Arctic High Arctic - Ellesmere Island & Greenland

Two countries, one midnight sun - the Arctic few have visited. We will trace the history of the northern peoples across 4,000 years, follow the path of early explorers and visit modern northern communities in Canada and Greenland.

Beginning in Ottawa, we fly to the remote Canadian Nunavut community of Resolute on Cornwallis Island to board our icebreaker. We travel along the south coast of Devon Island into Lancaster Sound where we will watch for whales, Arctic seals and polar bears. In Dundas Harbour we visit the remains of millennia-old early Thule winter houses and the abandoned Royal Canadian Mounted Police depot at Dundas Harbour. Thousands of seabirds nest in Nirjutiqavvik National Wildlife Area on Coburg Island - be sure to have your camera and binoculars handy as we cruise in our Zodiacs past the towering cliffs! The only settlement on Ellesmere Island and the most northern in Canada is Grise Fjord, and the 140 residents will entertain us with their cultural demonstrations based on 4,000 years of tradition.

Only an icebreaker can penetrate the icebound channels of Kane Basin. As we head to Fort Conger the farthest north on this final voyage of the Khlebnikov to the High Arctic, we learn in our lecture series of Elisha Kane and his 83 day march across the ice after losing his ship, one of the greatest feats of Arctic exploration. We learn the stories of Greeley and Peary as we visit their base at Fort Conger. We hope to stop at Skraeling Island to see the remains of the Dorset peoples who predate the Thule culture. Close by, but six and half millennia later, we will see the remains of Greeley’s 1881-84 expedition on Pim Island.

Crossing the international boundary we enter Greenland and visit the friendly inhabitants of Qaanaaq, the world’s northernmost community and learn how their ancestors fished and hunted. The coastline has jagged fjords filled with gigantic bluewhite icebergs. Near to Kap York, atop a glacier is the stone monument honoring Robert Peary - using our helicopters is the only way to visit this site.

Returning to Canada we will stop at the Inuit community of Pond Inlet - famous for it’s Artist’s Co-operative but we will also have time to explore the hamlet and hike the nearby tundra. Our final stop is a poignant one - going ashore on Beechey Island we find the three graves from Sir John Franklin’s expedition. Their grave markers are a silent witness to the tragedy that continues to consume the imagination of Arctic travelers to this very day.

Our journey is not without amazing wildlife. We have the chance to see snowy owls, peregrine falcons, murres and fulmars and the rare gyrfalcon as well as whales, arctic seals and polar bears. Our adventure concludes back in Resolute and our flight to Ottawa.