FUN-travel: Andoyane Islands & Monacobreen, Svalbard – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 3

August 26, 2014 by · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Andoyane Islands & Monacobreen, Svalbard – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 3 

 

Day 41 – Sunday, August 10 – Andoyane Islands & Monacobreen, Svalbard – A&K Arctic Cruise Day 3 – full sun w/clouds in distance – mid 40’s – 24 hrs daylight

Andoyane Islands, Svalbard, Norway 2014 2

Andoyane Islands

Andoyane Islands, Svalbard, Norway 2014 15

Black Guillemot

What I LIKE

  • 1st group expedition – 8:30 – zodiak tour (no landing) of Andoyane Islands includes:
  • – birds include arctic terns, black guillemots, eiders
  • – landscape includes mountain ridges of very different shapes & ages
  • – alpine summits w/granite & remnant of volcano
  • – spot 2 polar bears swimming
  • 10:00 – return & 2nd group goes out
  • 11:30 – announce that polar bears are on land
  • 12:00 – 1st group (that would be us!) gets taken back out
  • – mom & cub – pretty much grazing on berries
  • – not too much moving & pretty far away
  • – Chris has high zoom lens
  • 1:00 – lunch features Italian buffet
  • – French pizza better than no pizza
  • – deck 6 is more casual for dinner & best lunch option
  • – always has main hot food item cooked to order
  • – outdoor deck seating available too

Andoyane Islands, Svalbard, Norway 2014 30

  • 3:45 – 2nd expedition – Monacobreen
  • – large glacier named after Prince Albert I of Monaco
  • – 3 mile wide glacier main attraction
  • – chunks of ice crunch under zodiac
  • – navigate around small icebergs
  • – lots & lots of ice make for nice spotting – bearded seal resting

Monacobreen, Svalbard, Norway 2014 6

  • 5:15 – return & happy hour
  • 7:00 – expedition recap & tomorrow briefing in theatre Deck 4
  • 7:30 – dinner on Deck 2
  • No satellite coverage – no internet
  • – just enjoy being in present w/o distraction
  • Really smooth well stabilized ship
Monacobreen, Svalbard, Norway 2014 2

Monacobreen

What I DON’T LIKE

  • 6:30 – wake up
  • 8:00 – hurry up & wait – standing in line to go out
  • Polar bears too far away to really see
  • – miss seeing them come out of water & walk onto shore
  • Pizza not that good

FUN-fact – Per AECO guidelines only 100 people are allowed to land at one time. The ship has 197 passengers that are divided into two groups for the expeditions. You are either scheduled for the first and the last landing or the second and the first landing each day. To make it fair this rotates every day.

Andoyane Islands, Svalbard, Norway 2014 9

Andoyane Islands