Seabourn 2021 - 2022

DAY 0 | REYKJAVÍK Is the northernmost national capital in the world, and also one of the cleanest, greenest, and safest cities on earth. Colorful rooftops and the elegant spire of Hallgrímskirkja Church dominate the city’s skyline, dwarfed by Iceland’s dramatic landscape. You will embark Seabourn Venture here to begin an in-depth discovery of Iceland and Greenland’s splendors. DAY 1 | GRUNDARFJØRÐUR The charming small fishing village of Grundarfjørður is renowned for Kirkjufell, one of Iceland’s most photographed mountains near two sets of photogenic waterfalls. The town is located in the Snæfellsnes Peninsula and provides easy access to Stykkishólmur, Snæfellsbær and the Snæfellsnes National Park. During the summer, residents build a Viking Village in the center of town and re-enact Viking-era life. The surrounding sea is rich with bird & marine life. DAY 2 | VIGUR The remote Westfjords peninsula region in northwest Iceland is a steep, wild landscape, sparsely populated due to lack of flat farmland. Its second-largest island, Vigur , is a renowned site for viewing nesting birds. Sea cliffs offer a wealth of nesting sites, and Vigur’s people long ago con- structed unique stone walls to attract ei- ders, which line their nests with famously soft and durable down. After the birds de- part, people collect the down to sell on the global market. DAY 3 | ITTOQQORTOORMIIT At the entry to vast Scoresby Sound, the colorful houses of little Ittoqqortoormiit are clustered beside the fjord in an imposing landscape. The town reveals a lot about traditional Greenlandic culture. Skins of seals, muskoxen and polar bears dry on racks, and sled dogs await winter leashed in yards as wooden sleds lean against the houses. Purchase Greenlandic stamps and mail postcards in the post office, or visit the quaint church, its gabled interior painted in white and sky-blue. DAY 4 | HEKLA HVAN & RØDE Ø Hekla Havn in East Greenland’s Scoresby Sound was named for Carl Ryder’s 1891-92 expedition ship. Stone cairns and remnants of his buildings still lie between tall, stratified ridges encircling the island’s glaciated domes. Striking patterns in the rocks and Inuit tent circles dot the surrounding tundra, dressed in the brilliant reds and yellows of Arctic autumn. Rødefjord’s cliffs of 300 million-year-old red sandstone stand out against the sky and an ink-blue fjord filled with shining white, stranded icebergs. On monolithic Røde Island is a small sea cave navigable by Zodiacs ® , and a picturesque columnar basalt intrusion called the ‘pile of firewood.’ We may land here to survey the colorful panorama or explore the shore in kayaks. DAY 5 | BEAR ISLANDS & SYDKAP Warm currents attract walruses, seals, beluga and bowhead whales to the low, rocky Bear Islands in Scoresby Sound. Broad waterways filled with icebergs are ringed by distant snowcapped ranges. Glaciers have planed surfaces smooth to reveal twisted and rippled layers of differently colored rocks. At the north end of the sound, Sydkap has a breathtaking backdrop of Stauning Alps. Colossal tabular icebergs parade majestically in the fjord, and huge boulders stand solitary and balanced in the tundra, deposited by melting glaciers. The ruins of stone houses, whalebones and muskox skulls tell of a settlement of pre-historic whale hunters from the early Thlish culture. DAY 6 | KING OSCAR FJORD & ALPEFJORD KingOscar Fjord cuts deep into Greenland’s eastern coast, forming the northern border of the Northeast Greenland National Park, the world’s largest. It is up to 16 miles in width, with breathtaking skylines of looming mountains cradling glaciers in their passes. Along with varied wildlife, scenic cruising of the fjord offers impressive geological panoramas. Entire islands are striped like candy canes in striations of colorful limestone and dolomite. Alpefjord , is a narrow, steep- walled tributary leading to a 30-mile (50 km) long glacier. A long tongue of ice blocks half its length, depositing enormous icebergs. Muskoxen are frequently seen here. DAY 7 | ELLA Ø & BLOMSTER BUGT Ella Island is wedged at the confluence of five fjords in one of Greenland’s most stunning landscapes. Its sole summer occupants are 12 members of the famous Sirius Dog Sled Patrol. Two-man teams of the Danish troopers travel for months at a time in winter. Blomster Bugt (Flower Bay) is named for its colorful LEGEND OF THE ICELANDIC SAGAS 14 DAYS | ROUND-TRIP REYKJAVÍK | AUG 21, 2021 V151 | SEABOURN VENTURE SCORESBY SOUND, GREENLAND