West Greenland, Baffin Island & Canadian Arctic

• Day 1 - Kangerlussuaq, Greenland; Embarkation Day

  Kangerlussuaq is a settlement in western Greenland in the Qeqqata municipality located at the head of the fjord of the same name (Danish: Søndre Strømfjord). It is Greenland's main air transport hub and the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport. The airport dates from American settlement during and after World War II, when the site was known as Bluie West-8 and Sondrestrom Air Base. The Kangerlussuaq area is also home to Greenland's most diverse terrestrial fauna, including muskoxen, caribou, and gyrfalcons. The settlement's economy and population of 512 is almost entirely reliant on the airport and tourist industry.

• Day 2 - Qeqertarsuaq

  During the morning Silver Cloud will ply the Disko Bay en route to our destination along Disko Island’s east coast. Our exploration of the Disko Bay area will head to an area north of the village of Qeqertarsuaq, which is named after Disko Island’s local name –meaning “large island”. With more than 3,300 sq. miles Disko Island is Greenland’s second-largest island.

• Day 3 - Illulisat

  Known as the birthplace of icebergs, the Ilulissat Icefjord produces nearly 20 million tons of ice each day. In fact, the word Ilulissat means “icebergs” in the Kalaallisut language. The town of Ilulissat is known for its long periods of calm and settled weather, but the climate tends to be cold due to its proximity to the fjord. Approximately 4,500 people live in Ilulissat, the third-largest town in Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut. Some people here estimate that there are nearly as many sled dogs as human beings living in the town that also boasts a local history museum located in the former home of Greenlandic folk hero and famed polar explorer Knud Rasmussen.

• Day 4 - Sisimiut

  Located just north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut is the northernmost town in Greenland where the port remains free of ice in the winter. Yet it is also the southernmost town where there is enough snow and ice to drive a dogsled in winter and spring. In Sisimiut, travelling by sled has been the primary means of winter transportation for centuries. In fact, the area has been inhabited for approximately 4,500 years. Modern Sisimiut is the largest business center in the north of Greenland, and is one of the fastest growing Greenlandic cities. Commercial fishing is the lead economy in the town‘s thriving industrial base.

• Day 5 - Nuuk (Godthab)

  Nuuk, meaning “the cape”, was Greenland’s first town (1728). Started as a fort and later mission and trading post some 240 kilometers south of the Arctic Circle, it is the current capital. Almost 30% of Greenland’s population lives in the town. Not only does Nuuk have great natural beauty in its vicinity, but there are Inuit ruins, Hans Egede’s home, the parliament, and the Church of our Saviour as well. The Greenlandic National Museum has an outstanding collection of Greenlandic traditional dresses, as well as the famous Qilakitsoq mummies. The Katuaq Cultural Center’s building was inspired by the undulating Northern Lights and can house 10% of Nuuk’s inhabitants.

• Day 6 - At Sea

  While we're at sea, enjoy wine tastings, designer boutiques, language and dance classes. Take in a matinee movie, check the market or your e-mail in the Internet Point, slip away with a novel from the library to a sunny chaise or with a movie to your suite. Or just take in the sun pool side. The choice is yours.

• Day 7 - Iqaluit

  Iqaluit is the capital of Canada’s newest territory, Nunavut, which is Inuktitut for “our land”. The community is located at the head of Frobisher Bay, an inlet of the North Atlantic extending into southeastern Baffin Island. The Bay is so long that it was first taken to be the possible entrance of a Northwest Passage. In Iqaluit, the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum and the Nunavut Legislative Assembly Building both house incredible collections of Inuit artwork with interesting local prints for sale in the museum shop.

• Day 8 - Lady Franklin Island & Monumental Island

  Named in honour of Sir John Franklin’s widow, the lonely and uninhabited Lady Franklin Island lies off of Baffin Island’s Hall Peninsula at the entrance to Cumberland Sound. The island is named for the wife of Sir John Franklin, the Arctic explorer who died trying to discover the Northwest Passage. The geology of the island is striking with vertical cliffs of Archean rocks, likely to be some of the oldest stone in Canada. The waters around Lady Franklin Island offer an abundance seabirds, ducks, seals, and walrus. With a bit of luck it is possible to see Atlantic Puffins here and perhaps even a rare Sabine’s Gull.

  Monumental Island in Davis Strait was named by Arctic explorer Charles Francis Hall as a tribute to the memory of Sir John Franklin who died in his quest to find the Northwest Passage. The island is offshore of Baffin Island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago of the territory of Nunavut. Around the shoreline scores of Black Guillemots dive and fish for little Arctic cods and capelins. Successful birds fly off with a minnow grasped tightly in their beaks. On a far larger scale, it is possible to find groups of walruses with their impressive tusks along the shores of the island. However, the coup de grâce is to spot a polar bear’s white silhouette against the dark background of the bedrock on Monumental Island.

• Day 9 - Kimmirut (Lake Harbour)

  Kimmirut is a traditional Inuit hamlet of 455 people, located on the southernmost peninsula of Baffin Island, just across the Hudson Strait from mainland Québec. It is the southernmost community on Baffin Island. The name, translating as “the heel”, is named for a distinctive rocky outcrop that looks exactly like the back of your foot! First contact with Europeans occurred around 1000 AD when Dorset and Norse sailors from Greenland interacted. Intermittent contact continued between the Thule people and the Vikings for another 500 years.

• Day 10 - Cape Dorset

  Cape Dorset is a small Inuit hamlet located on Dorset Island, off the southern shore of Baffin Island. The traditional name for Cape Dorset is Kinngait (meaning "high mountain"), describing the ‘Cape’, which is actually a 800 foot mountain. This is a nature-lovers paradise with breath-taking landscapes and an amazing abundance of arctic wildlife, such as migratory caribou, seabirds, whales, seals and walruses. Ancient native Thule (Dorset Culture) peoples lived in this area for three thousand years, and it is here where the first archaeological remains were found. Captain Luke Foxe, during his attempt to find the Northwest Passage in 1631, was the first European to land here.

• Day 11 - Kangiqsulujjuaq, Quebec

  The small town of Kangigsujuag, on the south-eastern shore of Wakeham Bay, is home around 600 people. It is nestled in the hollow of a splendid valley surrounded by majestic mountains and a landscape of unspeakable beauty. "Kangiqsujuaq" means "the large bay" in Inuktitut, and Wakeham Bay was named after Captain William Wakeham who, in 1897, led an expedition to determine whether the viability of the Hudson Strait for safe navigation. Many businesses have been based here since its settlement by Europeans. In 1884, the Canadian Hudson's Bay Expedition established a commercial trading route to Europe through the Hudson Strait. Seal skin mitts and boots were traded for tobacco and gun powder.

• Day 12 - Akpatok Island

  Akpatok Island is a remote spot near the northernmost limits of the Labrador Peninsula. Steep and sheer limestone cliffs jut out of icy waters. Encased in snow and surrounded with sea ice in the winter months, this uninhabited island lures huge amounts of wildlife, most notably the world’s largest population of breeding Thick-billed Murres (known as Brünnich’s Guillemots in Europe), estimated at well over a million birds. These auks flock to the bare cliffs of the island between June and September, and murres incubate their single pear-shaped egg on the cliff ledges. Glaucous Gulls can be seen soaring above looking for unguarded eggs and chicks, while Black Guillemots paddle around on the nearby sea.

• Day 13 - Torngat Mountains National Park

  The Torngat Mountains National Park is situated on the eastern side of Labrador’s northernmost point and features mountains sometimes described as the “Eastern Rocky Mountains”. The park covers an area of 9,700 km2 (over 6,000 mi2) and is dotted with remnants of several cirque glaciers. Saglek Fjord has an outstanding array of geological features and the steep cliffs provide some of the best exposures to the earth’s geologic history. The name of the national park goes back to Torngarsoak, who was believed to control the life of sea animals and took the form of a huge polar bear.

• Day 14 - Twillengate

  Twillingate is the self-proclaimed ‘Iceberg Capital of the World’, although icebergs will be a more likely occurrence in the winter months. The community is home to the “Prime Berth Museum”, which is best described as a commercial fishing heritage site highlighting the glory “salt fish days” before the cod fishery moratorium in the mid-1980s. Several historic buildings packed with artifacts are located near the shoreline, in addition to an impressive skeleton of a Sei whale and the two giant racks of its baleen on display.

• Day 15 - St John's, Canada; Disembarkation

  Old meets new in the province's capital (metro-area population a little more than 200,000), with modern office buildings surrounded by heritage shops and colorful row houses. St. John's mixes English and Irish influences, Victorian architecture and modern convenience, and traditional music and rock and roll into a heady brew. The arts scene is lively, but overall the city moves at a relaxed pace. For centuries, Newfoundland was the largest supplier of salt cod in the world, and St. John's Harbour was the center of the trade. As early as 1627, the merchants of Water Street—then known as the Lower Path—were doing a thriving business buying fish, selling goods, and supplying alcohol to soldiers and sailors.

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.