 7: Tuesday (August 12), Sea Day, Off Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, Canada
Tuesday our ship anchored off Pond Inlet on Baffin Island, Canada for a clearance call. Only ship officials went ashore to fill out paperwork for the ship and the passengers, to be allowed into 🇨🇦 Canada. Scott and I stayed busy with lectures, eating, playing games, drinking etc. so not much to report except we lost at Team Trivia again. We named our team “Smarty Pants.” Wrong. Below is a photo by one the ship's photographers. That's me and Scott in the bottom right, playing Team Trivia, that is Scott in the patterned sweater with his back to the camera.
I do have a few photos to share that I took from the ship of the mountains on Baffin Island. The mountains on Baffin Island are spectacular, duh, The town of Pond Inlet, not so spectacular.
The first photo below is of Pond Inlet, a predominantly Inuit community located on northern Baffin Island. The town was named in 1818 by explorer John Ross, honoring English astronomer John Pond.
The next 4 photos are mountains that I could see, I don’t know if specific peaks have names but I believe the overall landscape is known as the Arctic Cordiller.
One last photo since tomorrow we will be sailing into the actual Northwest Passage. The following photo is from one of the ship's photographers, showing Tuesday's ship's lecture on the life of Roald Amundsen, the pioneering Norwegian explorer, the first to sail the Northwest Passage.
Day 8: Wednesday (August 13), Sea Day, Dundas Harbour
Today Scott and I are now actually in the Northwest Passage, at Dundas Harbour, an abandoned settlement located on the southeast coast of Devon Island in Canada.
The following photo was taken on the way to Dundas Harbour leaving Baffin Island. The fog had delayed and changed our plans for the day. The 1.5 hour hike and zodiac tour were in jeopardy. That’s why it’s called an expedition, because of the inherent challenges and uncertainties of a journey. They told us yesterday that more people have climbed Mount Everest than have gone through the Northwest Passage. WOW!
Anyway, the next photo is of Dundas Harbour, taken from our ship.
The fog finally lifted and we did go ashore. The following photo was taken from Dundas Harbour, that’s our ship in the harbor.
Dundas Harbour is the site of a 19th century Royal Canadian police outpost. It was started during the times of the desperate search for the Northwest Passage. The purpose was to be sure none of the explorers would try to establish a claim to the territory. The men received supplies once a year and didn’t have communication to the outside world except then. The cabin was a shack and not a photogenic one, so no photo of that.
Turned out we did get to do our hike, I went at 2:30pm, I was supposed to go at 11:00am. I opted for the 2 hour hike. It was tough because the terrain was hilly and rocky (see the next photo). It beat this NYC 6-8mile-a-day-walker’s butt.
The area was inhabited by Inuits and Thule peoples so I think the cairns in the following two photos were used by them.
The next photo is a long shot of Croker Bay (background), which we could see from Dundas Harbour, in this photo you can see one of several retreating glaciers.
For reference, the next photo is a map screenshot showing the relative locations of Croker Bay and Dundas Harbour.
Dundas Harbour is so different from the urban or even semi rural landscapes I am used to. I was told nobody has lived here since 1951. Very barren, oh I didn’t need to say that, it’s obvious. Note there are no trees, but there are some flowers (see the next photo).
The following photo shows some rock stars I recruited.
We did not stop at Croker Bay as scheduled, instead we will stop at Beechey Island. I was looking forward to Croker Bay because I read it's a good place to see wildlife like polar bears, seals, and beluga whales.
Day 9: Thursday (August 14), Beechey Island, Canada
Today (Thursday) Scott and I are now at Beechey Island, which is actually a peninsula connected to the larger Devon Island. The island was named after the artist William Beechey by his son Frederick William Beechey, an English naval officer, explorer, and artist.
This is a barren and very sad stop. The explorer Sir John Franklin and two well equipped vessels (HMS Erebus and HMS Terror) vanished with all 129 crew members in 1845, searching for a Northwest Passage.
Around 5 or 6 years later on Beechey Island, searchers found a large stone cairn, along with the graves of three of Franklin’s crewmen, but no written record nor indication of where Franklin, his ships and crew planned to sail the next season. It is believed that the three Franklin crew members succumbed to tuberculosis, and were buried on Beechey Island.
In the following years over 30 expeditions went in search of Franklin, his ships and crew, and many more lives were lost. There are few places on earth that are so lonely and barren. This was the furthest point north we came 74 degrees and 43 minutes N, or about 530 miles north of the Arctic Circle. The air temperature was 36F with a windchill of 25F. Not too bad until the wind picked up which luckily didn’t happen until the last few minutes.
For reference the screenshot below is a map showing where Beechey Island is located on Devon Island.
The photo below shows where the ship’s zodiacs dropped us off.
The next photo shows the Beechey Island memorial monument that contains an inscription dedicating it "To the Memory of Franklin, Crozier, Fitzjames, and all their gallant brother officers and faithful companions…". The monument was erected to honor the lost Franklin Expedition and the search parties that sought them.
The next photo shows some Arctic buttercups, they were frequent. How do they grow in this environment?
The next photo is a HUGE bear footprint!!! Bigger than my head. Whee, when do we get to meet it?
The following photo shows grave markers of three of Franklin’s men, and one of the seamen who later came to look for them. It’s a big story in British Naval history.
On a side note: During Scott and my 2020 Antarctica Cruise I learned about the Ernest Shackleton 1914 almost unbelievable journey to cross Antarctica via the South Pole, one of the most remarkable stories of survival in the history of exploration, where all 27 men under Shackleton's command would survive the grueling Antarctic expedition. Ernest Shackleton's legacy is defined by his heroic rescue of his men, while John Franklin's legacy focuses on his tragic end in failure where all 129 men died.
Later on the ship, we were told there was a polar bear ahead, somewhere over there in the following photo.
Sure enough we did see a polar bear in the ice. The next photo shows the bear coming to check us out. We think it thought we were a strange iceberg. This is a photo from the ship's a-half-a-million-dollar-camera-with-a large-zoom-lens (2200 mm), not from my iPhone.
But the following photo is from my iPhone, see the little white dot on the left? That’s the same bear, it had left the ice and was on the rocks headed toward the water. I didn't notice the two bears on the right until after I viewed this photo.
The next photo shows the bear swimming our way. The ship’s captain decided we needed to get away, so we waved goodbye to our new bear friend because staying could have been bad for the bear if it tried to climb aboard. And no doubt bad for us passengers if it could climb aboard.
Later in the afternoon, we had games and lectures about bears.
Our next stop will be Gjoa Haven on King William Island after a few sea days.
Day 10: Friday (August 15), Sea Day, Bellot Strait
After our ship left Beechey Island Thursday, we headed south through the Gulf of Boothia for our next stop, Gjoa Haven on King William Island, which will take a couple of sea days
The attached screenshot is of a map showing our sea day on Friday. As you can see from the map we left the Gulf of Boothia and crossed the Bellot Strait, which is a popular route when going through the Northwest Passage. The strait separates Somerset Island from the Boothia Peninsula of mainland Canada. The strait is about 16 miles long and about 1.2 miles wide.
Bellot Strait is named after Joseph René Bellot, a French naval officer and arctic explorer. He was part of an expedition led by Captain William Kennedy searching for the lost Franklin expedition when they discovered the strait in 1852. Bellot tragically died in the Arctic a year later, falling through ice in the Wellington Channel.
On this sea day I was headed to the gym, but before I got there the ship announced a pod of whales off the starboard side. I rushed to see them and got a glimpse of several backs as they bopped along pretty far out. I didn’t see any of them dive but some people did
About the time things calmed down and coffee was consumed, another announcement that a polar bear was swimming toward us. They think the bear was curious. Below is a photo I made of the bear.
Some polar bear info. They are very buoyant and swim about 1-1.5 miles an hour and can swim 24 hours a day for maybe up to 9 days. They doggie paddle sort of (bear paddle?). And use their back legs as rudders.
The photo below is from one of the ship's cameras.
Below are two photos I took going through Bellot Strait. I believe the second photo proves the earth is flat, as you can definitely see the outer edge of the earth in this photo.
After the polar bear excitement we had caviar and champagne and conversations which was great fun. But the following photos are two from what I signed up for the first day, a tour of the ship’s control rooms. This tour was amazing and really interesting, but not as good as seeing the polar bears
There were other sightings, musk ox and a mama bear with her two cubs. Too far away for my camera, but I have four from the ship’s camera, which are shown below.
The day was really nice, 45F degrees and clear. Below are four photos that show the Land of the Midnight Sun.
Next stop, Gjoa Haven on King William Island, we are expected to arrive there Saturday around 6 pm, Northwest Passage time.
Day 11: Saturday (August 16), Sea Day, Gjoa Haven
Today Scott and I are at Gjoa Haven, a remote predominantly Inuit community located on King William Island, and known for its connection to Roald Amundsen's Northwest Passage expedition and the discovery of the John Franklin Expedition remains by explorer John Rae. The name Gjoa is named after Amundsen’s ship. Gjoa Haven is also called Uqsuqtuuk which means 'place of plenty blubber' in Inuktitut.
I have a few photos to share, and are as follows
The first photo is downtown Main Street.
The next photo is a sledge which is used to transport everything across the snow. Sometimes pulled by dogs, often by men.
The next photo is Caribou decorations on a building.
And the following photo is of caribou skins drying before the first scraping. Caribou is the fur used by most Arctic dwellers for its warmth. Two layers: inner layer fur toward the wearer, outer layer well you guessed it, outer.
Later we went to the Cultural Center, see the next photo.
We watch the traditional drum dance. He made noises, not sure if it was singing.
In the following photo the community sang while the above guy danced.
The man in the photo below came in, I was struck by his appearance, native and interesting.
After two adult men did the drum dance which happens in most communities in the Arctic, the young lad in the following photo also danced. He seemed a little timid but it was nice to see a young person carrying on the tradition.
In the midst of the performances, this auntie in the following photo came in, and the baby’s mother who had been singing tied the robe with the hood and the baby in it to the auntie. The large hood is a traditional way to carry babies (kind of a papoose I guess).
Scott and I later walked on the dirt streets to the museum and then back to the ship. We learned a lot of local info. They have water trucks, fuel trucks, and sewage trucks that come to the houses when needed and processing plants for all of those things. A barge comes only once in the winter. I'm not sure how many times in the less icy time, May through August. They bring things like building supplies, trucks, and other necessities.
And there is an airport and a cargo plane that brings medical supplies and food and provisions more often. Two schools. K-3 where they teach in the local language Inuktitut and K-4 through K-8 in English. About 300 kids in each school. 1600 people in the community. Hard life, it seems to me. The Netsilik Inuit are very proud of their traditions, which was truly nice. Gorgeous day, 54F degrees and sunny.
The following photo is from one of the ship's photographers, I'm adding it because it's a nice photo showing our ship in the background.
Day 12: Sunday (August 17), Jenny Lind Island, Canada
Today Scott and I are at Jenny Lind Island, a small island located west of Gjoa Haven where we were yesterday.
Jenny Lind Island was given that name by the explorer John Rae who I mentioned in a previous email, credited with obtaining evidence and information relating to the lost John Franklin expedition. He is also credited with the discovery of Rae Strait, which later would be used by Roald Amundsen during his first successful navigation of the Northwest Passage. Rae named the island after the opera singer Jenny Lind who he admired.
Rae's reputation suffered during his lifetime due to the controversial nature of his Franklin expedition findings, but today he is recognized as one of the most successful and important Arctic explorers of the 19th century.
Jenny Lind Island has no permanent human inhabitants and is mostly flat terrain with some undulating areas and some low lying wetlands and sea marshes. Supposedly it’s known for its wildlife, including musk oxen and various bird species, land of 10,500 snow geese they say, but we didn’t see any of that.
The following screenshot shows the location of Jenny Lind Island relative to Gjoa Haven where we were yesterday.
The photo below was taken from the ship and shows where the ship’s zodiacs would land us.
The next photo is a panorama I took while on the island. If you look closely you will see our ship under the sun. The large "holes" are human (tourists) footprints.
We zodiacked (not a true verb) over with a splashy wet exit from the crafts, and then walked around the island taking photos.
The following photo is of some bird tracks (on the left), I don’t think geese as I think the webbing would show. The larger tracks are from people.
The next photo is me, again checking out some rocks.
The following photo I think these are musk ox tracks, not sure. I saw no live land animals, only a dead ringed seal and some gulls.
There was some plant life as shown in the next photo.
But mostly there was lichen. Lots of red lichen spiced up the landscape as shown in the next photo.
Later the wind picked up making the zodiac ride back to the ship wet and wavy, once I think we were airborne, but I loved it, the best part of the day for me. No one got seasick, probably because the ride didn’t take very long. I was soaked, but ok with that. I wanted to keep riding back and forth. Arctic life is hard.
Day 13: Monday (August 18), Lady Franklin Point, Canada
Today Scott and I were at Lady Franklin Point, located on the southwestern coast of Victoria Island. The point is named after Jane Griffin Franklin who was given the title Lady Franklin after her marriage to explorer Sir John Franklin, who was knighted in 1829. Lady Franklin was an amazing person, with many accomplishments, although she is remembered primarily for the searches she organized for Sir John Franklin's lost Arctic expedition. The Point was named in her honor in recognition of her dedication to financing search expeditions for her missing husband.
Our schedule originally had us going to Cambridge Bay today but the schedule was changed because they said we needed to move things up because of sea ice ahead I hope so, that’s when we are more likely to see the big Arctic Sea mammals.
The following screenshot shows a map where the point is located.
The point is uninhabited, is rocky and barren, the rocks are among the oldest on Earth, they were formed between 2.5 and 4 billion years ago. It was said it is a breeding ground for seabirds, arctic foxes etc. Hard to believe.
One reason for us to come here was to see the remains of one the Defense Early Warning (DEW) Line posts. There were many of these across the Arctic region to be part of the DEW system after WWII to detect potential Soviet bomber attacks. See the following photos.
The next photo shows me and a couple of the geodesic radomes that housed radar antennas, also called giant golf balls. Now if used, would be for weather.
The land is called Arctic desert, mostly soft tundra and these bogs. Below is a photo showing some duck tracks going for water and the bigger deeper fox tracks going for both water and ducks I suspect.
Below is a photo of Arctic fox fur. They shed in the summer and grow fur back when it gets cold. I imagine it’s chilly whilst the fur is growing.
The following photos show some aged rocks, let’s call them the Canadian Rockies.
The following photo shows a building with a rough-legged hawk sitting on a nest by the corner of the upper windows and the cross structure (you’ll have to zoom in). I didn’t have my new camera with the 30X optical zoom with me, which would have gotten a much better photo. My bad. The name ‘rough-legged' refers to the feathering that extends down the legs to the base of the toes, an adaptation for staying warm in cold weather. Of course you can't see that in this iPhone photo.
Lady Franklin Point has some amazing flora. I learned the main foliage is Saxifraga, Arctic poppies, Buttercups, and Dwarf Birch Trees. Below are photos of the Saxifrage and the Dwarf Birch Tree.
It was a short day at Lady Franklin Point, later we went back to the ship and some passengers participated in the Arctic Plunge. Scott and I didn’t, but were told if we did we would be bi-polar, since we took a polar plunge on our Antarctica cruise in 2020. I wanted to, but my blood pressure situation suggested to me that shocking my system was bad judgement. I did take a bathing suit.
Day 14: Tuesday (August 19), Cambridge Bay, Canada
Today Scott and I arrived at Cambridge Bay on the SE coast of Victoria Island. Cambridge Bay is named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge. The Inuits call it Ikaluktutiak meaning "good fishing place.” Although less than 2000 inhabitants (mostly the indigenous community), it’s the largest community on the Island. The first Europeans to reach Cambridge Bay were overland explorers led by Thomas Simpson searching for the Northwest Passage. Another overland expedition was led by John Rae who also reached Cambridge Bay in his search for John Franklin's lost expedition.
Sunday we were at Jenny Lind Island, then we headed west to Lady Franklin Point, after Lady Franklin Point we reversed direction and headed east back to Cambridge Bay. After Cambridge Bay we are going to head west again. I’m not sure why we are doing this west-east-west thing, probably something to do with ice conditions. See the next photo showing the route for our last few days.
Anyway Cambridge Bay has been my favorite stop so far. The following photo shows the view of the town as our ship pulled up close. Very exciting, we didn’t have to wear waterproof boots and pants.
When we were off the ship we were greeted with some metal artwork created by local youth as part of a mentorship program. The story is that there were about 10 teenagers that were causing some trouble. The elders decided to work it out, so they took the kids out of town and told them to collect anything they considered worthless. When they came back to town they showed them how to make art. The resulting artwork was the metal ox of Cambridge. See the following photo.
Later two metal wolves were created. The wolves represent white people nipping at the locals, coercing them to change/abandon their culture and get with the modern times. The following two photos show the metal wolves.
The following photo is from one of the ship's photographer, I'm adding this one because it shows where our ship anchored.
The next photo shows some used barrels that the artist uses to create their metal art.
Nowadays the young people make all sorts of art from the used barrels and sell smaller ones like the fish in the following photo for $40.
If they run out of one design they tell the tourist to come back and then make one to order. In addition to fish they had whales, bears, birds and seals. A lot of the indigenous art is prohibited entry to the US, but not the metal art, so the metal pieces were quite popular, a lot of metal art went back to the ship. They also had tee shirts with nice designs, around $40, ...but made in China I think.
The next photo is me with some giant fish metal art.
After viewing some of the metal art work of the island, we toured the Canadian High Arctic Research Station (CHARS), a significant polar research center. The station serves as a world-class hub for science and technology in the Canadian Arctic. The official opening was in 2019. This building is shown in the following photo.
Many communities in the far north Arctic competed for this research center and Cambridge won. It cost 230 million to build and the annual budget is $23 million funded by the federal government. Most of that money is used for research grants with the stipulation that when the research is local they hire 41% of the staff from locals.
When the facility was designed they wanted Inuit art and sent out calls to artists all over the Arctic. The following photo shows a large-scale etched glass artwork located within the CHARS. The artwork is located in a public area of the building.
The following photo is from one of the ship's photographer, showing some more of the Inuit art work.
The Inuit traditionally did not have a written language. Their language, Inuktitut, was primarily passed down through oral tradition. However, two written forms were later developed, and one (Inuktitut syllabics) is shown in the next photo I took. Most of the Inuits read and speak pretty flawless English, except of course the elders. The other written language is based on the Latin alphabet.
The following photo shows a hydroponic garden for having vegetables all year. Little nets or baskets go into those holes and the roots grow into the center where they get water and whatever they need to grow. I’d never seen a hydroponic garden quite like this.
Later Scott and I went to the May Hakongak Community Library and Cultural Centre. The knife shown in the following photo I’d seen everywhere, and have always wondered how it was used. Yes, for skinning and cutting up seal, whale. caribou, and whatever meat and blubber. There was one for sale for $150, all the knives in my kitchen probably didn’t cost that much, and I don’t need to cut blubber so I passed.
The following photo shows some clothing made by the elders in traditional style. They were very proud of the craftsmanship.
The next photo was taken back at the Arctic Coast Visitors Centre where they served a feast of charred snake, charred pesto, roasted muskox, narwal skin and blubber, and a local sweet with arctic cranberries. All was tasty except the whale blubber.
And I couldn’t resist taking the following photo, some sort of a custom-built snow vehicle, perhaps a "snow chopper?” With that figurehead on the front (see 2nd photo, a crop from the original photo), it reminded me of something from a Mad Max film. Also brought back memories from my Florida and Indiana motorcycle riding days, although I never rode a chopper or rode in snow. Also brought back a memory from a 2021 road trip from California to Oregon that Scott and I made, when we ran into a group of motorcyclists at Nitt Witt Ridge in Cambria, California. I had a photo taken of me on one of the motorcyclists’s 1977 Harley Davidson Electra Glide.
That’s all for now, we have a few sea days coming up.
Day 15: Wednesday (August 20), Sea Day
After Scott and I were at Cambridge Bay on Tuesday our ship was supposed to sail to Sachs Harbour, Canada, but the Canadian Coast Guard said we couldn’t go there without an ice breaker ahead of us or we might get trapped. Our Captain opted out of that and we headed west towards maybe Herschel Island, Canada. On our sea day Wednesday we had ship conversations and lectures. Below are a few photos from the bird lecture that I especially liked.
The first two photos are of a Rough-legged Hawk, as you may recall we saw a nest on Lady Franklin Point on an aircraft hangar. In England and other parts of the world they are called Rough-legged Buzzards, that is the term “buzzard” is used to describe the larger hawks and "hawk" is used for the smaller birds. But in some countries (like the US), the term “buzzard" refers to the vulture species. Kind of like in the Pulp Fiction movie, the dialogue about what a certain burger is called, a Quarter Pounder or a Royale with Cheese, depends on where you are.
We haven’t seen any owls on this cruise but I have a “thing” for all raptors, especially owls. The next photo is a short eared owl. Their ears are behind the disks around their eyes. I learned recently that their ears are not level so they can use them to locate prey like we have depth perception with our eyes.
The next three photos are of Snowy owls, they are particularly special to me, I did see one at the Raptor Center in Summit, New Jersey and I’ve been entranced since then. Beautiful aren’t they? Do you feel bad for the little mouse? An appetizer for the owl.
Day 16: Thursday (August 21), Parry Peninsula
After we left Cambridge Bay and couldn’t go to Sachs Harbour, Canada, we were told that our ship also could not go to Herschel Island, Canada (for some reason our ship couldn’t get clearance}. So our next land stop will be Nome, Alaska. Although we did get to anchor off Parry Peninsula for some sight-seeing. We saw lots of gorgeous icebergs around Cape Parry, and later the Smoking Hills off Franklin Bay. Below are a ton of random iceberg photos I made at this stop while in one of the ship’s zodiacs. Parry Peninsula is named for the Arctic explorer William Edward Parry, as well as the similarly named Cape Parry at its northern tip.
In the next photo Scott and I are drinking champagne in the zodiac in the Northwest Passage.
I was able to get a few photos of the Smoking Hills off Franklin Bay, a 25-mile stretch of shoreline named by John Franklin in 1826 on his third expedition searching for the Northwest Passage. Franklin was the first European to see them. Franklin Bay is named after explorer John Franklin.
According to what I've read "these hills have been smoking for thousands of years, and this naturally occurring combustion is driven by the oxidation of sulfur bearing lignite and pyrite deposits in the bedrock. When exposed to moisture and oxygen they undergo exothermic reactions that are hot enough to ignite the rock layers. The fumes affect the landscape and the ecosystems."
Below are some photo from one of the ship's photographers, of the Smoking Hills, our ship in ice and some of the zodiacs.
The rest of Scott and my cruise will be just sea days, heading to Nome, Alaska, where we will debark our ship, that will be Thursday, August 28th. Then we will fly to Anchorage, Alaska, and then to Los Angeles.
Day 17: Friday (August 22), Sea Day
Below are a couple of photos taken by the ship's photographer of some whales.
Below is a sign that gave the scientific names of some of the whales.
Day 18: Saturday (August 23), Sea Day
At this writing, the following map shows where Scott and I are now, back in USA territory, Alaska that is. Temperature is 37F degrees.
Below are some photos from the ship’s camera, my cameras weren't up to the task as these guys are out at sea and my brownies couldn’t get a good focus.
Best fluke shot of the day below, a humpback whale I believe. We had no great whale sightings like the video Larry made on his and Dayle's 2024 cruise, of a humpback breaching right next to Larry while he was kayaking in Alert Bay.
The guy in the photo below could smell us, probably thinking our ship was a funny looking iceberg that smells like bacon.
]The following two photos are the same bear as above.
Later a family of bears we got to see from the bridge while we were taking a tour, a very interesting tour.
Below are two more photos of polar bears, these also from one of the ship's photographers.
We saw 7 bears today, 2 mammas with 2 cubs each. I photographed some of them with my camera but not as good as the ship's photos.
Day 19: Sunday (August 24), Sea Day
Day 20: Monday (August 25), Sea Day
We left the Beaufort Sea and entered the Chukchi Sea where I took the following photo of Alaska.
Day 21: Tuesday (August 26), Bering Strait
At this writing Scott and I have just left the Bering Sea and are heading for Nome, Alaska, we will arrive there tomorrow.
The following photo is of Scott sipping Irish coffee for warmth, on the Seabourn Venture. After leaving the Chukchi Sea we sailed south and down through the Bering Sea.
The next photo shows the two islands, Big Diomede (Russia) and Little Diomede (USA), Big Diomede is on the right. The International Date Line runs between the two islands, creating a significant time difference of 21 hours between the two islands. Big Diomede is almost a full day ahead of Little Diomede, leading to the islands being nicknamed "Tomorrow Island" and "Yesterday Island" respectively. So this is seeing the present and the past in real time.
The next photo shows Scott and me, with the two islands in the background.
The last photo is of the U.S. Coast Guard Icebreaker Healy heading to the Arctic for Multi-Month Deployment, it passed us in the Bering Strait. No polar bears to take photos of, so I snapped a photo of this ship.
The map below shows where we are at this writing, tomorrow we will be in Nome, Alaska..
Day 22: Wednesday (August 27), Nome
Today Scott and I arrived in Nome, Alaska, after our ship cruised through Canada's Northwest Passage.
Day 23: Thursday (August 28), Nome
Today we spent a little time In Nome before our air flight later today to Anchorage, Alaska. The population of Nome is somewhere around 3,600 I believe, primarily American Indian & Alaska Native individuals
After 20+ days sailing in Canadian waters it’s nice to be back on land in the good ole USA, ...or there’s no place like Nome, so to speak. Below are a few photos from today.
The following photo was our welcome to Nome sunrise. Stunning isn’t it? Photo taken from our ship.
Nome is only accessible by air or the Bering Sea. They get barges of goods, like pickup trucks and building supplies, a couple of times a year. Biggest industry there is Health Care & Social Assistance, the biggest problem is perhaps a housing shortage.
Nome is home to Alaska's biggest gold rush, which began in 1899, because in addition to the gold stakes in the creeks, there was and still is gold in the sand on the beaches. In the photo below you can see some of our ship mates panning for gold. Lots of fun, I got a bit of gold dust.
The next photo shows our luxury transport about town.
Nome is famous as the finish line for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race, which takes place each March. This race is based on the 1925 Serum Run when they brought the diphtheria serum from Anchorage over 1000 miles. Amazing story of heroes in people and animals. Below is a photo of a dog sled, actually two photos, but the second one is just a crop of the first one.
In the following photo are a few Muskoxen. They like the cemetery because it is flat and grassy.
The next photo is just a local seafront property I thought was photogenic, including a beautiful old weathered wooden boat, with peeling paint, perhaps an old fishing boat. Maybe they plan on restoring it?
The last photo I call "Eek a polar bear in the dining room!" So cute I had to take a photo.
Day 24: Friday (August 29), Nome
Today Scott and I flew out of Anchorage to Seattle and then on to Los Angeles. We flew Delta on a Boeing 737-800 (twin-jet). We left Anchorage at 02:18PM AKDT, and arrived in Los Angeles at 10:36PM PDT. Total flight time (in the air) was 6 hours, 9 minutes.
Day 28: Tuesday (September 2), Flew back home, to NYC
Flew on a Boeing 767-300 (twin-jet), arrived back at JFK about 6:30 pm (landing), a 5 1/2 hour flight (in the air).
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Note: all of my photos can be found on my Google Photos site, at https://photos.app.goo.gl/2HANKzY1CvZ3CKkU8
