Adventure Canada and the Clipper Adventurer
Our trip was run by Adventure Canada. They do a great job of organizing and providing experts who greatly enhance the trip. Our leader had to be flexible as ice conditions, winds and other obstacles sometimes precipitated changes in plans. Instead of going to Clyde Inlet we went to Qikiqtarjuak. When we couldn't land in one bay, we continued to the next. On our ship we had a geologist, archeologist, environmental scientist, an Inuit artist, an expert in Inuit art, a film maker whose film on birdlife was shown, a team of interns from Nunatsiavut (the Inuit part of Newfoundland and Labrador). So much to learn. Walking on the tundra, we learned about Inuit history, the plant and animal life, life of today's Inuit...
Our ship, the Clipper Adventurer, has a hull built for ice conditions. As our captain picked his course through sea ice, which at times was quite a challenge, we heard grinding and crashing when we hit the edge. At first unnerving, it just became part of the sounds of our environment. The ship would occasionally shudder when we hit a thicker piece, but we sailed on safely, as times seeming to inch through. We had mostly calm seas, though crossing the Davis Straight sent many of us for motion sickness medication, and even then we spent most of one evening prone. But we woke to calm seas and incredible scenery.
The food on the ship was wonderful, as was the staff. We were sometimes offered fresh fish, picked up in the villages we stopped at. Arctic char does not get much better than this. We also had reindeer, muskox and fish from Greenland. And there is nothing like hot chocolate laced with Bailey's served on the beach on Baffin Island after a hike.
Our daily outings on the zodiacs, sometimes to shore, sometimes to see what the sea had to offer – close views of bird colonies on the cliffs of Bylot Island, searches for marine wildlife, and of course, our trip among the icebergs. So much now to assimilate.
More photos: click here
