Cloud Ridge Naturalists     2 0 0 5
Voyage to the Land of the Ice Bear:
A Circumnavigation of Svalbard (Spitsbergen)
   C O N T E N T S
July 6-18, 2005
Leaders: Dr. Al Werner and the Expedition and Naturalist Staff of the M/V Grigoriy Mikheev

The name Svalbard (Norse for "cold coast") does little to convey the ice-sculpted magnificence of this remote Norwegian archipelago – a world of deep fjords, calving glaciers, electric-blue icebergs, vast sheets of pack ice, sheer sea cliffs, spectacular mountains, flower-filled tundra, and an amazing diversity of wildlife. In the Icelandic Annals of 1194, the terse words "Svalbardr Fundi" (Svalbard Found), pinpoint the first known sighting of Svalbard by a Norse mariner. Anyone who has had the priviledge of cruising to Antarctica and South Georgia – or hopes to – will fall in love with Svalbard’s equally dramatic scenery, geology, and fascinating wildlife.

Located just 600 miles from the North Pole, the Svalbard Archipelago consists of Spitsbergen (the largest) and several smaller islands situated along the edge of the perpetual polar icepack. Our ship for this voyage, the M/V Grigoriy Mikheev, is a modern Russian research and expedition cruising vessel with an ice-strengthened hull – specifically designed for travel in the Polar Regions. Built in Finland in 1990, the 46-passenger Grigoriy Mikheev has a large bridge and an open foredeck, comfortable cabins, a dining room serving European cuisine, and Zodiac landing craft which enable shore expeditions and wildlife viewing in otherwise inaccessible areas

Our 11-day circumnavigation of Svalbard will explore spectacular ice-dotted fjords, cruise close to ice caps and calving tidewater glaciers, navigate the offshore pack-ice in search of whales, polar bears and other wildlife, and offer as many opportunities as possible for tundra hikes. Svalbard, known by naturalists as the "Land of the Ice Bear," is one of the High Arctic’s richest wildlife sanctuaries. The unusual abundance of wildlife – polar bears, arctic foxes, walrus, reindeer, bearded, ringed and harp seals, beluga and Greenland whales, and immense colonies of seabirds – is due primarily to warm currents carried north by a branch of the Atlantic’s mighty Gulf Stream. As the frozen sea breaks up, thousands upon thousands of cliff-nesting seabirds – thick-billed murres, Atlantic puffins, black guillemots, ivory gulls, black-legged kittiwakes, and dovekies – add their voices to a splendid cacophony as they fly between their nests and productive fishing grounds at sea.

Photographic opportunities should be superb! We’ll hope to observe walruses, replete from gorging on clams and mussels (90 pounds a day for a 2400-lb. male!), use their 15-inch tusks to haul out on ice floes to rest. We’ll search for polar bears as they follow the retreating pack-ice eastward to hunt ringed seals or into the fjords in pursuit of bearded seals slumbering on floes of glacial ice. Don’t miss this once-in-a-lifetime expedition to Svalbard!

Group Limit: 16          Trip Rating 4

Price
Cabin prices quoted below are per person based on double occupancy and according to the type of accommodation requested. Category 1 (Twin Private) cabins have portholes, upper and lower berths, and a private bath. Cabins in Category 2 (Superior Twin) have portholes, a double bed plus sofa bed, and a private bath. Cabins will be reserved on a first-come, first-serve basis. We have reserved 6 Twin Private cabins and 2 Superior Twin cabins. Early booking is encouraged to secure preferred cabin type. The single occupancy price is 1.7 times the rate for Twin Private or Twin Superior. Single travelers who wish to share their cabin will be guaranteed the double occupancy rate, whether or not a cabin-mate is available. Prices may be subject to some minor change and do not yet reflect port security fees soon to be imposed.

Category 1: $4,340 (Twin Private; Deck 4); includes deposits.
Category 2: $4,840 (Superior Twin; Deck 4); includes deposits.

Deposit: A $500 nonrefundable deposit, payable by credit card, to Oceanwide Expeditions/GMK09, and a $400 deposit to Cloud Ridge Naturalists, payable by check, is required to reserve space.

Included:
Accommodations in Oslo and aboard the Grigoriy Mikheev, all meals in Oslo, roundtrip air travel from Oslo to Longyearbyen, transfers and baggage handling in Longyearbyen between the airport and the ship, all meals aboard the ship, all shore excursions by Zodiac, comprehensive pre-departure materials and on-board lecture program, experienced expedition leaders and naturalist staff, and all miscellaneous service taxes and port charges throughout the program.

Not Included:
Travel to Oslo, Norway, additional hotel nights in Oslo as desired (the first night is included), airport transfers in Oslo, alcoholic beverages, gratuities to the ship’s crew and naturalist staff, all items of a personal nature, and travel insurance.

   
Contact: Cloud Ridge Naturalists
8297 Overland Road
Ward Colorado 80481
email > cloudridgeadb@earthlink.net