In amongst our wildlife encounters, we paddleboarded amongst the icebergs, polar plunged in the icy waters, hiked to old mining locations, visited Ny Alesund a mining town turned scientific community, visited Texas Bar a little hut located in the north of the archipelago which is fully stocked with alcohol and named by a Norwegian trapper who loved Texas!, fished for Arctic cod, drank blueberry soup (a Swedish speciality), enjoyed BBQs out on the deck and savoured warming hot chocolates in deckchairs. And celebrated the 4th of July for our American friends on board, decorating the ship with bunting and flags. All of this is only possible because of our incredible Expedition Leaders and fantastic crews on board RV Kinfish and MS Polarfront.
Behind the scenes, we went through the observation process and compliance required to meet the standards to become a full member of AECO, the Association of Expedition Cruise Operators. AECO is dedicated to managing responsible, environmentally friendly and safe tourism in the Arctic and strive to set the highest possible operating standards. We are one of only two small operators to be granted full membership, so we are very proud of our polar team in earning this seal of approval for the quality of our operation.
From whales to walrus, from vast calving glaciers to tiny flowers sprouting on windswept tundra, Svalbard is about so much more than polar bears. We’ve selected some of our favourite images from the past season, shot by our clients and specialist leaders. Alongside these images we have included some of our favourite client quotes taken from the stream of incredible feedback we have received over the past few months.
