A day with the sledge patrol!

Today we visited Daneborg, the head quarter of the “Sirius patrol”, the sledge dog patrol in the National park. It is a military station and 12 young Danish soldiers are on duty here. In 1931 Norwegian trappers hoist the Norwegian Flag in Mygbugta and claimed Greenland’s east coast for the king of Norway. Of course the Danish government has not been “amused” about it and they did not accept it. In 1933 the international court decided that whole Greenland belongs to Denmark, but the Danes had to show presence all over in Greenland. At this time the Danish military made the decision to have a sledge dog patrol for North East Greenland. Even they could show presence in an easier way today the sledge patrol, Sirius patrol, is still active and many Danish soldiers like to be a member of this very famous sledge patrol.  As it is a military station it is not always possible to visit the location. So we belonged to the few lucky ones. We arrived around 9:00h in the morning. Boat group by bout group we have been guided by one of the soldiers to learn the station. One highlight has been for sure the dogs, these wonderful Greenlandic dogs which are able to pull the sledge hundreds of kilometers through the cold winter landscape of the National park. 

Most of us have been happy to be allowed to go into the kennels. It was a hugging and kissing – Greenlandic dogs are very friendly to people – for some passengers this was perhaps a little bit too much. Not everybody enjoys dog kisses.

The afternoon we spent in Eskimonæs. Here, 27 km south of Daneborg, has been the first sledge patrol station. During World War II the station was destroyed by the Germans and has been moved to Daneborg, a former weather station.

Back on board the dinner buffet was waiting for us in the restaurant. During the evening the movie “Paolo’s wedding” was shown in the Panorama Lounge. The film was made by the polar explorer Knud Rasmussen in 1933. The film is primarily a documentation of the life of the Inuit at the East coast in the 30ths. All actors have been inhabitants from East Greenland. 

Kulhus

During the night the wind picked up, such that substantial swell built up in the shallow water close to land at Mønstedhus. The guide team tried to find an alternative landing site, but along the long-stretched beach, no suitable landing conditions were encountered. So we had to cancel the landing and continued our way along Hochstetter Forlandet. It was worth spending time outside to watch the numerous snow hares and occasional musk oxen along the flat coast. For those getting cold outside, some lectures were offered, for example about seabirds and tundra vegetation.

The weather improved continuously, and when we debarked to our afternoon landing location at Kulhus, the wind had ceased completely. The time we saved in the morning could be nicely used on this afternoons landing. Kulhus, the coal house, is of course located next to a coal seam from which the trappers and scientists in the area supplied themselves with coal.  The building has fallen into disrepair, and additionally, a Polar bear had broken into it. Pieces of the equipment, wood and bones cover the ground in the surroundings. We also took an extended walk on the plateau behind the building. 

Unspectacular on the first glimse, the tundra reveals its little treasures only to those that have time and look carefully. Even this late in the season, we found still some flowers sticking out like tiny gems, lemming burrows and their tracks in the fresh snow and some regurgitated casts of the snowy owl, consisting of dozens of small lemming skeletons. 

Huts in the middle of nowhere!

The morning started with a breathtaking sunrise over the snow covered mountains in the National Park. Our first landing was planned in Hvalrosodden. The name was given in 1906 by the Denmark expedition when they shot 11 walrus here as they needed the meat for the dogs. Our expedition team went at shore at 8:00h and as they did not find a Polar bear or anything else that could be dangerous for us we could land shortly afterwards. We had time enough to stretch our legs on a little hike and to explore the two huts you can find at this place. The bigger hut was built in 1919 by the East Greenland Company and was in use by trappers until the 1960s. The second hut, a very small one, belonged to Alwin Pedersen. He has been the zoologist during the Mørkefjord expedition under Eigil Knuth in the 1920s. He was one of the first who wished the protection of the wildlife in this region. In 1974 his dream came true when the North East Greenland National park was established.

During lunch we sailed with FRAM further into Mørkefjord. And here we found him, the king of the Arctic, our first Polar bear. Most of us expected to see a Polar bear on the ice, but this was walking along the hill, next to the shore line. Now we know the “white teddies” are still there; and of course we still hope to see more of them.

Our daily program said that we should cruise with FRAM in Dove Bay during the afternoon. But our expedition leader Anja had a nice surprise for us. In a little bay with some huge icebergs we could join a PolarCircel boat cruise. It was fantastic to see the icebergs directly from the sea-level.

After a delicious dinner we enjoyed the view over the landscape from the Observation lounge, but most of us went to bed early. The next morning landing will be early again and the days are always so full of new impressions that we are really tired in the evening.

Greenland!

The morning was packed with interesting lectures again.  After some occasional ice floes that we passed during breakfast, the ice became denser and we passed several ice belts in the approach on Danmarkshavn, our afternoon landing location. Guests standing in the fresh breeze out on deck with their binoculars were rewarded with some sightings of seals resting on the ice flows (actually, you could have almost the same view comfortably sitting in a chair next to a window in the MV FRAM Observation Lounge, with a mug of hot chocolate next to you…).

And, as the first cruise ship within the last four years, we managed to get into Danmarkshavn on the Northern side of Dove Bugt! The station personnel were really happy to see some new faces! Six persons are currently living there, running a meteorological service. A little to the side of the main station, we visited Danmarks Minde, also called Villa Danmark, the hut built in 1906 by the Danmark Expedition. Some guests also enjoyed a stroll over the tundra towards a small rocky outcrop with a great view over the bay and the station.

The woolly seeds of the Arctic willow formed small silver cushions on the tundra, indicating that the summer was definitively over in Greenland. Instead, winter is approaching fast, and the mountain tops were already covered by a thin layer of powder snow. We also saw plenty of animals: snow hares were feeding willow leaves, building up their winter reserves. Two Polar foxes were not shy at all and some of us managed to get some great close-up shots. And finally, a gyrfalcon was using the radio masts of the station as look-out point, overviewing the unusual outburst of activity at Danmarkshavn.

Good by Spitsbergen

Moffen with its sandy beaches and the Walruses have been our last impression we got from Spitsbergen. At the same time MV FRAM’s  Spitsbergen season came to an end. Now we are looking forward to Northeast-Greenland.

We needed the whole day to cross the Denmark Strait. This passage is well known for its storms and huge waves. But we have been the lucky ones. We had nearly no wind and only a little bit of swell. So we could use the day to learn about Greenland. Our lecture team on board had prepared different kind of lecture topics for us. We heard about the Sirius patrol, about ice, Polar bears, Greenland’s history and modern life. Like students at the university we sucked all the information.

In the afternoon we got a “sweat” break with wonderful waffles. You could chose if you would like it Norwegian style with “brown cheese” or with jam and slotted cream. Whatever we chose – it was delicious.

Just when we went back to the lecture halls some White sited Dolphins showed up.  It was a nice intermezzo to see them swimming and jumping next to the ship.

After dinner we met in the Panorama Lounge for FRAM’s very famous fashion show. Full of expectations for our next destination – the North East Greenland National park – we went to bed. Would we see ice, Polar bears or even a Polar bear on the ice? Nobody knew the answer.

A last day in Spitsbergen

In the early morning hours, Kap Mitra, the mountain shaped like a bishop hat at the entrance greeted us welcome at the entrance of the Kongsfjord. In this fjord, we spent an overcast morning exploring the settlement of Ny Ǻlesund. It is the northernmost settlement in the world. We saw, of course, the northernmost train in the world und sent postcards to our beloved ones back home from the northernmost post office of the world! Actually, about everything holds the title “the northernmost” here...

Up to 1962, Ny Ǻlesund was a mining settlement. Today, it is devoted to science and many different countries run their Polar research stations here. Our guided tours through this exciting place ended at the bust of Roald Amundsen. The great Norwegian explorer undertook a successful flight to the North Pole from Ny Ǻlesund. With only little imagination, you can still see the majestic airship that the Italian Umberto Nobile designed to this endeavor is attached to the mast outside the settlement. Another group of guests headed out to the bottom of Kongsfjord in Polar Circle boats to take a hike on the mighty Conway glacier.

Leaving Kongsfjorden, the MV FRAM headed north, past the seven glaciers, towards Magdalenefjorden. This is the most well known fjord in Spitsbergen. It is a lovely fjord with rugged, pointy mountains on both sides and an impressive glacier at the end. These are supposed to be the mountains Willem Barents first saw when he discovered this land in 1596, naming it Spitsbergen (peaked mountains). And for a long time, the Magdalenefjord was also known as "Baie des dents", the bay with teeth! We disembarked at the peninsula Gravneset (“the grave-yard peninsula”) where Dutch and English whalers from northwestern Spitsbergen came to bury their dead in the 17th and 18th centuries. In total, about 130 men were buried here. We also took a close look at the remains from three blubber ovens. The actual ovens are gone for a long time, but the whale oil that spilled over from the cooking kettles seeped into the sand and formed a sort of oil-sandstone. This sandstone resists weathering and thus, small oil-sandstone-knolls remain where the blubber ovens once stood.  Tours at three different levels of difficulty were offered. Some guests enjoyed a stroll along the flat beach, others took a medium walk and a third group set out for a real hike towards the scenic Gully glacier.

The start of something big!

Around lunch, we finally threw the lines and gently planed out of Longyearfjord. A morning filled with activities was already behind us. The day started out with a guided bus trip around Longyearbyen. This vibrant community is growing fast and counts more than 2000 heads today. For a long time, it was a coal mine, but in recent years it changed to a university town and hub for all kinds of Arctic activities. On board, everybody moved into his and her cabin, got an expedition jacket and took part in the emergency exercise that has to be carried out at the beginning of every ship cruise.

Next stop: Barentsburg, barely a two hours cruise away from Longyearbyen. Even though we did not leave Norwegian territory, we felt like having arrived to Russia. The small town is inhabited by Russian and Ukrainian miners. On a walk along the main road, our Russian guide gave us an introduction to the history of this settlement and told us about the life of miners today. Currently the small town is thoroughly renovated. Many of the living houses, the cultural center and the sports hall are under re-construction. Last year, they even started a small brewery! The local brand is called "Red bear". It is a rather light beer, and very tasty as we convinced ourselves at the local bar. The Russian experience was rounded off by a folklore show, with original Russian songs and dances. We listened to evergreens like "Kalinka" and own compositions like “Welcome to Svalbard. We are from Russia”.

After dinner, everybody moved to the Observation Lounge and was officially greeted welcome on board by the Captain Arild Hårvik, some of his officers and the expedition team.

A last icy day

The morning we spent in Ymerbukta where we got the possibility to walk next and even on the Esmark glacier! There was this very special morning light again before later on the full sun broke through the dark clouds. From the moraine we got a good overview over the glacier and the surroundings. During the last days we could not see so many birds anymore. Most of them started their migration to the south in the direction to Iceland already. Back on board we had the possibility to join lectures again. All the information we received helped us to understand the nature and everything we have seen so much better.

At 15:00 we recognized the first time that our trip came to an end. Our Captain Rune Andreassen invited us in the Observation Lounge to say farewell.

But there was still the second landing of the day we could look forward to. At 17:00 we started our landing in Brucebyen, a historical place next to the magnificent Nordenskjold glacier. At the landing site we could still see some houses built in 1919 by the Scottish polar scientist William Spiers Bruce and the company The Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate Ltd, as a base for coal explorations in the area. But the highlight of the afternoon landing was a PolarCircelBoat-cruise along the amazing calving front of the Nordenskjold glacier. What a wonderful end of a beautiful voyage!

Back on board we had to pack to be ready for our disembarkation during the night. With different charter flights we went home. We will need days perhaps even weeks to understand everything we have seen. But for sure it was more than wonderful – our circumnavigation of Spitsbergen.

A Glacier day!

This day we spent in Hornsund, a fjord system which is very famous for its majestic peaks and spectacular deep fjords. The Hornsund belongs to the “South-Spitsbergen National Park. Historical remains out of 400 years polar history can be found all over in this region.

Around 9:00 we started our morning landing next to the “Hvalfangerbreen”. Guests who participated in a special glacier walk went to the landing site first. After a short introduction about the correct way to walk on the glacier, everybody got his spikes for the hiking shoes to feel safe and comfortable during the walk on the ice.

The second group of the day has been the kayakers. They got their introduction on board already. Dressed in comfortable kayak suites they stepped into their boats at the landing site and started together with two kayak guides their spectacular event along the glacier front. Shortly after the kayakers all passengers went out for an impressive morning next to the glacier. We had a very special light and for a while all of us, hikers, kayakers, the “beach people” and even MV FRAM have been connected under a very intense rainbow.

During lunchtime MV FRAM was cruising in front of the magnificent glacial landscape of Brepollen before we reached our second destination of the day – Gåshamna in Hornsund. Our hikers left the ship first and shortly after them we started our general landing. Here in Gåshamna we could find historical remains from the early whaling time, from the very famous Swedish-Russian Arc of Meridian expedition at the end of the 19^th century and of course patterns of different periods of Russian and Norwegian trappers.

Back on board we enjoyed a Pilipino Buffet and in the evening we have been entertained in the Observation Lounge by our Pilipino Crew with their famous MV FRAM Crew show. We can only say thank you for this engagement. The crew is always so busy but nevertheless they took their time to entertain us in such a wonderful way.

  

A day with Polar bear- and Whale alarm!!!!!

“Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a Polar bear on portside!” That was the first announcement of the day, and it was just 6:02am! What a start in an arctic explorer day. Just some minutes later we found a second bear at the beach. He just had breakfast – a huge reindeer and this bear should not be the last Polar bear of the day.

We were sailing through the Freemansund, a narrow passage between Barentsøya and Edgeøya. The morning sun covered the mountain slopes with the tundra vegetation in a warm golden tone.  Several herds of reindeer could be seen in the hills. World looked like paradise.

Around 8:00 we reached our landing site for the morning – Kapp Lee on Edge Øya; and here he was waiting for us - our third Polar bear of the day. His head was very black from dry blood. We could see an old carcass of any mammal at the beach; his food for some days. After a while the bear gave us the landing site free, but he stayed in the surrounding. To stay on the save   side we landed in very small groups for app. ½.  A big thank you to “His Royal Highness of the Arctic“ for his kindness to give us the possibility at least for a short landing.

The afternoon we spent on board. The lecturer team had prepared several topics for us about history, ice and birds. We thought that we would have time for relaxing this afternoon but it turned out differently. Just after the first lecture series we heard the announcement: “Whales, whales, whales!”  And we have to say, it was incredible. We saw whales all over.  It look as if we were cruising in a soup of different kind of whales! Minke whales, Humpback whales and Fin whales were feeding in the bay. From some whales we could see only the blast, but many of them showed us their never-ending backs and the flukes. Several whales even jumped out of the water. An unbelievable experience we will never forget. We saw female whales with their calves just next to FRAM. The officers tried to hold MV FRAM in the best position to watch the whales. For nearly three hours we have been out on the open decks or at least in the Observation Lounge on deck 7 with our cameras and binoculars to see this whale demonstration.

The day ended after a wonderful dinner menu in our bar in the Observation Lounge with FRAM’s famous fashion show. Perhaps some of us even dreamt later on about Polar bears and whales wearing fashion out of our board shop!

A Walrus day!

Today, we reached the sandy little island of Moffen – the northern most point of our cruise – around 8:00am. The sun gave the island a brown orange colour and in the same colour we saw our first Walruses on the beach. We could be happy. We have been able to watch two bigger groups of these giants under the seal. Most of them were sleeping but there was at least a little movement in the groups so that we could see the huge tasks. Here at the beach of Moffen you can see only the males. The females and their calves stay more near Franz Josef Land. It was a perfect start for an expedition day.

We used the time after breakfast and our first landing for lectures about ice and birds. Around 11:00 we reached Kinnvika in the Hinlopen Strait. Here we got the possibility to explore the scientific station that was built for the International Geophysical Year in 1957-1958. The landing gave us a good overview how the scientists lived during their research job at this time; and we had the feeling they did not live bad. They had good warm houses with heating, a sauna, offices, workrooms and laboratories. It looked like that they had a good time during their life here in Spitsbergen.

In the afternoon we passed by Alkefjellet. This bird cliff is up to 100m high and one of the most important bird cliffs in the Hinlopen Strait. During May and June the cliff is full of breeding birds, Glaucous Gulls, Kittiwakes, and especially Brünnich’s Guillemots. 60 000 breeding pairs come each year for breeding. At this time of the year the migration south had started already, but we could still see some different species flying around; adult ones and the youngsters from this year.

Our last landing for the day was planned in Trollneset, where we hope to see Walruses again. We could see these creatures already with our binoculars from the ship but then, suddenly we saw another creature showing up; a Polar bear was waiting for us at the landing side to welcome us in his kingdom.   So that meant no possibility for a landing, no longer hike, no kayak adventure this evening. But our expedition leader Karin is well known for her fast changes in the program. To give everybody the chance to see the Walruses and the Polar bear we started with short boat cruises. This evening changed to an unforgettable adventure in the golden evening sun.

So we had Walrus observation for breakfast and Walrus observation together with a Polar bear as a late night event.  Can you imagine a better expedition day?