Norway/Seattle - July 6-8, 2013

My original flight back to SF was meant to depart Oslo at 11:25 am flying through Newark to SF.  However, at the airport, I managed to switch onto flights that went to Frankfurt and then from there to SF.  All went smoothly until about 3 hours before we were to arrive in SF when the pilot came over the speaker to tell us that there had been an incident at SFO so we were being diverted to Seattle.  They later confirmed that there had been a crash of an Asiana plane at SFO.  Considering the sudden nature of this change, we were lucky to land in Seattle, get a gate, go through customs and get our bags rather quickly.  From there, it went down hill.  We had to trek to the train to get to the main terminal where we stood on a stationary line with only two United workers handling the entire plane of people.  Finally, a spokesperson came out and said they were going to work first to get those who had other destinations beyond SF to those destinations.  At the same time, they were trying to secure hotel rooms for the rest of us and expected we wouldn't get back to SF before Sunday (the next day).

Rather than wait for hours, I had my parents help me reserve a room at the Hampton Inn at the airport and proceeded by shuttle to check into my room.  Once I dropped my bags and got refreshed, I went back to the airport to find out when I might get back to SF.  Long story short, they had me on a 3 pm flight Sunday that was then cancelled, a flight from Vancouver on Monday but then I was taken off that flight and promises of maybe a flight on Wednesday.

I got a reasonable night's sleep and on Sunday decided it would be faster to rent a car and drive back to SF than to wait for days to get on a flight.  I left Seattle at 11 am and drove to Red Bluff in CA arriving at 9:30 pm.  After a good night's sleep, I departed again on Monday morning just after 7 am and was able to return the rental car within the first 24 hours.  It took the rest of the week and then some to recover from the travel to get home but in the end the trip was so well worth it!

Iceland - July 5, 2013

I got up early to begin the journey back to Oslo, first driving a couple of hours from Glymur to the airport in Keflavik, then taking a flight back to Oslo and staying at the Radisson Blu Hotel again.  I arrived in Oslo around 4 pm with the two hour time change and proceeded to repack and get ready to head home.

Iceland - July 4, 2013

Today was the long day of driving - 418 km in total.  I went from Skaftafell all the way west to the Glymur Resort north of Akranes along the west coast of Iceland.  Along the way, I stopped at the visitor center for the Eyjafjallajokull volcano eruption from 2010 that had disrupted all of Europe's air travel.  A family owns a farm at the base of the volcano and set up a visitor center to show a film about the volcano erupting, their evacuation and eventual return and restoration.  It was fascinating and very entrepreneurial of them.  Further on, I drove through Pingvellir National Park on my way to the west coast.  Glymur Resort was the nicest of the properties I stayed at so I relaxed and enjoyed my evening there.

Iceland - July 3, 2013

After a leisurely morning at FossHotel in Skaftafell, I went over to the National Park and did a couple of hikes - first out to the face of the glacier, about 3.6 km round trip - and then up to Svartifoss, a nice waterfall, about 3.4 km round trip.  There were many more trails, much longer in distance but I wasn't comfortable hiking too far off the beaten track alone.  It was nice to have a relaxing day to read a bit back at the hotel before and after dinner.

Iceland - July 2, 2013

 Skogafoss waterfall

Myrdalsjokull ice cap

After a leisurely morning at Hotel Ranga, I set out on the drive to Skaftafell, about a 230 km drive.  Stopped along the way at the Skogafoss waterfall and later to view the ice cap above.  The Ring Road is a narrow, two-lane road along the southern coast.  Towns are few and far between but the scenery along the way is spectacular - huge glacier covered mountains dropping straight down to flat land reaching to the ocean.  I arrived at the FossHotel in Skaftafell in the afternoon and took it easy the rest of the day.

Iceland - July 1, 2013

After a morning flight to Reykjavik from Oslo, I rented a car and started the first day of my drive on the southern portion of the ring road.  It rained most of the way but within 3 hours, I was safely at Hotel Ranga, the only four star hotel on the southern coast.  The sun came out creating a beautiful evening for a nice dinner of seafood soup and fresh cod with a view of the river. 

Svalbard in the Arctic - June 30, 2013

Sadly, our journey came to an end today.  When we woke up, we were in Longyearbyen and disembarked the ship right after breakfast.  After a morning tour of a museum in town and a quick lunch, we were shuttled off to the airport for our 1:30 pm charter flight back to Oslo.  Due to weather, the plane was late arriving so we ended up not departing until 5 pm.  We were lucky to squeak in under the wire before the crew would have been timed out and not able to fly.  Back in Oslo, we stayed at the Radisson Blu hotel at the airport.  A long day of travel but another fantastic Lindblad Expedition to remember fondly.

Svalbard in the Arctic - June 29, 2013

We awoke this morning in Woodfjord and Leifdefjord approaching Monacobreen, a beautiful glacial inlet in the northwest of Svalbard.  While some kayaked, I decided to get in a zodiac to have the opportunity to get closer to the glacier.  It was calm and beautiful though the glacier calved a bit while we were there which sent rippling through the otherwise calm, ice filled water.

After lunch, we began to head towards the northwest coast of Spitsbergen for the long sail back to Longyearbyen.  Jared Diamond gave his third and final talk on board, this time speaking of the adaptations of arctic mammals and birds.  For dinner, I was invited to join the captain's table which is always fun.

Svalbard in the Arctic - June 28, 2013

Overnight, we cruised back towards the south around Nordaustlandet and back up into Hinlopen Strait to disembark on the shores of Palanderbukta for a long hike (4.8 miles) over rocky, rugged terrain.  It was nice to get a good strenuous hike in.  After lunch, we came upon a lone walrus, followed later by two polar bears.  One had killed a seal before we arrived and the other was lurking around trying to see what opportunities might present themselves.  In the end, the second polar bear gave up and walked off but not before coming closer to our ship than any other polar bears we saw.  This brought our total number of sightings to twelve.

After dinner, we had reached Moffen Island, back above 80 degrees latitude, inhabited by a large number of walruses that are protected there.  As a result, we had to stay at least 300 meters from the animals.  It was still fascinating to watch them snuggle together and lumber up and down the beach front.

Svalbard in the Arctic - June 27, 2013

Overnight, we sailed to Storoya island in the upper northeast of Svalbard.  Here, we were above 80 degrees and only 600 miles south of the north pole!  It was a gorgeous day with crystal clear blue skies and calm water.  In fact, unlike Antarctica, this trip was incredibly smooth sailing.  No need for anything for sea sickness avoidance.  In the morning, we went for zodiac rides with the traditional stop at the Hot Chocolate zodiac with homemade hot chocolate spiked with peppermint schnapps – yummy.  The ice in the Arctic is much different than Antarctica.  There are no large towering ice sculptures that typically break off from the coast.  Here the ice is flat and smooth.  Sometimes, there will be some height to the formations which comes from sheets smashing together.

After lunch, we saw some interesting polar bear behavior.  From our vantage point, we had two different polar bears in view.  One traveled quite far towards the other one by swimming and walking across the ice.  As they approached each other, we wondered if there would be confrontation but in then, they mostly avoided each other.  Later in the afternoon, Jared Diamond spoke again, this time recounting the story of the Ice Balloon, the explorer Salomon Andree's attempt to reach the North Pole by hydrogen balloon in 1897 which ended up failing in Svalbard/Kvitoya island.

Svalbard in the Arctic - June 26, 2013

 Historic relic

Various groups walking along the shore and tundra

Willow trees less than an inch tall

We awoke on the east side of Svalbard in the Hinlopenstretet area.  During breakfast, Bud announced that there was a bear with two first year cubs off the bow.  Thinking they would be there for a while, I didn't jump up, but finished breakfast first.  Before I got outside, the bears had walked off.  So I missed these three bears in our count which is now up to eight.  During the morning, I attended a lesson on digital photography. We have Michael Melford on board, a very experienced National Geographic photographer, along with an impressive team of photographers to teach us and push us beyond our comfort zone.

Before lunch, we came to the cliffs filled with nesting birds.  A good spot to play with the camera for a bit.  After lunch, we sailed up to Lomfjorden where we were able to get off the ship for a long walk (3 hours).  The week prior, this fjord had been ice covered so the ship couldn’t get in the area.  Quite a change in a week.  Along our stroll, we saw an eider egg in its nest right on shore as well as two reindeer, a ptarmagian and several other birds which excited the birders in our group.

Svalbard in the Arctic - June 25, 2013

 Glacier

Polar Bear devouring the seal it killed

In the morning, we worked our way over to Russebukta on the west coast of Edgeoya island. While we had had stronger winds the day before, we found an area with little wind so we were able to get off the boat to kayak. Following the kayak expedition, we went on a long walk on the tundra. It is very squishy, like walking on sponges. There were lovely purple saxifrage and willow trees less than an inch tall. A herd of reindeer walked in the area though we were fairly far away from them. Upon return to the ship, quite a few people did the polar plunge from a zodiac and the kayak platform on the side of the ship.

After lunch, we had a presentation by Jared Diamond, our global perspective speaker on board. He talked through the entire history of Norway in 36 minutes. It was quite impressive – he didn’t skip a beat and had no notes to refer to. During this time, we had traveled up to Sundbukta Freemansundet, between Edgeoya and Barentsoya islands. Before dinner, we saw our second polar bear on the ice followed by another bear with its two year old cub. After dinner, we happened upon our fifth polar bear having just killed a seal. The light was gorgeous as we watched in raptor for quite a while as the bear devoured its kill. The arctic gulls arrived rather quickly to take part in the meal.

Svalbard in the Arctic - June 23 - 24, 2013

Longyearbyen

After an early morning breakfast, we departed Oslo on our SAS charter flight to arrive in Longyearbyen 3 hours later. Upon landing, there was a surprisingly large amount of exposed land. The town is tucked into the hillside and feels prepared for the darkness and harsh elements that it experiences for so much of the year. Our tour guide was from Australia and loves the dark. Hard to fathom. We boarded the National Geographic Explorer from the outskirts of town and settled in. I was in the same cabin as I was on my trip to Antarctica so it feels like home again. We set sail during dinner only to be told that we had to go back to port after dinner to pick up our fresh produce which was left in Oslo and coming in on a later flight!

On Monday, we sailed down to Hornsund in southwest Spitsbergen, the largest island in Svalbard. In the afternoon, we saw our first polar bear – far off in the distance, sleeping on the ice on the shore.