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Adventures in Svalbard

Hansbreen.
Hansbreen.
Haley and I had the opportunity to travel to the magical land of Svalbard, with a quick stop-over in Norway's lovely capital of Oslo. Svalbard is a place of mystery that draws people in with the lure of Polar Bears, and then blows them away with dramatic and sublime landscapes. We were spoiled-rotten on an 11-day cruise aboard the Sea Spirit. We spent every moment with mouths agape. Each morning we were giddy as children on Christmas morning, wondering what adventure, and delicious food, awaited us that day.
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The streets of Oslo.

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Haley makes a beeline to the Royal Palace.

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Guard at the Royal Palace.

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The streets of Oslo.

Oslo

During our descent into Oslo, I couldn't help but notice the similarities to Oregon's Willamette Valley. I joked with Haley that we could have hopped on a two hour plane ride, rather than the sixteen hours of combined flight time, and ended up in practically the same place. But I quickly learned the travel time, airplane food and movie …
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Colorful houses of Longyearbyen.

Welcome to Longyearbyen!

Once we got off the plane in Longyearbyen we gathered our luggage from the single baggage claim, and followed the crowd outside where two large buses were waiting. We figured we were supposed to follow everyone else onto a bus of our choosing, even though we weren't exactly sure where either of them was going to end up. We quickly learned that …
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Polar Bear crossing.

Polar Bears

People flying into the Missoula International Airport often comment on the taxidermy Grizzly that greets them. After 48 hours of travel, I couldn’t help but chuckle when we shuffled into the Longyearbyen airport to find a massive Polar Bear watching over the baggage claim. Two bears, 3,500 miles apart welcoming me to my final …
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The Sea Spirit.

Ship Life

Growing up in the landlocked state of Montana, my boat experience was limited to lakes and rivers. I didn't know what to expect in terms of what sleeping on a ship would be like, what a a cruise schedule was like or what exactly an expedition cruise would entail.The Sea Spirit was beautiful, and had recently been refurbished. The cabins were …
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Whaling cabin at Bamsebu.

Wanny Wolstad: Queen of the Arctic

I will admit history has never been my favorite topic. But my ears did perk up with the tale of Wanny Wolstad. As an avid outdoorswoman I was delighted when our historical guide, Sven shared her story. Wanny was the first woman trapper and hunter on Svalbard. She arrived in 1932, after being widowed twice and raising two sons on her own. She …
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Gasbergkilen.

Geology Rocks!

One of the best things about expedition cruising is the educational component. Each of the guides on board has a different area of speciality and can answer questions and help passengers learn about the history, natural history, animals etc. of the destination .I’m a huge rock nerd. I took every single Geology class my college had to offer, …
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Bugerbutka.

Lessons from the Arctic

One of the reoccurringthemes while traveling in the Arctic was the importance of flexibility. Anytime you head into the unknown, a bit of flexibility is key, but this proved to be especially true in the far north. First and foremost, everything in Svalbard is weather dependent.

We quickly learned that our itinerary would be determined by the …
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Reindeer sparring at Alkhornet.

Arctic Wildlife

The first Arctic wildlife we saw were two Reindeer. We saw them from the bus window on our way to our hostel in Longyearbyen. We quickly discovered these sightings were not uncommon, during nearly every landing during our cruise we saw Reindeer. They were short and stocky. And we learned they are not native to Svalbard. They were brought to the …
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Enjoying a zodiac cruise at Bugerbutka.

Ice!

One of my favorite activities during our trip was the zodiac cruises. Although we used the zodiacs as a taxi service to and from shore, there was something special about using them as means to get up close and personal to both scenery and wildlife. Our first longer zodiac cruise was at Burgerbukta. We puttered through huge floating chunks of ice …
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Glass-still waters around Spitsbergen

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Midnight sun over Lofoten

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A polar bear climbs glacial ice in the Arctic

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