In the morning, Lauren and I were ready to stretch our legs and explore Oslo! Keeping in theme with our coming embarkation and voyage to Svalbard, our plan was to dig deep into some of the polar history to be found in the city to bring alive the journey we were about to embark on. We decided we would focus our day on the Bygdøy Peninsula, located in Oslofjord. The island is home of beautiful countryside, vibrant green forests, hiking trails, historic buildings and lots of swimming spots to visit. Seeing as we were visiting on a brisk May day, swimming and hiking were taking a back burner to our interest in navigational history.
After a very Norwegian breakfast of brown cheese on toast (Sounds strange...but try this at least once while in Norway. It's delicious.) we wandered down to the ferry dock, just a quick walk from the City Center, and purchased two tickets across the Fjord to the Bygdøy peninsula. The ferries dock right at the walkway leading to the Fram museum, making this a very accessible and easy adventure to navigate on your own.
Our first stop was the Fram Museum, located right by the coast along with the Kontiki Museum. After purchasing our ferry tickets at the nearby dock, we hopped on the boat and headed towards our adventure. The ferry ride was quick and quite a scenic motor along the coast, and dropped us at the dock leading right to the Fram Museum. The museum is home to the legendary polar exploration vessel, the Fram, used by Nansen to navigate the Arctic and by Amundsen to sail South to claim the discovery of the South Pole. The peculiar triangle-shaped building also houses numerous polar exhibits and artifacts, such as the Gjøa, the first ship to sail the Northwest Passage fully, a display of the airship the Norge, gear and supplies used on expeditions, historic photos, and exhibits of arctic wildlife, including musk oxen and polar bears spread throughout three floors. We spent hours walking through the decks of the Fram, learning about its history, and imagining the lives of the crew on board in challenging polar conditions. The experience left us excited and anticipating our upcoming journey even more.
After lunch with a view of the water on the museum's patio, we strolled across the lawn to our next destination, the Kontiki Museum. This museum chronicles the legendary adventures of Thor Heyerdahl and his expedition sailing across the Pacific Ocean on a hand-built raft, the Kontiki, starting from South America.
In the evening, we returned to downtown Oslo in time to climb to the top of the Opera House and enjoy the sunset along the fjord before gathering our luggage and hopping on to the FlyTo Get express train back to the airport to check in to the Radisson Blu where we would meet our fellow passengers at the Quark pre-embarkation briefing and tuck in for an early start in the morning.
Adventure Life is always an excellent choice when planning complicated, extreme, or exotic vacations or expeditions. They provide friendly professional services and advice and are enthusiastic and encouraging in helping us to prepare and thoroughly enjoy our trip. They handle all the details which greatly reduces the stress of planning a difficult trip. I'm very impressed with Adventure Life and definitely recommend them to friends and family.
Scott Trochim
2 days ago
The response from Adventure Life to my first inquiry was prompt and promising. I worked with Jamie Broeckel, Trip Planner, via text, email, and phone calls- always extremely responsive and thorough with information and explaining the process to arrange a private tour for me to Malaysia Borneo. Within about week, the booking was complete and I made decisions because of Jamie's great customer service , friendly manner, and overall competence on behalf of the company's travel expertise. Now I have an itinerary, additional Trip Planner Assistants, several links for vital information for traveling to Maylasia, etc. Still many details for Sept. trip, but now the heavy lifting is done and I can enjoy the rest of the anticipation and research!! Thanks Jamie- you are amazing!!!!
Susan Campo
4 days ago
The trip was not only memorable for the amount of animals we saw but also for the people and accommodations at the two camps where we stayed. Our first guide, BK, was a wealth of information about the animals, landscape and down to the plants and what they were used for. Everyday out was a learning experience with him. All the people at the camps were gracious and the food was excellent.
Our second camp in the Okavanga was just as good as the first as far as the staff, accommodations, food and animals. After our experience at the first camp we amazed that the high quality remained the same. Our guide, G, made sure we were able to enjoy every experience including a rush through the bush to witness a cheetah and an ensuing hunt that he heard over his radio.
In both camps there were enough guides out that if they saw something the other guides were informed which helped in seeing as much as possible. It was also nice that the concessions were large enough that we did not have vehicles following each other throughout the day.
Normally there is always something in a trip of this length that we think could be improved upon but this is the rare case where we cannot think of anything. From the time we left the States to when we returned it was one of the most hassle free vacations we took.
Perhaps emphasizing the use of the laundry facilities at the camps would be useful because of the luggage restrictions would be the only thing I can think of as an improvement to future clients.
Kenneth Dropek
5 days ago
Mary was so pleasant and professional. She made sure all of our questions were answered.
