Bucket List Destination: The Arctic
Se Johnsfjord, Svalbard, Norway- Photo Credit Michelle Orr
Back around March of 2020, with some extra time on my hands, I downloaded the most time-sucking app of all time, Tik-Tok. And the first account I followed there was that of a woman named Cecilia Blomdahl, her account is simply called “ sejsejlija”. She describes her account, “I live in a cabin on Svalbard, an island close to the North Pole “. Her vlogs are fascinating, as she describes her life, living off the grid in a cabin on a beautiful cliff overlooking the ocean. 3,000 people live on this island, that experiences long polar summers without night, and long polar winters with no sunlight. It’s different and beautiful and I recommend you all take a look.
Svalbard is an island archipelago, and although Norway is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) and the Schengen Agreement, Svalbard is not part of the Schengen Area or the EEA and is governed separately. Longyerben, the largest settlement in Svalbard, is located at 78.22°N 15.65°E and the residents must own large rifles by law, because the apex predator Polar Bear roams freely in this beautiful part of the world. While they rarely encounter humans, the people of Svalbard must protect themselves by law.
Map of our journey
So when Aurora Expeditions invited me to experience their 12-day “Svalbard Odyssey” expedition, I knew I had to go. My son, Caleb, age 19, accompanied me (perks of being a Master Travel Intern) and off we went to explore this incredible area of Earth aboard the brand-new ship, the Sylvia Earle. The ship boards in Longyerben,Svalbard, so you must make your way there by air. We found the easiest route was to fly to Oslo and connect to Longyerben. You can also fly to Stockholm and connect there.
Aurora is an Australian expedition company which is starting to enter US Market and they are doing so in the grandest of styles. They are not new in the category and have been sailing over 32 years. They own two brand new ships, The Greg Mortimer and The Sylvia Earle. The ships sail in Antarctica, The Arctic, Galapagos, Costa Rica, and more (Check out their offerings HERE)What makes their ships unique is the X Bow design, which is going to set the standard in the future for all expedition ships—the design makes the passage more comfortable for passengers, don’t ask me how :) Aurora is building a third ship right now, that is to start sailing in 2025. At the moment, the only other company which sails a ship with this design carries 2x the amount of passengers in the same amount of space as Aurora (They are sister ships).
The Sylvia Earle, with Zodiacs Returning. Photo Credit: Andreas Koester
Many wonder what it means to go on an “expedition”. My own interpretation is that an expedition is a trip where you travel as an explorer, rather than as a tourist. And explore we did. We circumnavigated the archipelago, going as far north as 81degrees N. (The North Pole is at 90degrees). This is a rare opportunity and special does not even begin to describe the experience.
Aurora’s main goal is to get their guests OFF the ship as much as possible. And in the 12 days. we were able to go out 2x per day, except just one of the days where we stayed at sea. I actually welcomed this time onboard as the Sylvia Earle is a stunning ship, with so much space to relax, read, and learn, you hardly see other passengers at times.
The 2 excursions each day usually comprised of a morning hike and an afternoon “safari” in the Zodiacs. The hikes were available for all fitness levels: Long Walk, Medium Walk, and beach combers. I varied between long and medium, depending on my mood. Each hike was spectacular for different reasons. Some hikes we saw wildlife, and on others, we enjoyed spectacular scenery and history. I think my favorite hike was in Wahlbergoya, where we had spectacular 360-degree views across an icy vista and topped off the hike on the beach where we stumbled upon a large group of walruses, which entertained us as we stealthily watched them laying on the beach, swimming, and playing.
The excursions by zodiac were definitely my favorite. During these outings, we enjoyed upclose views of icebergs, glaciers, wildlife, and scenery so spectacular, it would be hard to describe. I loved it so much it would be hard to choose which was my favorite, but, highlights were:
Afternoon cruise of Samarinbreen, a truly impressive glacier front with plenty of ice and stunning views. It was a foggy afternoon and we were up close and personal with ice bergs, seals, and witnessed some beautiful calving. The cacophony of the ice crackling, with millions year old air escaping from the ice, became a sound I yearned for throughout the entire expedition.
Afternoon cruise of Brasvelbreen, the world’s third largest polar ice cap, with it’s beautiful waterfalls and floating ice, the sheer scale of this is truly mind blowing. Here we saw a lot of sea ice and seals, and ended the day with the polar plunge, where about half the passengers jumped into the arctic waters in their swimsuits! I did not participate, but Caleb did!
Morning cruise of the Alkefjellet bird cliffs. Here the beautiful guillemot birds lay their eggs on the thousands of edges on the cliffs, they do not build nests. Their eggs attract gulls who love to eat them, and the result here is 10s of thousands of birds, several different species, claiming their own piece of real estate on these beautiful cliffs. We watched them fight, play, and sing. Waterfalls and rainbows were plentiful on this warm and sunny day, a magical experience had by all.
No visit to the arctic would be complete without the spotting of the magnificent Polar Bear, and during our expedition, we saw 10! The other x-bow company, who took a similar trip as us at the same time, saw exactly zero. The reason? The expedition team of Aurora works very closely with the captain of the ship, and this is a rare and special advantage when taking this type of trip. Our captain would stop the ship on a dime anytime a passenger spotted a polar bear and would happily stay for 1-2 hours with the bear as the guests watched in awe, and the photographers had a field day shooting these apex predators. The flexibility of our schedule was apparent and ever changing, and this is what you want when you take an expedition as you do not want to have to stick to a tight schedule! Some polar bear highlights: A male killing a baby walrus and having his dinner right off our bow. A mom with two cubs who were playfully frolicking in the arctic sun. Another male doing some yoga and Pilates stretches and behaving just silly!
I haven’t even mentioned the whales we saw: Belugas, Humpbacks, and even a blue whale came to say hello. We also enjoyed spotting arctic foxes on several occasions, with their playful pups in tow. Reindeer were plentiful and on the last hike, four of them joined and followed us the whole way. That was very special.
About 65% of the passengers have sailed at least once with Aurora, a testament to the quality of their product and brand loyalty. The Virtuoso amenity is a $250 credit, and this can be used towards merchandise and beverages. There was a mixture of countries represented: 32 Australians, 24 Americans, and the reset were a mix from the UK and New Zealand, with a small amount from Malaysia, China, and Japan. The ratio of crew to passengers was about 1:1. The crew of the Sylvia Earle are outstanding, as was the food. There are hot tubs and a sauna and large gym. A 2-floor library and a science room, and a beautiful lecture room where we spent a lot of time socializing with other passengers. This is a perfect multi-gen trip, kids as young as 8 are welcome aboard, although the youngest on our trip was 15. Solo travelers can also share cabins and take advantage of good pricing this way. They even have connecting cabins!
I could go on and on about this trip; the expedition team, their experience, knowledge, and willingness to share. The respect for the environment and sustainability, The other passengers were a delight, we boarded as strangers and left as friends. The beautiful and smartly designed cabins with plenty of storage space and easy to manage room temperatures. The fascinating history and wildlife lectures. The great food. The dance party.
Oh, one last thing, everyone wants to know if I was cold. Cold is a relative term, and I am from New England, so cold doesn’t bother me too much. But the temperatures here were warm, ranging from high 40s to high 50s in the sun, a bit too warm when you consider where I was. Some of the hikes I didn’t have my outerwear and was sweating from the heat. I can truly say I was only cold once on during the whole trip, and that is to be expected, a foggy and bone chilling expedition on a zodiac, worth the cold nonetheless!
The trip was so special, there were many tears when we left. Each one of us changed and touched by the entire experience. I don’t like to write long blogs because we all have so little time, I doubt many will make it this far, but I have only touched the surface of the magical experience of this trip. Please see the Arctic, especially before it melts away, which it is sadly doing rapidly.
