Gallivanting the globe 2019 - RTW and then some

[JohnM]

Eventually everyone was on board and the pilot boat came over with the pilot to take us out of the harbour to rendezvous with the KK, anchored about 10 nm out, in some skilful seamanship.



I pinched this pic to give a better idea of the size of the vessels. What a start! We weighed anchor and set sail eastwards for a quite rough overnight passage across the Gulf of Anadyr. Some people were very seasick; fortunately, I don’t get seasick and do not need to take anything to quell it.

Once we turned the corner N into the Bering Strait the next morning, the seas eased and were benign for the rest of the two-week voyage.



And that’s where I’m going to pause. I’m off to MEL tomorrow and on to ADL on Saturday for the rest of the weekend.

 

[Major]

With all of the Countries you are visiting, what did you do about local currencies ? Are you able to use your CC much ?

 

[JohnM]

With all of the Countries you are visiting, what did you do about local currencies ? Are you able to use your CC much ?

Never any problems. CCs obviously widespread in the more developed countries - and in larger establishments in less developed countries. Otherwise ATMs.

I always carry a stash of USD but only exchanged cash a couple of times in hotels just to tide me over. Rooy and I backed each other up in the Stans as he was concerned about not having enough USD and ended up getting more local currency, whereas it was the opposite for me.

Contrary to what you may read about only changing GBP or EUR in Cuba, it is possible to change USD but I think the exchange rate is poorest for USD. But ATMs are common in the larger towns.

 

[Drakecula]

I’m off to MEL tomorrow and on to ADL on Saturday for the rest of the weekend.

Missed you by one day - I'm off to MEL tomorrow. You're lucky you don't get seasick, I wish I could say the same for myself.

 

[JohnM]

The first morning at sea I was up and about fairly early to explore the ship a little before breakfast. There was not a lot of activity after a night of 2-3 m swell that was causing a lot of rolling, although the seas were not very rough and it wasn’t windy. It was just the rolling that made many unwell and hard to get one’s sea-legs. That went on until late morning.

The first day was totally at sea, transiting the Gulf of Anadyr, but full with general and safety briefings and lectures. There were biologists, photographic experts and historians that gave many very good and interesting talks over the whole voyage.

One of the benefits that came with the larger vessel and the greater number of pax was a group from Britain that included amongst their leaders people that had worked at the BBC Wildlife Unit and with Richard Attenborough. Most prominent of that group was Mark Carwardine (Mark Carwardine - Wikipedia), a whale expert and author of the handbook of whales, dolphins and porpoises, the new edition of which (Handbook of Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises) had gone to press just before this voyage.

The photographic and production skills of those people was a real bonus in the 40 minute AV presentation they put together, which was a great finale in the lecture theatre, and was provided to all pax on a USB stick.



There was an interesting small Chukchi museum. Elena, our Russian translator and liaison person, introducing Elizabeta our guide in the museum who – many years ago as a young girl – was displaced from the community at Cape Dezhnev (the furthest NE point of Eurasia) and, together with her family and all of the others at the Cape, rehoused in government housing at Lavrentiya. She described the traditional Chukchi way of life. The Chukchi people of the whole region are given dispensation by the IWC to traditionally hunt 140 grey whales each year; of that, the allocation for the Lavrentiya community is three.

Polar bears also hold special significance for the Chukchi people, reflected in the ornaments worn. I can’t recall the specifics.

 

[JohnM]

The villagers prepared traditional food for sampling. I tried almost all of what was available. Some strong-flavoured things, but nothing totally offensive. These expeditions are the only western tourists that land here.

The food tasting was followed by traditional dancing as another part of the culture that the community is trying to keep alive. Not an unfamiliar story, of course.



Back into the Zodiacs and out to find the KK in the pea-souper.



My cabin. I was twin-sharing. Quite comfortable and enough room for two, given that the majority of time was spent out of it. For single occupancy, the bed under the window converts into a sofa. There were more palatial and larger suites – at an astronomical price.



We pressed on to Cape Dezhnev. The intention was to land but the persistent fog and some adverse swell caused that to be abandoned.



First close whales spotted later that evening. Each evening the running plot of our course and the next upcoming destination was put up.

 

[JohnM]

Next morning, we were into the Zodiacs early to cruise the cliffs at Kolyuchin Island looking at the abundant birdlife and any other animals that came our way. This small island (5 by 1.5 km) was once an important Russian polar research station, one of a number that were dotted across the Arctic. With the collapse of the USSR there was no money to maintain them and they were abandoned in 1992.



And what do we have here? Why, a sleepy polar bear, of course!



Oh cough, my snooze is ruined! H. sapiens in numbers…

The radios crackled with ‘PB’.

But they eventually shot through…

 

[JohnM]

Sailing further NW, we started getting into ice floes – and spectacular wildlife! While it was still cloudy, it was lifting and the sea was dead-smooth – good signs for things to come.



Hmmmm, what’s this coming into view? Why, just a big haul-out of walrus – followed by several more.



I guess we should get a pic of that…



Just let me see if that one at the back has got dandruff – before we get into a bowhead and humpback whale feeding frenzy…

 

[JohnM]

Then a spectacular sight. A bowhead whale (Bowhead whale - Wikipedia) swims just in front of the bow of the ship. Just stunning!



And on the whale-feeding goes…



And then… PB!



Back to the whales.



What a day!

 

[JohnM]

By next morning we were getting well into thick sea ice amid a glassy sea and near cloudless sky – PB habitat and perfect conditions. The ship, which can break through 2 m thick ice, just crunched on through it.

 

[JohnM]

Then we steamed into into PB nirvana.



Sniff, sniff – could that be a smorgasbord on that thing? Bletch… – tasteless humans.



The Captain would take the ship off-track, slow, and even loop back any time that we had good wildlife sightings. Everything stopped (several times mid-lecture) for the wildlife.

The ice packing in on the SW side of Wrangel Island.



One less seal - and here’s the perpetrator coming right up to the bow of the now stationary ship. Step down here and you’ll be next…



Borrring… I’m off.

 

[craven morehead]

Then we steamed into into PB nirvana.

View attachment 195553

Sniff, sniff – could that be a smorgasbord on that thing? Bletch… – tasteless humans.

View attachment 195554View attachment 195555View attachment 195556

The Captain would take the ship off-track, slow, and even loop back any time that we had good wildlife sightings. Everything stopped (several times mid-lecture) for the wildlife.

The ice packing in on the SW side of Wrangel Island.

View attachment 195557

One less seal - and here’s the perpetrator coming right up to the bow of the now stationary ship. Step down here and you’ll be next…

View attachment 195558View attachment 195559View attachment 195560

Borrring… I’m off.

View attachment 195561

Don't think you could get closer ! Largish type beast

 

[VPS]

Wow puffins and Mark Cawardine - he's a really interesting guy and now I'm extremely jealous. Bring it on. I'm sure I'd have lens envy with my little point and shoot camera

 

[JohnM]

So far, we hadn’t had breakfast. The first PB call came at 0500 h and the creatures just didn’t stop coming. They can clearly sniff out a potential meal. We had 12 sightings before heading inside to eat.



C’mon, Snowy, let’s try for an easy brekky… Cool, mum…



C’mon down, you cowards… We just to play – honest…

Then the second cub caught up.

 

[JohnM]

Those humans are sooo boring; let’s have a bit of fun…

 

[JohnM]

The current was packing in the ice too densely for Zodiac access at the Wrangel Island bay that was our original destination, where we had to pick up three rangers that would accompany us on the ship for the rest of the time circumnavigating and landing on the island.

We needed to change plans to anchor further W in clearer water for the ranger pickup. The rangers loved the opportunity to live onboard in luxury for several days! Great people to interact with.

Most (there is a military base on the SE part) of Wrangel Island (Wrangel Island - Wikipedia) and nearby and smaller Herald Island, is a federally protected nature sanctuary administered by Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. It is also WH-listed (Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve) because of its unique evolution and biodiversity – a consequence of it not being glaciated during the Quaternary Ice Age.

It is claimed that the mammoths finally went extinct there, some 6,000 years after becoming extinct in Siberia, and by which time they had comparatively dwarfed.

The island and its surrounding waters are a ‘strict nature reserve’ and receive the highest level of environmental protection. It excludes practically all human activity other than for scientific purposes. Four rangers reside on the island year-round, while a core group of about 12 scientists conduct research during summer.

As far as I am aware, these voyages are the only ones permitted to take tourists onto Wrangel Island, so we were incredibly privileged. It’s potentially extremely dangerous, being a major polar bear denning ground. So, apart from the need to have the rangers with us to ensure compliance with access rules, they were essential for our protection against polar bears and muskox.

The rangers were armed and always went to landing sites well in advance of us to recce the area and post themselves at a perimeter or high points of the permitted access area.



In go a couple of the Zodiacs and they had to thread their way some distance through the ice.



After the ranger pick-up, we crunched on to the W through heavy ice. Looking over the tip of the bow. The ship just goes a straight course through anything that it encounters.



And another PB.



Mmmm, mmm - something in that tin can smells tasty… Who cares if they taste like chicken or make me barf?



Who’s a handsome fella, then?

 

[drron]

Silversea have done the North West passage cruise in the last 2 years.they do land on Wrangell and confirmed as our son's in laws did this cruise this year and their are pics of them on Wrangell Island.
Dare say a lot more expensive than your cruise.

Explore the Arctic and Greenland on a Luxury Expedition Cruise | Silversea

Create memories, emotions and delve into the wonder of our planet’s most inspiring place on Arctic expeditions onboard with Silversea’s Arctic and Greenland cruise.

www.silversea.com

 

[JohnM]

Silversea have done the North West passage cruise in the last 2 years.they do land on Wrangell and confirmed as our son's in laws did this cruise this year and their are pics of them on Wrangell Island.
Dare say a lot more expensive than your cruise.

Explore the Arctic and Greenland on a Luxury Expedition Cruise | Silversea

Create memories, emotions and delve into the wonder of our planet’s most inspiring place on Arctic expeditions onboard with Silversea’s Arctic and Greenland cruise.

www.silversea.com

Maybe the information that I was given related to the type of voyage.

Our voyage was expressly with Wrangel Island and its surrounding region as a destination, to flexibly search out wildlife on the ice and circumnavigate the island with targetted, but not fixed, landing destinations, and it is done three times per season. Our pre-voyage-provided program was guidance, not fixed. The Silverseas program timings are very specific. Anyway, no matter, I'm sure they enjoyed it as much as I did.

Do you know whether they had the rangers come aboard for the duration of the Wrangel time?

Indeed more costly than mine. Allowing for the different duration, about 1.6x more/day. Both total and normalised, it's well beyond my means .

I know that you are a cruise-lover, but it's not my thing. I have been deliberately calling this a voyage - a cruise (as I perceive that) it was not.

But that is not to say it was spartan or poorly-provisioned. Certainly the meals were very good. I always particularly enjoy dinner sans dessert wherever I am, but I'm a very light breakfast and lunch (the exceptions are, believe it or not, very occasional and an illusion ) eater and I never eat between meals, so the large amounts of food on offer at breakfast, lunch and between meals were wasted on me.

 

[Antoallison]

The access and proximity you got to take these photos of the Polar Bears on this voyage is priceless.

I feel a 2020 AFF calendar of best wildlife photos might be worthwhile !

 

[JohnM]

I did my best with my dinky pocket camera, but it was no match for the heavy artillery .