This week, our field staff sent back amazing photos of a stunning performance in Indonesia, Norway's fjords, and one of the rarest birds in the Galápagos.
This week's photos from the field celebrate animals: wildlife in Alaska, the Arctic, and the Galapagos Islands; and not-so-wildlife in the Scottish Highlands.
This week's photos from the field included rare wildlife in the Peruvian Amazon, majestic landscapes in Alaska and Norway, and a spectacular sunset in Indonesia.
This week's photos included wildlife in the Galápagos Islands and the Peruvian Amazon; landscapes in Norway and Indonesia; and the northern lights in Alaska.
Ilulissat means, “place with many icebergs” and it certainly lives up to its reputation. Our whole day was spent exploring glacial ice near this beautiful settlement. We were fortunate to visit the Ilulissat Icefjord UNESCO World Heritage Site, where we had a lovely walk along the boardwalk to enjoy the magnificent views of the icebergs floating in the fjord. Afterwards we visited the Icefjord Centre where we learned how glaciers are formed, how they move, calve, and produce icebergs. Later, the immense size of these magnificent icebergs became even more evident as we sailed in between them on local boats. What a wonderful day!
We woke this morning with thick cozy fog as National Geographic Endurance danced between islands in the archipelago of the Westman Islands on the morning of the last day of our voyage. We were visited by a number of fin whales before continuing on to circumnavigate Surtsey. We sailed into the narrow harbor opening of Heimaey, Westman Islands as the sun broke through the clouds. Heimaklettur (Home Cliff) welcomed us with a stunning vista of Icelandic sheep balancing on sheer cliffs. Our afternoon was spent touring the tiny island of Heimaey (Home Island). Some chose the scenic panoramic tour which stopped at amazing vistas and lookout points, including one of the windiest points in the northern hemisphere, Stórhöfði, a bird blind on the southernmost point and a visit to the Eldheimar Volcano Museum which artfully portrays the history of the 1973 Eldfell eruption. Some of us chose to climb up the Eldfell Volcano through a layer of dense fog towards the top. We enjoyed views of the new lava that nearly shut down the harbor, which would have meant an end to the town of Heimaey. At the very end of the day, after sailing away, we stumbled upon a pod of killer whales! What a marvelous ending to a wonderful day. Tomorrow, we scatter different directions, going our separate ways but holding on to some fabulous and everlasting memories.
We arrived at Swift Bay where most of us went on a fabulous helicopter ride over the Mitchell Plateau. The whole trip took two hours including a walk at Mitchell Falls. The little bay we started from slowly filled with water and the tide was so fast that it rose more than one meter per hour. Alternatively, our expedition team took those on a Zodiac cruise who opted to stay on the ground. When we returned, the scenery looked entirely different. After lunch we had another exciting tour, this time to a Wandjina art site. We admired a long gallery of ancestral spirits, some three meters long, as well as a variety of animals, which are significant to the local Aboriginal people. This is evidence that hunting and gathering was practiced thousands of years ago and is documented in art. The ship set off towards Darwin and we enjoyed an excellent presentation by Brad Siviour about the crocodiles we had come so close to yesterday. The day concluded with our favorite drink during cocktail hour while we witnessed another red sky sunset.
Today’s mandatory Zodiac safety briefing got interrupted by some humpback whale and blue whale sightings just southwest out of Sisimiut. We took advantage of this opportunity and spent time whale watching as they circled the ship. Once the ship got docked, operations included venturing out with local guides on the Arctic Circle Hike, a popular route that stretches from Sisimiut to Kangerlussuaq, where we reached right under the Sisimiut landmark Nasaasaaq, “the thing that looks like a hoodie”, in Greenlandic. The other tours included a town walk that started at the “Dog Town” of Sisimiut, where our local guides provided some cultural insight about the Greenlandic sled dog and Sisimiut in general. All tours ended in the museum district of Sisimiut, concluding in some tasting of Greenlandic cuisine consisting of some snow crab, capelin, dried reindeer, dried cod, and some musk ox soup. Our day finished with the first recap from our lovely staff, followed by a briefing from our expedition leader, and a warm welcome from Captain Martin on this trip of the Northwest Passage.
This morning dawned bright and cloudy, with a short Zodiac run into Borgafjörður Eystri. The famous puffin cliffs loomed over us in astonishing numbers as we prepared for the bike ride, followed by a long hike, a moderate hike, or a leisurely hike. While the bikers and long hikers made good time going up the various mountains, the moderate hikers stopped at a slightly lower scenic point, and the leisurely hikers made their way up while looking at flowers, birds, and rocks along the way. Those who were not signed up for one of these options had the chance to enjoy the colony of puffins nearby, where a boardwalk led them along a beautifully rugged cliff where thousands of birds were nesting.