Epic 80°N: Exploring Greenland, Baffin & Ellesmere Islands

• Day 1 - Reykjavik, Iceland

  Arrive in Keflavík and transfer to Reykjavík, located just south of the Arctic Circle. Check-in to the Island Hotel (or similar). Take a guided overview of the old town, including Hallgrímskirkja Cathedral. Or choose to explore the Blue Lagoon and soak in the geothermal waters

• Day 2 - Reykjavík/Kangerlussuaq, Greenland; Embarkation Day

  Fly by chartered aircraft to Greenland. Embark National Geographic Explorer at the head of Kangerlussuaq Fjord, a picturesque waterway that stretches 100 miles.

• Day 3 - At Sea; Greenland’s West Coast & Sisimuit

  Dozens of deep fjords carve into Greenland’s west coast, many with glaciers fed by the ice cap that covers 80% of the country. In the morning, we trace this ragged coastline, and search for humpback and minke whales. Later, at Sisimiut, a former whaling port, we visit the museum and wander amid a jumble of wooden 18th-century buildings.

• Day 4/6 - Baffin Island

  European explorer William Baffin first ventured here in the 15th century to search for the Northwest Passage. Yet the area may have had human inhabitants as early as 4,000 years ago, with later Dorset and Thule occupations right up to recent historical times. Using our years of experience in the ice, we explore some new and old places along the jagged coastline.

  Stretch your legs on good hiking trails at Qikiqtarjuaq, an Inuit name meaning “Big Island.” It is home to our Inuit guide, Kisa, who will proudly show us his village. Next we head to Coronation Fiord where 5,000-foot cliffs are set near Coronation Glacier, and we stop at Niaqurnak Point, a former Inuit camp where glacial tongues extend to the water’s edge. Walrus haul outs can be found here and it’s a good place to spot polar bears and whales. We plan to stop at Buchan Gulf, another good hiking area with picturesque cliffs and a Thule site nearby, and Isabella Bay, an important marine habitat where deep troughs create ideal conditions for bowhead whales—up to 100 at a time have been recorded here.

• Day 7/9 - Exploring the Canadian High Arctic

  Carved by Ice Age glaciers, Lancaster Sound is the eastern gateway to the Arctic Archipelago. The sound has been a favorite Inuit hunting and fishing location for hundreds of years. Our days here will be spent searching for ringed seals, arctic foxes, walruses, and polar bears, as well as beluga and bowhead whales. We may even see the elusive narwhal, an arctic whale known for the long, spiraling tooth that projects up to ten feet from its upper jaw. We plan to explore Prince Regent Inlet, a good place for polar bears on ice, and Beechey Island where the remains of the winter quarters of the Franklin Expedition are seen.

• Day 10 - Devon Island

  National Geographic Explorer ploughs the waters at the entrance to the Northwest Passage, now heading towards the most easterly part of the south coast of Devon Island to Dundas Harbor, where the Canadian government established a RCMP (Royal Mounted Police) post in the 1920s. Later, we reach Croker Bay, where last year we discovered several very well preserved winter-house ruins from the Thule culture. From the 1200s and until late in the 1800s, Inuit were living in these regions hunting caribou and muskoxen—which we hope to spot along with polar bears.

  Continue to Philpots Island, a geological structure consisting of ancient red granite that is part of the Ellesmere-North Greenland geological complex. It has been dated to 1.6 billion years in age! The plan is to go ashore on rocky Philpots Island for a chance to hike on the tundra and search for interesting flora and fauna, including extensive moss beds with interspersed flowering vascular plants, various bird species, Arctic hares, and perhaps even musk oxen—an impressive beast covered with an incredibly thick coat of long hairs overlying a dense layer of underfur known as qiviut (very valuable wool used in producing the lightest, finest knitted products available today). Be on deck as we head out into the open waters offshore, where there are plenty of impressive icebergs calved from a huge glacier.

• Day 11/12 - Ellesmere Island

  Heading ever northward, we make our way up the beautiful and remote east coast of Ellesmere Island, where the Explorer first ventured last season. Cruise along scenic Smith Bay (a.k.a. Skog Inlet) bordered by a steep wall of mountains, with a glacial ice tongue which pours down the mountains on either side. Be up on the bridge as we search for a patch of "polar bear ice," the mixture of first-year and multi-year sea ice that is the preferred habitat of the ice bears. Our binoculars seek out any small ivory-colored dot on an otherwise white ice surface. We strain to see the dot move. Yes, it is a bear, spotted at a considerable distance. We approach, ever so slowly, stalking the polar bear much as the bear stalks seals on the ice. At the end of the bay we go ashore to hike or kayak in picturesque surroundings. Ice is always present here.

  On our next day, we enter Buchanan Bay, and turn into Alexandra Fjord to reach the area of Skraeling Island. (“Skraeling” is the word that the Norse settlers of Greenland used for the Inuit.) This is the site of an important archaeological find. Norse artifacts show that the Norse traded with the natives here on Ellesmere Island, far north of their settlements on Greenland. Last summer, quite unexpectedly, we discovered the remains of a summer encampment of natives, we think of the Thule Culture (the third of the three Inuit cultures to occupy this area.) We saw rings of stones that held down the edges of skin tents against the wind, and stone chambers that might have been constructed for storage. Perhaps the Inuit camped at this very site as they traded with the Norsemen, exchanging skins and walrus ivory for European goods, especially metal.

• Day 13/14 - Farther North

  On these two days we explore to 80ºN and hopefully beyond, if the ice allows. We take full advantage of our “human resources”—our experienced captain, expedition leader and naturalists—as well as our technological resources. We chart where the ice is impenetrable and where there are leads guiding us to exciting discoveries.

• Day 15/18 - Exploring Northwest Greenland

  The remote and rarely explored coast of Northwest Greenland is our next destination—going places the Explorer has never been. The area north of Qaanaaq has the most interesting exploration history of Greenland, with many expeditions based here; timbers from Hall’s ship, the Polaris, may still exist on the beaches. Cape York is also historically significant with a monument to Admiral Peary. We visit the small community of Etah, the north-most habitation in West Greenland, where we can interact and learn about the people of the Far North.

  Explorer will be in true expedition mode every turn of the way. The former Prime Minister of Greenland, Kuupik Kleist, told us this region was one of the most beautiful and unexplored parts of all of Greenland: glaciers, fjords, inlets and islands. Wildlife galore, unlike parts of the south where it is more actively hunted. In addition, we connected with our very own Dr. Henning Thing, one of the more experienced scientists working in Greenland, and he gave us some very specific places to explore that sound wonderful. We will definitely be exploring new frontiers.

• Day 19 - Qilakitsoq

  Today we are back in familiar waters, stopping at Qilakitsoq, where a collection of mummies dating to 1475 was discovered in 1972 and featured on the cover of National Geographic magazine’s February 1985 issue.

• Day 20 - Ilulissat

  Sail into Disko Bay to explore the UNESCO site of Ilulissat Icefjord. Take an extraordinary cruise among the towering icebergs or visit the Inuit fishing village of Sermermiut.

• Day 21 - Greenland’s West Coast

  Our final day aboard will be spent in the beautifully scenic fjords. Take a Zodiac cruise, kayak, or hike across the tundra. Our undersea specialist may launch the ROV to see the marine life inhabiting the fjord floor.

• Day 22 - Kangerlussuaq/Disembark/
  Reykjavík, Iceland

  Disembark in Kangerlussuaq in the morning followed by a tour and lunch. Fly by private charter to Reykjavík, where we check in to the Island Hotel (or similar).

• Day 23 - Reykjavík/Keflavík/Home

  Our grand adventure takes us to Iceland’s lively capital city, Reykjavík. Have a guided tour of Reykjanes Peninsula, followed by lunch. Transfer to Keflavík for your flight home. Or you may wish to extend your stay in Iceland for further adventures.

Please consider that our voyages are expeditionary in nature. This means, that there are no concrete itineraries, your captain and expedition leader will utilise their vast experience to chart the best course for your expedition depending on the climatic and environmental conditions. Mentioned highlights and wildlife cannot be guaranteed.