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Spitsbergen / Svalbard - Tour Destination
Click here for Trip Reports of previous tours
Spitsbergen, lying a mere 600 miles from the North Pole, is the largest island of the Svalbard (meaning “Cold Coast”) Archipelago. Although draped in secluded darkness during the northern winter, this frigid land is dramatically transformed into a place of perpetual sunshine during its summer. The sunshine reveals an abundance of iconic Arctic mammals – whales, Walruses, seals, Arctic Fox, Reindeer and Polar Bears, surrounded by towering snow-capped mountains, forbidding glaciers and flower studded tundra; the scenery here is nothing short of breathtaking! Adding life to the vast skies are avian treats such as the elegant Ivory Gull, the immaculate King Eider and the lovely Red Phalarope, splendid in its brick-red summer plumage. This epic high Arctic journey will circumnavigate Spitsbergen and include some smaller islands within the Svalbard Archipelago.
Please contact the Rockjumper Office should you have any queries about this tour.
| tour name & date for 2011 |
Spitsbergen - Land of Arctic Dreams: 4 - 13 Aug (10 days) |
| tour costs for 2011 | TBA |
| max group size | Depending on ship & 1 Rockjumper leader |
| tour leaders | Simon Bellingham |
| habitats covered | coastal and pelagic waters, glaciers, polar tundra, pack ice |
| climate | temperate to subzero, sunny and calm to gale force condiitions expected |
| tour pace & walking | easy pace, mostly undemanding walks, some wet zodiac landings |
| accomodation | comfortable expedition cruise ship |
| ease of birding | easy |
| no. of species expected | 40 |
| top mammals | Polar Bear, Walrus, Artic Fox, Bearded Seal, Beluga & Humpback Whale, Svalbard Reindeer |
| other attractions | historical town of Longyearbyen, spectacular sub-Arctic scenery, glaciers, nesting cliffs, whale graveyard, fjords |
| photographic opportunities | excellent |
