Seabourn 2021 - 2022

CAPTION CAPTION flowering tundra shores. The site rewards us with fantastical geologic formations, Great Northern Divers–thought to be the oldest bird species on the planet, arctic foxes hunting quick-footed white arctic hares, frequent grazing muskoxen and an old trappers hut. DAY 8 | KEJSER FRANZ JOSEPH FJORD Kaiser Franz Joseph Fjord is one of Greenland’s largest, renowned for its exceptionally tall, steep mountains. The Nordfjord branch ends in the great Waltershausen Glacier, the largest flowing from the Greenland Ice Sheet. The Devil’s Castle is a looming, reddish mountain with striking lighter-colored diagonal bands. The fjord boasts Greenlandic wildlife including four species of seals, walrus, beluga and narwhals in the sea; and caribou, muskoxen, polar bears, foxes and hares and other small mammals on land. The birds are likewise encyclopedic, from breeding populations of seabirds to gyrfalcons, geese and eider ducks, ptarmigans, snowy owls and ravens. DAY 9 | NORWEGIAN SEA We enter the Greenland Sea and cruise southeast towards Iceland. Once we leave the Continental Shelf the bottom rapidly drops to 5,000 feet (1,500 m). When next we meet the rising shelf, we will be in the Norwegian Sea off Iceland’s east coast. An estimated 110,000 minke whales frequent these northern waters, as well as humpback and sie whales. Orcas and white-beaked dolphins patrol Iceland’s coastal waters, and we will also likely see seabirds including puffins, kittiwakes and guillemots. DAY 10 | AKUREYRI Nicknamed ‘The Capital of the North,’ Akureyri sits at the southern head of Iceland’s longest fjord, Eyjafjörður. Surrounded by snow-streaked mountains, in summer its hills flourish with a profusion of arctic wildflowers. In the city center, the striking, twin-spired Lutheran Akureyrakirkja church has lovely, tall stained-glass windows and an impressive pipe organ. It is a cultured city, with a university, numerous galleries, museums, art exhibitions, a botanical garden and theater performances. DAY 11 | SEYDISFJÖRDUR Iceland’s east coast was the first area settled, and your archaeologist will tell you about ancient Thorrarinstadr, the earliest community yet discovered. Pretty, multicolored Seydisfjördur sits at the base of a jaw- dropping mountain wall beside a fjord with many photogenic waterfalls, a magnet for artists, musicians and other creative types. The early wooden Blue Church was moved three times. Other old buildings date from the 1848 arrival of Norwegian herring fishermen. Nearby Vestdalseyri is a whaling ghost town, and a former farm at Skalanes is a nature and culture center. DAY 12 | PAPEY The medieval ‘Book of Settlements’ mentions ‘Vestmenn’ (West-Men) inhabiting Papey Island and it is named for Irish monks (papar). Its windswept, grassy slopes culminate in a rock formation called the Castle. Sea cliffs encircling the island provide nesting habitat for seabirds. Guillemots occupy them until mid-summer, while Atlantic puffins linger until mid-September. Seals and eider ducks also appear during their breeding seasons. Today, the island holds a lighthouse, one dwelling, and Iceland’s oldest wooden church, built in 1902. DAY 13 | HEIMAEY Heimaey in the Westman Islands is visually impressive, surrounded by vertical sea cliffs many hundreds of feet high. It is also home to millions of Atlantic puffins, more nest here than anywhere else on earth. In 1973 volcanic lava nearly engulfed the town. It was stopped from blocking the harbor by pumping immense quantities of cold seawater onto the flow. The Eldheimar Museum focuses on the eruption, while the Sagnheimar Folk Museum recalls events from as long ago as the 17th century, when Barbary pirates took hundreds of its people into slavery in Algeria. DAY 14 | REYKJAVÍK Return to Reykjavík , the first permanent settlement in Iceland, established by Vikings around 870 A.D. By 1703 it consisted of a farm and a church and had 69 residents. Today you will disembark Seabourn Venture after your unforgettable Arctic expedition. HIGHLIGHT: ICEBERGS are the largest ice pieces spawned into the sea from tidewater glaciers, in excess of 16 feet (five meters) in diameter. They are mesmerizing to watch, eroded by air and seawater into fantastic shapes that reflect myriad shades of blue and often host resting birds or seals. Most of their bulk is submerged, and they can ground in shallows or score the sea floor as they are driven by wind and currents. Greenland Sea Hekla Havn Røde Ø Alpefjord Ella Ø/ Blomster Bugt Kejser Franz Joseph Fjord Bear Islands Sydkap Ittoqqortoormiit Akureyri Seydisfjörður Papey Heimaey King Oscar Fjord Vigur Grundarfjørður REYKJAVÍK ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS 49