Land based tours

It’s sometimes hard to decide wether to go on a land tour or to go diving when you are at Svalbard. A walk across the tundra is definitely worth while. In spring and early summer the tundra’s flora is starting to develop. Grasses are starting to grow and flowers start to blossom. The fresh grass make the reindeer wander across the tundra.

The main reason for going to the arctic is the search for animals that are unique for this part of the world. Every day is spent searching for polar bears, walrusses, seals, beluga’s etc. During one of our searches for a polar bear we were surprised by a group of White Beluga’s.

The scenery at the arctic is overwhelming. You will see lots of stunning landscapes, icebergs and big glaciers. The guides will always carry guns during diving and land tours. Polar bears are quite abundant and you don’t want a very close encounter with them. The guns will only be used for protection. As the Polar Bear is a protected animal, active hunting is forbidden.
We have seen some polar bears, unfortunately not close by. The expedition leader told us that the bears sometimes come so close that they are leaning against the vessel.

The island of Moffen is very famous for it’s population of walrusses. The animals at Moffen are protected and you are not allowed to come closer than 300 meters. But with a little bit of luck another group of these animals is found outside this area. You’ll be surprised by the size of these animals. When aproaching a group of walrusses carefullness is required. The water is a safe haven for the animals. This means that you should never be between the walrusses and the open water. The animals are not really afraid and seem quite tame. It’s key that you don’t make any unexpected movements. The captain was even able to manouvre the vessel against some floating pieces of ice with sleeping walrusses on them.

Some places on Svalbard remind us of the long history of the islands. Examples of these places are Smeerenburg with the remnants of a dutch whaling station and Danskoya an old danish whaling station. These two deserted whaling stations are very close to the area from which adventurists tried to reach the Nort Pole for the first time. The foundations of the baracks of one of these expeditions can still be found.

Barentzburg, which is the only remaining Russian city on Svalbard will be visited at the last day of the tour. The people in this city live from the last remaining mines on the island. After this visit the boat is going back to Longyearbuyen. For some this is the time to leave Svalbard. But if you want you can stay a few days more to enjoy the flowers, plants and birds of the main island.

The writers of this article Eveline and André Crone are fanatic divers for years. For André underwater photography is his biggest passion. For more pictures of the North Pole and other destinations look for www.Elysia.nl