Day 15 September 10 Queen Maud Gulf – At Sea
We sailed the whole day. Part of the Gulf is part of the Queen Maud Gulf Bird Sanctuary which is Canada’s largest protected area. I attended Alessandro’s interesting lecture on plankton in the morning and Julie’s promotional talk on Le Commandant Charcot destinations. I am most interested in an inaugural route from Hobart to Cape Town in 2025. But it is very expensive and I have to think twice. I watched the American presidential elections in the evening.
Day 16 September 11 Edinburgh Island Nunavut
We spent a full day in Edinburgh Island: the plan was to make two hiking trips in different parts of the island. I joined an intermediate group and hiked for an hour and a half. The landscape and tundra scenery were impressive. It is one of the best hikes of the whole journey.
The weather was superb. After lunch, I got ready to take a zodiac at 2 pm to land on the eastern end of the island. Unfortunately, two brown bears were spotted near a nearby beach. As a result, the landing was cancelled and we could only take an hour’s zodiac cruise to enjoy the impressive land formation and tundra colours. We spotted two nests on the cliffs. We had indeed made the best use of the time. In the evening, I watched a concert “Around the World” by the five artists. Their round the world journey only covered US, Australia, Brazil, Jamaica, Spain and France. This is not a RTW tour today- it should include Asia and Africa!
Day 17 September 12 Ulukhaktok Victoria Island
Victoria Island is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago and Canada’s second largest island with an area of 217,291 sq km. This is our only landing in Inuvialuit, one of the four Inuit regions. (To add)
Day 18 September 13 Smoking Hills Northwest Territories
(to add)
Day 19 September 14 Sailing Beaufort Sea
