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 destination.
Polar Bears are the iconic symbol of Svalbard. Due to the large population of bears on the archipelago, it is actually illegal to leave the settlement of Longyearbyen without a high powered rifle, strictly for self defense purposes. I imagine that many tourists found it strange to see multiple young folks, likely local university students or scientists, with a rifle slung over their shoulder wandering about town.
The next bear we saw was also stuffed. His home was in highly recommended Svalbard Museum. I was amazed at his sheer size. I stood there and stared at him half expecting him to move. I was well aware that he had been long deceased, but it still gave me an eerie feeling being close enough to reach out and touch the massive king of the Arctic. Of course, being the good sign-following tourist that I am, I resisted the urge.
My one wish for our trip was to see a (live) Polar Bear. Our expedition leader did a good job of managing our expectations. He told the group on the very first day that it was unlikely we would see any and he reiterated that wildlife sittings are never guaranteed. Although this crushed our hopes in the beginning, Haley and I went on to see eight Polar Bears. Each and every spotting was quite a treat and none of them were taken for granted. All of the bears were at a good distance, and we spent what seemed like hours with our binoculars pressed to our faces leaving rings around our eyes.
Looking for wildlife. (Molly Stanko)
Our guides told us this is the time of year the bears are conserving as much energy as possible waiting for their next meal. We first saw a sow and her cub curled up and sleeping. The next two were sleeping under a cliff of birds where we were scheduled to land. Needless to say, that landing was cancelled. Preferring bears to birds anyway, I was okay with that. We were told these bears were strategically placed waiting for eggs to fall. Even though all of my photo evidence only shows-up as white specks, I will never forget the adrenaline rush and hold-my-breath-until-I-turned-blue honor of witnessing a Polar Bear in the wild.
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
1 day ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
3 days ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.
Shelby Oakes
3 days ago
Great communication and service!
Larry Haisley
3 days ago
We had an absolutely wonderful Seychelles cruise experience. I can’t imagine having seen all the beautiful islands we saw any other way. The entire Variety cruise staff was so friendly, attentive and professional. And all the meals were amazing. I highly recommend this cruise.