The autumnal equinox marks the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
During the pandemic, our lives were filled with uncertainties living with the ever-changing COVID virus. To some, a heavy wet blanket seemed to cloak the whole season, preventing us from moving freely while others never felt the warmth of the summer.
This summer after a family gathering at Wellfleet, Cape Cod, and a heavy dose of sunshine, I took a trip to the Arctic, visiting Greenland and Svalbard, hoping to spot wildlife, notably the polar bears. That meant I had to say goodbye to the sunny and fun summer for the cold Arctic.
A three-hour flight took me from Oslo to Longyearbyen in Svalbard where the Sea Spirit docked. A 2-day crossing on the Greenland Sea brought us to the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s largest and maybe most remote park. The hunting of whales lasting into the 20th century decreased the whale population and we only saw one lonely blue whale from a distance. Seabirds, the northern fulmar, were abundant, kittiwakes, arctic terns, and a few puffins…
Overland, the wide-open fields of multicolored tundra, roamed a few muskoxen. Hiking was exhilarating. Around the 13th century, the Thuli journeyed across Canada from Alaska, arriving in Northern Greenland. Their culture lasted from about 900 AD to 1600 AD, they were the ancestors of the Inuit. There are signs of human existence with remnants of trapper’s huts, hunter’s cabins, and other archeological sites. Arctic adventurers had explored this vast, open landscape, but it still looked untouched and pristine. On Ella Island, Belgium has its military base.
Kayaking in the deep fjords of the Franz Josef Fjord and The Kong Oscar Fjord systems and their narrow channels, flanked by ice-clad peaks up to 2000 meters high into the mountainous heart of Greenland, and close to the tidewater glaciers whose calving created colossal icebergs that floated throughout the fjord system made one feel very small and insignificant. Seals and walruses swam and rested languidly. Far away, a mama polar bear and her two cubs romped and had an intimate time as a family. We polar plunged into the cold Arctic and then lounged in the jacuzzi with the glacier in the background, enjoying the midnight sun, ending an eventful day.
Inspired by the glaciers, icebergs, and fjords, I wrote a poem, Listen, which was published by Persimmon Tree, https://persimmontree.org/fall-2024/listening/. You have to scroll down to look for the poem.
After Greenland, we sailed back to the archipelago of Svalbard, before we docked someone spotted a polar bear walking across the hill toward the town of Ny-Ålesund which has the world’s northerly post office and serves as an Arctic scientific research base for several countries. In the town center, a bust of the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen celebrated his successful expedition to the North Pole in 1926 when he flew over the top of the world for the first time.
Kayaking in turquoise waters surrounded by deep fjords with majestic mountains as a stunning backdrop was a wonderful experience. A distant herd of grazing reindeer graced the slope, but no Arctic foxes or marine life.
Longyearbyen was our last port of call, the most northernmost settlement in Spitsbergen where the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s largest backup facility for seeds is, safeguarding the loss of crop diversity. As I was in Greenland in August, there would be no aurora borealis.
A summer spent in the Arctic region is a memorable event. The crew of Sea Spirit took good care of us. I met many travelers with the same enthusiasm for this region and most of all, my roommate from Turino, Italy.
Arrivederci e mi manchi.
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