Svalbard – Kingdom of the polar bear
The three day journey there was worth it. I would do it any day just to get back to the frozen kingdom of Svalbard! The landscape ever changing though in some way always the same. Never two ice floes alike, never the same colour, never, though always the same.
With only three settlement stops before nothing but the wild, it may seem very unsettling but I never felt uncomfortable about the endless sea, ice and land. The large ship gave much comfort; and, of course, it was a thrill to be in the middle of nowhere!
Our first polar bear sighting was in the distance and it was hard to see them; there were two. But not long after we saw many more; most days didn’t go without a polar bear after that.
Walruses were soon also a common sight. Twice we landed close to them, once we saw them from the zodiacs and there were many seen from the ship.
Many birds were seen and we saw a few seals, though most were in the distance.
We were very lucky with the weather. Usually it’s overcast and rainy. But the sun shone and the sea was calm. It rained but even then it was only drizzle. We had one night when people took seasickness pills, but I didn’t think it was so bad. It rocked you quietly to sleep…
Comments are closed.