Hornsund
Still on a high from our spectacular, close encounter with a polar bear from the night before, the National Geographic Endeavour returned around Sorkapp Land of Spitsbergen and pushed its way through a spectacular plane of ice flows, arriving a little late in the southern fjord of Hornsund. As we dropped anchor in a little bukta (bay) on the southern side called Gåshamna, the winds coming down the fjord suggested our day might be another super breezy and cold one. However, as we rode our zodiacs ashore for a hike, the winds calmed down completely and allowed for a tremendous afternoon of exploration.
We landed on a site called Konstantinovka. In the 1600's, the English based here to establish their Bowhead whaling hunts. The site wasn't occupied again until 1899 when the Russians set up a research facility to study the area around the Arc of the Meridian. In 1930, the Norwegians came along at last and turned the ruins of the place into a trapping and hunting hut. The shore was littered with bricks and pots for boiling blubber, whale bones, and other rusted detritus from these historic times. Some of us stayed around the ruins to explore and photograph the site while others went for long hikes up the flattened tundra slopes of the glacier valley. Dodging muddy sections and skipping streams, we poked our way up toward a glacier and its massive terminal moraine. Along the way, we saw Arctic Skuas (aka Parasitic Jeagers) flying around, signaling to us that we were drawing nigh to their nests. So we carefully avoided these magnificent polar hunters and continued up the gravelly grey landscape, dotted with bright blooms of Purple Saxifrage and the occasional pallet of an old fox trap. The polar air was especially still and quiet beneath the dramatic peaks of the fjord, and we could still see our little ship floating peacefully in the bukta below.
We returned to the ship from our hike just in time for afternoon tea and munchies. We didn't stay on board for too long, as there was still too much fun to be had before dinner. As the sun came out and cast a soft light on the area, many folks went right back out for a chance to paddle a kayak around these polar waters. Others hopped backed into the Zodiacs for shoreline cruises to see various birds and ice features. Upon returning to the ship, the adventures of the day finished up with some daring guests stepping off the ship's side gate for a brisk polar plunge into the frigid Arctic water! Alive and refreshed, we pulled our anchor for a final sunlit cruise around the sound and then continued on our journey back north again.
Still on a high from our spectacular, close encounter with a polar bear from the night before, the National Geographic Endeavour returned around Sorkapp Land of Spitsbergen and pushed its way through a spectacular plane of ice flows, arriving a little late in the southern fjord of Hornsund. As we dropped anchor in a little bukta (bay) on the southern side called Gåshamna, the winds coming down the fjord suggested our day might be another super breezy and cold one. However, as we rode our zodiacs ashore for a hike, the winds calmed down completely and allowed for a tremendous afternoon of exploration.
We landed on a site called Konstantinovka. In the 1600's, the English based here to establish their Bowhead whaling hunts. The site wasn't occupied again until 1899 when the Russians set up a research facility to study the area around the Arc of the Meridian. In 1930, the Norwegians came along at last and turned the ruins of the place into a trapping and hunting hut. The shore was littered with bricks and pots for boiling blubber, whale bones, and other rusted detritus from these historic times. Some of us stayed around the ruins to explore and photograph the site while others went for long hikes up the flattened tundra slopes of the glacier valley. Dodging muddy sections and skipping streams, we poked our way up toward a glacier and its massive terminal moraine. Along the way, we saw Arctic Skuas (aka Parasitic Jeagers) flying around, signaling to us that we were drawing nigh to their nests. So we carefully avoided these magnificent polar hunters and continued up the gravelly grey landscape, dotted with bright blooms of Purple Saxifrage and the occasional pallet of an old fox trap. The polar air was especially still and quiet beneath the dramatic peaks of the fjord, and we could still see our little ship floating peacefully in the bukta below.
We returned to the ship from our hike just in time for afternoon tea and munchies. We didn't stay on board for too long, as there was still too much fun to be had before dinner. As the sun came out and cast a soft light on the area, many folks went right back out for a chance to paddle a kayak around these polar waters. Others hopped backed into the Zodiacs for shoreline cruises to see various birds and ice features. Upon returning to the ship, the adventures of the day finished up with some daring guests stepping off the ship's side gate for a brisk polar plunge into the frigid Arctic water! Alive and refreshed, we pulled our anchor for a final sunlit cruise around the sound and then continued on our journey back north again.
