Spitsbergen, the largest island in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, is only 600 miles from the North Pole.   About the same size as Ireland, its name means 'pointed mountains'.  It is the summer home for an abundance of special birds, mammals and plants in a land of spectacular scenery and fascinating history.

 

This tour will appeal to all who have a spirit of adventure and who love wild, remote and peaceful places.  The bird and mammal list is small, but very special.   From the spectacle of teeming colonies of thousands of Brunnich's Guillemots and Little Auks, to the grace and beauty of Ivory and Sabine's Gulls; with colourful Grey Phalaropes and drake King Eiders alongside breeding Purple Sandpipers and Snow Buntings; with nesting Pinkfooted and Barnacle Geese and Arctic and Long-tailed Skuas; and where Ptarmigan and Red-throated Divers' calls echo across the tundra; Spitsbergen has a very special appeal to the birder.  Add Polar Bears, Walruses, Minke Whales, Arctic Foxes and Reindeer, and over 170 species of flowering plants, and its appeal is irresistible to any naturalist.

 

The tour for 2010 is based on one of our favourite expedition ships, the Akademik Ioffe (110 passengers). In this roadless remote archipelago, sailing is really the only way to visit the fjords, glaciers, mountains and tundra. Sturdy inflatable Zodiacs make twice-daily landings where weather and ice conditions permit, and several hours are spent ashore on each of these, with good opportunities for walking, birding and photography. This comfortable ship features cabins with or without private facilities with a window or porthole, writing desk and chair plus plenty of storage space. The cabins with washbasin only, offer upper and lower berths, the semi and full private facilities cabins offer lower berths. (Semi-private share a bathroom between two cabins only). The larger superior cabins also have a sofa. She has a dining room, lecture room, a bar/lounge on her upper deck with stunning views, library, a small gymnasium and sauna plus passenger mud room. Equally importantly, the vessel has lots of open deck space for the ultimate in wildlife and scenery viewing, is very stable and almost silent.

 

WildWings has been running tours here for over ten years now and all have all been very successful, each seeing most of the wildlife described above.   No two years are the same in the Arctic, and the unpredictability of ice conditions and consequently of wildlife make for an exciting and unique trip every time.   With a well-run and comfortable ship, a very professional expedition team, and generally settled weather with light winds and sunshine, one could not ask for more. The 2008 tour was particularly successful with the presence of a large amount of sea ice, which we explored with the ship. Our total was 10 Polar Bears (and our best ever views) and over 60 Walrus, along with Harp, Bearded and Ringed Seals;  30 plus Beluga Whales around the ship was a special highlight and the birds included three new species for our multi-year list, Pintail, Iceland Gull and, very surprisingly a Black Tern feeding in pack ice! The 2009 trip yielded another five Polar Bears, with the best views being at close range from the Zodiacs, as one strode along the shoreline in front of us for about 30 minutes! Good numbers of Walrus were also seen again and several Arctic Foxes plus the usual bird species including some stunning King Eiders, a Sabine’s and two more Iceland Gulls plus very photographable Grey Phalaropes.

 

Join Tony on this rewarding trip to the Land of the Midnight Sun and the Kingdom of the Ice Bear to experience for yourself the magic of Svalbard and its special wildlife for our 12^th group tour. 

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 Holiday Information

 

Dates:	20th – 28th June 2010
Tour Leader:	Tony Marr and the ship’s expedition team
Cost:	From £2779 per person sharing a cabin
Single supp:	on request
Deposit:	£750
Group size:	The maximum number of WildWings participants will be 20 plus the leader

Cabin	Cost
Sharing a triple cabin with washbasin	£2779
Sharing a twin with washbasin	£3459
Sharing a semi-private twin	£3699
Sharing a twin with private facilities	£3959
Sharing a superior twin with private facilities	£4199
Suites and singles on request

Price includes: Economy class air travel, all airport and port taxes, transfers in Longyearbyen,

hotel accommodation at Oslo airport with breakfast, accommodation and all meals on board the

vessel in chosen cabin grade, coffee, tea and hot chocolate (24 hours), Zodiac shore landings accompanied by naturalist guides, lectures aboard ship, complimentary parka coat (yours to take home), wellington boot loan aboard ship, services of WildWings tour leader and ship’s expedition team, WildWings evening log call sessions, pre-tour information pack and WildWings daily checklist of birds and mammals plus souvenir photo DVD.

Price excludes: Travel insurance, other drinks, laundry, souvenirs and other items of a personal nature, crew and staff gratuities (suggested US$ 10-15 per passenger per day onboard ship) and optional excursion in Longyearbyen (approx £10). Allow £45 per person for dinner and drinks at our Oslo airport hotel.

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Itinerary

Day 1: Fly London Heathrow to Oslo and overnight. If time permits, optional birding in local woodland on arrival in the afternoon.

Day 2: Morning flight from Oslo to Longyearbyen. Transfer to ship and sail early evening.

Days 3-8: The itinerary is subject to weather and pack ice conditions.  We will sail up the west coast of Spitsbergen and if possible round the northwest tip and along the north coast.  The principal places we hope to visit include: Ny-Alesund - the northernmost town in the world - Ivory Gulls, Grey Phalaropes, Glaucous  Gulls; Fuglesongen - a large colony of Little Auks; Moffen - for Walruses and Sabine’s Gulls; the pack ice - Polar Bears, seals, auks, gulls and skuas;  the tundra - walks through breeding habitat of skuas, waders and Barnacle Geese –plus beautiful flowers and plants ; Blomstrand - breeding place for Red-throated Divers, Ptarmigan, Long-tailed  Skuas and Snow Buntings; the numerous islands - landings for more wildlife adventures plus various glaciers.

Day 9: Disembark at Longyearbyen early morning. Explore the town on foot or the possibility of an optional local birding excursion by bus. Fly Longyearbyen via Oslo back to London Heathrow arriving late evening.

 

Previous trip reports are on our website or available from us.