Arrive in Longyearbyen and embark our expedition ship Sea Endurance.

We visit some of the many magnificent fjords in western Svalbard, where vast glaciers tumble down into the sea. As we sail along the beautiful fjords we keep an eye out for the Arctic wildlife that inhabits the area.

We shape a south-westerly course and from the decks we keep a constant lookout for whales which may be encountered in these waters. Our knowledgeable guides entertain us with lectures on the Arctic flora, fauna, geology and history. During parts of the crossing we can expect to meet the pack ice boarder, which often embraces Greenland’s northern coast. Few things in life are as exciting as standing on board a ship cruising past large floes of pack ice!

We reach the shores of Greenland and are now in a part of the world where we are totally dependent on ice and weather conditions. Our ambition is to make landings or cruises every day with our Zodiacs and the following are some of the places we may visit:Clavering IslandClavering Island is a hunter’s hut, which reveals a bit about the life of a hunter and trapper in these high latitudes. On the tundra we hope to see some of the many musk ox, which inhabit these shores. Northeast Greenland is one of very few places in the world where you have the chance to encounter these huge, woolly herbivores, weighing up to 400 kilos.Kaiser Franz Josefs Fjord & Kong Oscars FjordWe hope to explore and make several landings in these beautiful fjord systems, which are framed by mountains shooting vertically out of the sea. This area is unspoiled and virtually uninhabited with a population of less than 40 people, consisting mainly of scientists and personnel from the Danish Sirius Patrol in Daneborg located further up north. Examples of places we may visit are Blomsterbugten and Ella ø. In Blomsterbugten, “the bay of flowers”, we find beautiful purple and gold coloured rocks and Ella ø is a hiker’s paradise surrounded by ice-choked waters, rugged cliffs and blue icebergs.ScoresbysundScoresbysund – the world’s largest fjord system – offers some of the most spectacular scenery Greenland has to offer: jagged peaks as tall as 2000 meters coming straight out of the sea and rare glimpses of the Greenland ice cap, the largest ice cap in the northern hemisphere. As we reach Scoresbysund we enjoy the breathtaking view of this immense fjord. Here we have chances of seeing remnants from the Thule people, who arrived to Greenland in the 12th century. In the small village of Ittoqqortoormiit, with only 500 inhabitants, we learn more about life in this isolated place 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

In the morning we disembark Sea Endurance, which has been our home for the past 10 nights. We leave the wilderness of Greenland behind as we board the chartered flight that will take us to Iceland and Reykjavik, where we check into a comfortable hotel.

We start our journey home or continue on to further adventures.

PolarQuest organises this cruise in cooperation with an international photo club that will focus on photography. The exact route will depend on ice, weather conditions and wildlife. The places mentioned above are just examples of some of the many sites this expedition has to offer. We always strive to maximise your experience, but remember that flexibility is the key to a successful expedition!