It is Sunday, July 30, 2023, our oldest son’s 44th birthday and we have officially arrived in the northern most inhabited island in the world, we are told. We are way north of the Norway mainland in the Svalbard Islands in a port town named Longyearbyen. We are on the 78th latitude and the weather is cloudy, and quite cool – but not frigid. My phone, when it is operational, shows the temperature hovering just below 40 degrees.
We boarded the Henningsen vessel for an eleven-hour excursion. The four of us are carrying rain gear as well as several layers of clothing. We think we are prepared! It’s the wind that is the challenge. With a great crew, and a great guide, Patrick, our day was amazing.
The views were spectacular. On the ride to the glacier, Patrick gave us lots of cool information about the animals we hoped to find. Did you know the male polar bear will kill polar bear cubs when found with their mother because the female is uninterested in mating until the babies are gone? I don’t think that was the ‘gone’ that the mother hoped for. The bears are also quite the loners and never travel in groups. Every Norwegian on these islands is required to carry a big game rifle with them wherever they go. In fact, our young Russian guide had a rifle over her shoulder as she led us though her town. Additionally, Patrick told us that there is an average of one human death by a polar bear each year and one death of a polar bear by a human being warding off an attack on these islands.
The crew fed us an amazing lunch of pork ribs, hot dogs, and the amazing part –fresh salmon. Best meal of the trip, no doubt! Oh, and don’t forget to try the onboard fresh waffles. Again, best waffles ever, hands down!
Shortly after lunch we arrived at the biggest glacier we have ever seen. We think the name is Nordmannsffonnas, but there are lots of glaciers in this area. It is the biggest one in the area and so beautiful. The area is loaded with wildlife, so our boat made several passes through the area and in front of the glacier. It became quite cold and rainy, and we are not sure if that was weather produced by the glacier or just unlucky timing for us. Either way, there were several polar bear sightings on the rocky cliffs nearby and with the help of binoculars, we had quite a clear view. We actually saw one bear climb from the beach below to the rocky cliffs. There was also a whale sighting in this area but I was on the wrong side of the boat and missed it. We never saw him surface again.
From here, we were taken to Pyramiden – an old Russian coal mining town that had its hey day in the 1960s – 1980s with a population of more than 1000 people. There were hospitals, schools, cultural centers, theaters, and more. Russia still keeps a skeleton population of fifteen persons in the town to keep claim to the land. We were given a tour by a young Russian student spending her summer there. She is the one that carried the rifle through the entire tour. Here, we were lucky enough to see a herd of reindeer roaming the deserted streets. George was able to taste a Russian beer and vodka while the rest of us enjoyed Russian desserts. (There will be lots of pics when I return to civilization and reliable internet.)
On our return trip, we not only saw another polar bear but two rather large walruses playing on the beach! For the bird lovers, there were lots of those, too. We passed by several ‘bird cliffs’ but I didn’t see any I could identify.
What a great day! My third grade teacher planted a desire in me to visit Norway and the first day, although far from the mainland, did not disappoint!
