A rare and monumental voyage through history.
From the 16th century onward, the quest for the Northwest Passage was an unrelenting obsession for many adventurers and explorers. Since 1576, when the swashbuckling Frobisher made the first attempt, ship after ship searched for the fabled northern route to the Orient. Three hundred years later, Roald Amundsen triumphantly succeeded.
Beginning where Amundsen's triumph concluded, you participate in a journey that only a few ships have accomplished since.
The Original Experts on Arctic Survival.
For thousands of years before Europeans set foot here, indigenous people survived and prospered under some of the harshest conditions on Earth. These cultures remain vital and resilient today, closely linked with the land and local wildlife. On this journey, you'll have the opportunity to interact with these fascinating people, the original experts on Arctic survival.
Features:
- Retracing the fabled Northwest Passage
- Bering Strait
- Beaufort Sea
- Cultural demonstrations by indigenous peoples
- Polar Arts program
- Shore landings by Zodiac or helicopter
- Airfare from Anchorage USA to Russia and from Resolute to Ottawa, Canada
Happy 101st, Roald!
It was August 30, 1906 when Roald Amundsen and his crew finally completed the transit of the Northwest Passage and reached the Bering Strait to enter the Pacific Ocean. So remember to raise a glass to the 101st anniversary of this most incredible achievement. Well done, Roald.
Taking Care: the Delicate Arctic Environment.
While we celebrate the privilege of polar travel, Quark Expeditions also takes the responsibility seriously. You will find environmental conservation a central theme of every voyage. We embrace the rules of wilderness etiquette, and respect the archaeological and historical remains we encounter. By sharing this environment with others, our travellers become ambassadors, passing their understanding onto others around the globe. This creates a growing network of advocates for the preservation of the Polar Regions. That is the power of environmentally responsible tourism.
Important Reminder: Your voyage includes many experiences only Quark has access to. However, as on any expedition, there are no guarantees that we can achieve everything we set out to accomplish.
DAY 1 - 3
Three days. Two continents. One incredible journey.
Your journey begins in Anchorage, Alaska. Twenty-four hours later you will be in Providenia, Russia, where you board the icebreaker, Kapitan Khelbnikov.
DAY 4 & 5
700 year-old whalebones, 10,000 year-old bridges.
Experience for yourself the centuries-old mysteries of Whalebone Alley on Yttygran Island. This sacred place for native whalers has a haunted feel about it even today. 10,000years ago, North America's first peoples may have walked across the Bering Strait on abridge of ice. Now, this narrow stretch of water separating Alaska from Siberia is a pathway for migrating marine mammals and seabirds.
Small wonder that it's been identified by the World Wildlife Fund as being of biological and cultural significance.
DAY 6 - 8
History's most fabled journey.
Our journey through the fabled Northwest Passage begins. Today you'll travel through the Beaufort Sea, also identified by the WWF as biologically and culturally significant, and past Point Barrow. The Arctic pack ice makes this route almost impossible to navigate; just over 100 transits have been completed. As one of very few polar icebreakers in the world, Kapitan Khlebnikov makes it seem easy. Watching Kapitan Khlebnikov cut through ice can be as thrilling as the scenery that surrounds you.
DAY 9 - 11
Where the wooly mammoth roamed.
Herschel Island, once home to the wooly mammoth, and onto Franklin Bay. Gaze into the same luminous polar sky as Amundsen, who wintered at nearby King's Point. We'll take a Zodiac to Pauline Cove, a winter refuge for 19th century ships. Keep your eyes open: bowhead whales and polar bears could be spotted in and around Franklin Bay. Take a moment to soak up the vast and humbling northern landscape. Take in the wide skies looking over rolling hills of velvet tundra, colored with thousands of plants.
DAY 12 - 14
Just like the great explorers, but comfortable.
Through Amundsen Gulf. You're following in the footsteps of the great polar explorers, only this time you'll be better prepared: you'll have those warm Quark parkas, for one thing. And food. And beds. And soap. Early European adventurers must have been quite a sight for the local inhabitants. Dressed in cocked hats, tailcoats and buckled shoes, the first explorers were famously unprepared for the harsh Arctic environment.
Gaze upon the remains of Maud, Amundsen's three-masted schooner that he sailed across the polar basin in 1922-24. But first, we'll watch for more whales, polar bears and musk oxen as we land on Victoria Island and travel through the Dolphin and Union Straits.
DAY 15 - 17
Franklin's great dream comes to a tragic end.
In Victoria Strait, where the search for the remains of Franklin's expedition finally ended in 1859. Throughout your journey, you'll not only visit these and many other historic sites: our shipboard experts will entertain and educate you on the thrilling history that surrounds you every nautical mile of the way. Heading north, along the Boothia Peninsula via Larsen Sound and into Lancaster Sound, we'll watch for polar bears, the rare narwhal - the single-tusked whale, and inspiration for the legend of the unicorn - and much more rare and exotic wildlife.
DAY 18
Frobisher. Franklin. Amundsen. And now, you.
Congratulations. You have now joined the ranks of the few people in the world that can claim to have sailed the Northwest Passage. Our final stop is a poignant one: Beechey Island, where Franklin and his men spent a winter before disappearing.
DAY 19 & 20
Your ending, however, will be in comfort.
Back to civilization, and a final night at the Fairmont Chateau Laurier Hotel in Ottawa. We'll give you our guarantee - that you now have enough stories to last a lifetime of dinner parties.
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Glaucous Gull on iceberg
