Enjoy your first Zodiac-ride to Silver Explorer, waiting at anchor. Once all guests have embarked, a safety briefing will be conducted and you will depart on your exciting expedition into the “High Arctic”. This evening, you will be introduced to your Expedition Leader and the Expedition Team and attend a Zodiac briefing. While you cruise the 100-mile-long Kangerlussuaq Fjord keep an eye for Peregrine Falcon, as this fjord is home to 130 pairs.

Located just north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut is the northernmost town in Greenland where the port remains free of ice in the winter. Yet it is also the southernmost town where there exists enough snow and ice to drive a dogsled in winter and spring. In Sisimiut, travelling by sled has been the primary means of winter transportation for centuries. Today you will meet the owner of a sled dog team and his dogs. He will tell you all about sledding and how the Greenlandic sled dog has been bred to be among the strongest working dogs in the world. A nice hike around the remains of ancient settlements and into the outskirts of town is feasible, too. Stroll through the Sisimiut Museum with its 18th century wooden buildings and see some of the local handicraft, featuring native stonework and sealskin garments. Perhaps you will have a chance to listen to the local choir.

Just after sunrise, be out on deck to see the fjord of the northern hemisphere’s most active glacier – Jakobshavn – often surrounded by icebergs in all shapes and sizes and in varying shades of white and turquoise. Known as the birthplace of icebergs, the Ilulissat Icefjord produces nearly 20 million tons of ice each day. The town of Ilulissat is known for its long periods of calm and settled weather, but the climate is a bit colder due to its proximity to the fjord. While here, you may have the opportunity to see a demonstration of ancient fishing methods and enjoy some locally caught and prepared fish. During your guided walking tour of Ilulissat, you will visit the local history museum, located in the former home of Greenlandic folk hero and famed polar explorer Knud Rasmussen. The afternoon tour continues via fishing boat, as you navigate among the many icebergs at the fjord’s entrance. Alternatively, guests have the option to purchase an exciting helicopter excursion to see the magnificent Jakobshavn Icefjord by air.

In the iceberg-laden waters surrounding the remote community of Uummannaq it is common to see whales, so be sure to join the Expedition Team out on deck during our approach. This area of Greenland is known for its huge basalt mountains, and this small hunting and fishing village rests at the foot of a heart-shaped Uummannaq Mountain, a name that translates to mean “in the shape of a seal’s heart”. Take a guided walking tour of Uummannaq to see the granite church and learn how village life revolves around the halibut/fish-processing factory. The more energetic will have the opportunity to hike to what is known as the “summer residence of Santa Claus”.

As you continue your exploration heading north, stop at Upernavik, one of the few settlements that you will come across during your explorations. During your visit you will have a look at the local museum and stroll through the brightly colored village.

Participate in discussions and on-board activities led by the Expedition Team, relax in one of the lounges with that book you’ve been meaning to read, and meet up with new friends for cocktails. On board Silver Explorer, a variety of diversions are available, including educational lectures, spa treatments, a workout in the Fitness Center, and, of course, exquisite dining experiences. Before turning in for the night, take a stroll on deck to take in the solitude of the vast sea and sky.

Located in northern Baffin Island Pond Inlet is a small, predominantly Inuit community with a population of roughly 1500 inhabitants. In 1818 the British explorer John Ross named a bay in the vicinity after an English astronomer and today Pond Inlet is considered one of Canada’s “jewels of the North”. Several glaciers and mountain ranges nearby make this one of the most picturesque communities. Many archaeological sites of ancient Dorset and Thule peoples can be found near Pond Inlet. The Inuit had long hunted caribou, Ringed and Harp Seals, fish, Polar Bears, walrus, Narwhals, geese, ptarmigans and Arctic Hares, before European and American whalers came here to hunt Bowhead Whales. Pond Inlet is known as a major center of Inuit art, especially printmaking and stone carving. View a variety of techniques and styles used in creating these unique pieces in the galleries in town.

Cruising Milne Inlet and Navy Board Inlet, you will be next to Bylot Island. Found at the northern end of Baffin Island Bylot Island runs 180 km from east to west and 110 km from north to south. Bylot is one of the largest uninhabited islands in the world. Vertical cliffs and numerous glaciers are found along the shore of Bylot Island. Polar Bears are known to den here, while Beluga and Bowhead Whale, Narwhal and Harp seal, as well as Ringed Seal frequent the area. The Sirmilik National Park covers much of this area and harbors large populations of Thick-billed Murres and Black-legged Kittiwakes which you should intend to see. The importance this area has for birds is shown in its designation as Important Bird Area (actually three different ones) and Bylot Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary. The southwest corner of Bylot Island’s southern end has moist lowland tundra that is ideal nesting habitat for waterfowl, shorebirds and songbird and more than 70 different species of birds can be found on Bylot Island. Canada’s largest breeding colony of Greater Snow Geese in the Canadian High Arctic is on this island.

Prince Leopold Island is an oval-shaped island measuring roughly 14 by 8 kilometres. Located in Lancaster Sound the island is a Canadian Important Bird Area, a federally listed migratory bird sanctuary, and a Key Migratory Bird Terrestrial Habitat site with large numbers of Thick-billed Murres, Northern Fulmars and Black-legged Kittiwakes breeding there between June and September. Prince Leopold Island has a greater variety and larger numbers of birds than any other Canadian Arctic island. You will use Zodiacs to get a close look at the different colonies of seabirds nesting here and Silver Explorer will cruise along the shore of Prince Leopold Island. Fringed by a narrow beach, windswept and barren, Beechey Island is associated with the tragic Franklin Expedition looking for the Northwest Passage. Three graves of members of the expedition as well as a cairn and some small buildings were found here during the search for the survivors of the expedition. Parts of Northumberland House, a supply depot and emergency shelter dating back to the 1850s and the Belcher Expedition, can still be seen on the island today. The search for the lost Franklin expedition led to the exploration and mapping of a large part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and only very recently (in September 2014) has the surprisingly well-preserved Erebus been finally discovered off O’Reilly Island –some 485 miles further south. You will go ashore to have a look at the remains of Franklin’s unfortunate stop and a monument that has been erected in memory of those who had perished on that expedition.

Participate in on-board activities, attend a lecture by a member of the Expedition Team, or simply be on the look-out for wildlife this far north. A spa treatment, a visit to the Sauna, a workout in the Fitness Center, there are many choices of how you want to spend the day. In the evening enjoy another special dining experience.

At Gibbs Fjord you might do a spectacular ship cruise or even a Zodiac-cruise along the steep cliffs, seemingly impenetrable fortress of 4,000-foot walls, towers, and buttresses that is SIllem Island, dividing Gibbs and Clark Fjords. The geological formations make for excellent photo opportunities. Weather permitting, go ashore looking for Arctic Flora and Fauna, and perhaps even Thule ruins.

The Sam Ford Fjord area of Baffin Island is one of the most impressive concentrations of big walls in the world. It is a 68-mile waterway lined with vertical walls, results of ancient glaciers. What makes this area truly unique is that many of these walls rise straight out of the deep fjords. You will continue to look for Narwhal, seals, and other marine mammals.

Clyde River has attracted people for many centuries. Its local name Kangiqtugaapik (‘nice little inlet’ in Inuktitut) should indicate why this is so: it is located in a protected little bay. Dramatic mountains, fiords, glaciers, ice caps, tundra slopes, and the rugged arctic coastline are so beautiful the entire area has been proposed as a territorial park site. Some 850 (mostly) Inuit live here. Wildlife found here includes Polar Bears, seals, Narwhals, Bowhead Whales, caribou, Arctic Hare, Arctic Fox and numerous species of migratory birds. Whale hunting is still being allowed and apart from the meat that is being eaten, bones are an important “by-product” of the catch: The local carvers produce interesting artefacts and the ‘Kangiqtugaapik’ artists are famous for their whalebone carvings. Apart from whalebone stone sculptures are also created here from a light green stone found north of Clyde River. The local carvings and sculptures are highly sought after.

Some 150 to 200 Bowhead Whales, once extensively hunted, have found a protected area where they can feed and socialize. An extensive area off the coast of Baffin Island, known as Ninginganiq, has become Canada’s newest proposed National Wildlife Area. There are two deep offshore troughs rich in copepods and a shallow shelf at the entrance to the bay that provides protection from Orcas. Other animals found here are Polar Bears, Ringed Seals, Arctic Char, and halibut, Narwhal, Canada Geese, Snow Geese and King Eider. As a result of the formation of the Ninginganiq National Wildlife Area the eastern bowhead population may now be as high as 14,000.

Cape Dyer is situated at the most easterly projection of Baffin Island into Davis Strait. The Upper Camp of the former Main Radar Station occupied the highest available site on the eastern tip of a peninsula, 2300 feet above sea level. Sheer cliffs, over 2000 feet high can be seen along the coastline in this area. In the last years the area has been cleaned of all the leftover from the former Radar Station. On the northern side of the Cape Dyer region of the Cumberland Peninsula you can still find areas that are so seldom visited that fiords, valleys, and mountains lack English names. Some parts of the area have received names relating to Norse mythology, e.g. Mount Asgard or Mt. Thor, while a fjord near Cape Dyer, has a nameless valley and glacier running 18 miles south to their head near the Arctic Circle. Other parts were visited by Baffin and Bylot in the early 17th century and have names like Sunneshine Fjord or Baffin Island…

During your expedition day continue your exploration of the Cumberland Peninsula. Whether it is ship’s cruising, Zodiac-cruises or a hike ashore will be determined by the Captain and the Expedition Leader based on local conditions and permits.

Named in honour of Sir John Franklin’s widow uninhabited Lady Franklin Island is 40 kilometres off of Baffin Island’s Hall Peninsula. There are at least seven smaller, unnamed islands off its northwest shore that lend themselves to be explored by Zodiac, while Lady Franklin Island offers an abundance of bears, caribou, ducks, seals, and walrus.

Participate in final discussions and attend lectures that recapture our experiences in the Canadian Far North. Take time to go through your pictures and to edit them, but definitely you want to attend our videographer’s presentation of your journey. Tonight your Captain would like to invite you to the Farewell Cocktail and Farewell Dinner.

After breakfast, disembark the Silver Explorer via Zodiac.