Saturday 21 November 2015

Tales from the Arctic. Aaron Russ explores the Northwest Passage.

#expeditioncruising

Aaron Russ - Wild Earth GM

Aaron Russ, Wild Earth Travel's General Manager, can often be found leading expeditions on board small ship cruises around the world. He has led well over 100 small ship expeditions to the world's most interesting regions, with a particular favourite being the Polar Regions.

Aaron is always keen to share his experiences with our community of interested travellers. Read an excerpt of his trip report below to hear more about his experiences leading an expedition across the Northwest Passage, where Polar Bears hunted Beluga Whales, indigenous people generously shared their local traditions and the jawdropping scenery continued to amaze.

Aaron also recently led expeditions around Svalbard, read his Svalbard Trip Report here.



I have previously had the opportunity to explore the Canadian Arctic and Greenland extensively in the course of my time as an Expedition Leader, but I knew that this voyage would be different. Sailing from Kangerlussuaq, Greenland to Nome. Alaska we will complete a full transit of the NorthWest Passage sailing from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean via the Canadian Archipelago and northern coast of Alaska. This epic voyage following in the footsteps of the great Norwegian Explorer, Roald Amundsen, is a 22 day voyage that sees us traversing nearly 5000nm and a third of the globe through one of the most isolated regions on earth.

We fly into Greenland on a specially organised charter flight from Montreal, leaving behind the late summer heat and landing just north of the Arctic Circle in Kangerlussuaq. Our ship Le Boreal waits at anchor in the fjord and with all aboard we depart for the 100+ nautical mile journey to the open ocean. Along the way we pass vast acreages of tundra where the occasional Musk Ox can be seen grazing in the distance. In total our group is just shy of two hundred passengers, spread across 4 spacious decks of Le Boreal. While this is a larger group by expedition standards at no time does the ship seem crowded and with a staff or 18 and crew of 145 every detail is taken care of.

To read more about Aaron's epic Arctic adventure, click here.
Click here to view Wild Earth Travel's small ship cruises throughout the Northwest Passage.
To view more of Aaron's images from the Northwest Passage, click here.

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