We’re just past the halfway point of our expedition, an arctic odyssey that has unfolded every day in new and exciting ways. With each landing we learn, experience and marvel at how this incredibly wild, beautiful, remote part of the world fits into the order of things, and why it’s so very special.
After having spent over a year of my life, collectively, exploring the life of the tundra it never ceases to amaze and astonish. From the hardy, rugged and beautiful flowering plants that at times appear to be growing right out of bare rocks, to the lush grass and sedge meadows bordering alpine streams and ponds that exist on the brink of freezing, one can at times only gaze in awe at the magnificent scene.
Today we were beset by all these aspects and consumed by the sheer scale of this landscape. We spread out on the tundra in all directions. Some went for distance, to see just how much room there was to move about. Others took their time to listen, smell, absorb and fully appreciate the place. Some set out to capture as much of the setting as possible, via reflections in ponds, panoramas of peaks and valleys. One group opted to pursue a closer look at the nomads of the tundra, the muskox. These remnants of the former Pleistocene megafauna had left signs of their life history all over the tundra, be it scat, bones, horns and foot prints in the nearly frozen soils.
No matter how the day unfolded for each of us, we all returned to the ship invigorated and humbled by the experiences shared on such a fine day in the High Arctic. Later we celebrated the day with an after-dinner performance by the ships very own crew band, The Explorer Spice Boys.
At almost 76° North, the days are long and today we made the most of every hour.
