We boarded our Zodiacs at 9pm in cold damp weather with a light snow falling. It’s really not about the weather, it’s what you wear. And, we were definitely bundled up.
We started out toward a beautiful, massive cliffside called Alkefjellet (say that three times fast). The mountain rose straight out of the sea and had spectacular columns that rose over 300 feet into the low cloud cover above.
As we approached the cliffs we started noticing many birds in the water. Our birding expert told us they were called the common guillemot. We learned that Alkefjellet means Mount Guillemot. Creative name.
As we grew even closer to the cliffs it appeared as if the walls were moving. Soon it became clear that the cliff was covered with these black and white birds. I mean covered. Experts estimate that there are over 120,000 guillemots on the cliffs above. We didn’t count, but, after seeing the massive numbers across the full width of the cliffs, I would almost think that is a low number. Guillemots come back to this same spot every year to nest. Each couple has one egg. Once the chick is ready to leave the nest the birds head out to sea and don’t return until the following year. I wonder if they rent the place out to other birds while they’re gone.
One benefit of being with National Geographic photographers is that they teach you a lot about wildlife photography. I was having difficulty getting in-focus photos of birds in flight. Bryan, one of the photographers on our trip, gave me a few pointers:
After about an hour we headed back to the ship. As we embarked they handed us a hot toddy with dark rum which put a nice finish on the enlightening excursion.
The expedition (we were told not to call it a cruise) went quickly and on our last day we saw more polar bears. Not as exciting as the momma and her new cubs. This was a mom with two two-year-old cubs. They were huge rather than cute. And, they really didn’t stay too close to mom. After a while, they laid down to sleep and she kept going. I think she was trying to ditch them. Two years is long enough!
Finally, Lisa and I had a chance to kayak out to a beautiful glacier. We were warned not to get too close to the glacier or surrounding ice as the glacier could calve (big pieces falling off) and the mini-icebergs could flip over causing it to fall on us. Since neither option sounded good to us, we kept our distance.
We’re now sitting in our hotel after disembarking the ship and flying to Oslo. We head home tomorrow. It has been an amazing experience. We learned so much and got an appreciation for the environment, the wildlife, and the history of this remote part of the world. On our second to last day we crossed over the 80th parallel. We will likely never be this far north again. But, we will never forget our time here.
Stay tuned for Lisa’s wrap-up of our visit to the Arctic.
Lisa and Brad's Travels 