Below is a collection of images and feedback by C4 clients, Peter Farmer and Maggie Manson, who was on the Svalbard Photo Tour in September with us. There is only one cabin left for our 2013 Svalbard tour, to read more about it or book your place see here.
"Even before our flight landed in Longyearbyen close to midnight, we were treated to a spectacular sunset over Spitzbergen. This set the scene for a truly magical 10 days on board the MS Stockholm as we cruised north and east around the Svalbard archipelago and then up to 82 degrees north to find the pack-ice. This C4 tour has to rate as one of the very best we have enjoyed and they have all been excellent. The Swedish captain and crew of the ship were wonderful, as was the delicious food, produced with imagination and flair. Even after 10 days at sea in one of the remotest destinations on earth, the two girls were still producing fresh salads and wonderfully tempting dishes. The trip was also greatly enhanced by our guides – Shem with his enthusiasm for this new destination and his tips for wildlife and landscape photography and our polar guide, Ronald Visser, who shared his extensive local knowledge and expertly took charge of our numerous zodiac excursions.
The scenery and light were constantly changing and often astoundingly beautiful. We visited fjords, glaciers, remote research settlements, tiny islands and the pack-ice. We photographed fulmars, terns, kittiwakes, ivory and glaucous gulls, seals, walrus, reindeer, arctic fox and polar bears, as well as plants, landscapes and icebergs galore. We ventured out on the zodiac whenever conditions would allow, sometimes landing for short hikes. Every day was different and there was never a shortage of subjects to focus our cameras on.
The most magical 24 hours was spent in the pack-ice, where we were visited on three occasions by polar bears. The first to arrive were a mother and cub at around 3.30am in the most perfect light. They were followed by an adult female and just before lunch another mother and cub with bloody faces who had been feeding on a seal. Each of them came very close to the ship and provided a multitude of photographic opportunities. Later that day a storm blew up from the south pushing us closer to the North Pole before we eventually escaped from the pack- ice. Then it was time to slowly retrace our “steps” and set sail back towards Longyearbyen, dipping in and out of fjords on the way and taking our total bear count to 18. One of the final delights was a close encounter with an arctic fox in its beautiful winter coat. When can we go back?"
No comments:
Post a Comment