Northwest Passage

Sprawling Reykjavík, the nation's nerve center and government seat, is home to half the island's population. On a bay overlooked by proud Mt. Esja (pronounced eh-shyuh), with its ever-changing hues, Reykjavík presents a colorful sight, its concrete houses painted in light colors and topped by vibrant red, blue, and green roofs. In contrast to the almost treeless countryside, Reykjavík has many tall, native birches, rowans, and willows, as well as imported aspen, pines, and spruces.Reykjavík's name comes from the Icelandic words for smoke, reykur, and bay, vík. In AD 874, Norseman Ingólfur Arnarson saw Iceland rising out of the misty sea and came ashore at a bay eerily shrouded with plumes of steam from nearby hot springs. Today most of the houses in Reykjavík are heated by near-boiling water from the hot springs. Natural heating avoids air pollution; there's no smoke around. You may notice, however, that the hot water brings a slight sulfur smell to the bathroom.Prices are easily on a par with other major European cities. A practical option is to purchase a Reykjavík City Card at the Tourist Information Center or at the Reykjavík Youth Hostel. This card permits unlimited bus usage and admission to any of the city's seven pools, the Family Park and Zoo, and city museums. The cards are valid for one (ISK 3,300), two (ISK 4,400), or three days (ISK 4,900), and they pay for themselves after three or four uses a day. Even lacking the City Card, paying admission (ISK 500, or ISK 250 for seniors and people with disabilities) to one of the city art museums (Hafnarhús, Kjarvalsstaðir, or Ásmundarsafn) gets you free same-day admission to the other two.

On arrival in Reykjavík, you will be met by an Aurora Expeditions representative and transferred to the group hotel. Visit the Aurora Expeditions hospitality desk to collect your cabin luggage tags and speak with our ground operations team. They will share any important pre-embarkation information and can assist with local dining suggestions, cash withdrawals or last-minute purchases.

The remainder of the day is yours to enjoy at leisure. All meals today are at your own expense.

Accommodation: Reykjavík airport hotel (to be advised).

The name Kangerlussuaq means "Big Fjord" in the local Kalaallisut language. The settlement of about 500 people is located in western Greenland on flat land at the head of a fjord with the same name. Kangerlussuaq is the site of Greenland's largest commercial airport and most of the economy here is dependent on the air transportation hub and tourism. The rugged lands around the settlement support terrestrial Arctic fauna including muskoxen, caribou, and Gyrfalcons.

Transfer to Keflavik Reykjavík Airport and board our charter flight to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland. Please ensure your main luggage is fitted with the cabin tags provided and keep valuables, travel documents, medication and anything required during the day in your hand luggage.

On arrival, transfer to Sylvia Earle, waiting at the head of the 190-kilometre (118-mile) Kangerlussuaq Fjord. Settle into your cabin and join the mandatory safety briefings before meeting your Expedition Team and crew. As we sail through the long fjord, steep mountains and glacially carved valleys provide a dramatic introduction to Greenland.

Located just north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut is the northernmost town in Greenland where the port remains free of ice in the winter. Yet it is also the southernmost town where there is enough snow and ice to drive a dogsled in winter and spring. In Sisimiut, travelling by sled has been the primary means of winter transportation for centuries. In fact, the area has been inhabited for approximately 4,500 years. Modern Sisimiut is the largest business center in the north of Greenland, and is one of the fastest growing Greenlandic cities. Commercial fishing is the lead economy in the town‘s thriving industrial base.

North of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut brings together a remarkably long human history and the energy of modern Greenland. Archaeological evidence records waves of settlement by Saqqaq, Dorset and later Thule cultures, while today the town remains an important centre for fishing, hunting, education and outdoor life. We hope to explore the historic quarter around the old blue church and museum, where turf-house reconstructions and local collections reveal how generations adapted to this demanding environment.

Known as the birthplace of icebergs, the Ilulissat Icefjord produces nearly 20 million tons of ice each day. In fact, the word Ilulissat means “icebergs” in the Kalaallisut language. The town of Ilulissat is known for its long periods of calm and settled weather, but the climate tends to be cold due to its proximity to the fjord. Approximately 4,500 people live in Ilulissat, the third-largest town in Greenland after Nuuk and Sisimiut. Some people here estimate that there are nearly as many sled dogs as human beings living in the town that also boasts a local history museum located in the former home of Greenlandic folk hero and famed polar explorer Knud Rasmussen.

Spend the morning on deck as we cross Disko Bay, watching for humpback and minke whales and for the first immense icebergs drifting south from Ilulissat Icefjord. The Expedition Team will introduce the geology, wildlife and human history of the region as we approach Ilulissat.

In the afternoon, we hope to step ashore in Ilulissat, where people have lived beside the icefjord for more than 4,000 years. Walk across tundra and exposed rock towards viewpoints over the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ilulissat Icefjord. Here, ice calved by Sermeq Kujalleq moves towards Disko Bay in a constantly changing procession of bergs. The nearby Sermermiut valley preserves traces of successive Inuit cultures and adds a powerful human story to this extraordinary glacial landscape.

Aappilattoq is a small settlement near the western end of Prins Christian Sund in southwestern Greenland. In the local Greenlandic language the name means, "sea anemone". This small village of 130 inhabitants, hidden behind a prominent rock, offers a good insight into the life of Greenlandic Inuit. A stroll through the village will reveal a small school and a church, along with the likely possibility of seeing a polar bear skin drying in the wind behind a local dwelling. People have lived off the land in the area around Aappilattoq since the 19th century. The tradition continues today as most people here hunt and fish to make a living.

Located in northern Baffin Island, Pond Inlet is a small, predo¬minantly Inuit community, with a population of roughly 1,500 inhabitants. In 1818, the British explorer John Ross named a bay in the vicinity after the English astronomer John Pond. Today Pond Inlet is considered one of Canada's "jewels of the North" thanks to several picturesque glaciers and mountain ranges nearby. Many archaeological sites of ancient Dorset and Thule peoples can be found near Pond Inlet. The Inuit hunted caribou, ringed and harp seals, fish, polar bears, walrus, narwhals, geese, ptarmigans and Arctic hares, long before European and American whalers came here to harvest bowhead whales. Pond Inlet is also known as a major center of Inuit art, especially the printmaking and stone carving that are featured in the town’s art galleries.

After completing Canadian clearance formalities, we hope to visit Mittimatalik, known in English as Pond Inlet, on northern Baffin Island. Framed by mountains, glaciers and the waters of Eclipse Sound, the community is a gateway to Tallurutiup Imanga and a place where Inuit knowledge, language, art and harvesting traditions remain central to daily life.

A locally guided visit may introduce community stories and contemporary life in the High Arctic. In the surrounding waters, we remain alert for narwhal, beluga, seals and seabirds, although all wildlife encounters are determined by season and chance.

Dundas Harbour is located in the southeast of Devon Island, Canada’s 6th largest island. It is a forlorn but starkly beautiful spot. The island was first sighted by Europeans in 1616 by the English explorers Robert Bylot and William Baffin. But it did not appear on maps until after explorer William Edward Parry’s exploration in the 1820’s. Parry named it after Devon, England. In the local Inuktitut language, the place is called Talluruti, which translates as “a woman’s chin with tattoos on it.” This refers to the deep crevasses and streaks on Devon Island, which from a distance resemble traditional facial tattoos. On land there are remains of a Thule settlement dating back to 1000 A.D., including tent rings, middens and a gravesite. There are also much more recent remains a Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost. The first post was established in 1924 to monitor and control illegal activities, such as foreign whaling, in the eastern entrance to the Northwest Passage. But conditions were so isolated and severe that the post was abandoned in 1933. It was reopened in 1945, but again closed, this time permanently, in 1951. Today, Devon Island is the largest uninhabited island in the world.

On Devon Island (Tallurutit), we hope to land at Dundas Harbour. The remains of an RCMP post and a former Hudson’s Bay Company presence speak to a comparatively recent chapter, while nearby archaeological features point to a much older Inuit use of this coastline. Walk across rolling tundra with views towards Lancaster Sound, watching for musk oxen, Arctic hare and birdlife.

At Croker Bay, a glacier descends towards a broad Arctic inlet. Conditions may favour a Zodiac cruise among sculpted ice or a shore landing beneath Devon Island’s flat-topped mountains. Ringed seals and walrus may be encountered in these productive waters, and polar bears are always a possibility in the wider region.

Prince Leopold Island (Appait) rises abruptly from Lancaster Sound. Its cliffs form one of the Canadian Arctic’s most important seabird breeding sites; by September many birds may already have departed, but northern fulmars, kittiwakes and thick-billed murres can still be seen offshore. Seals in the surrounding waters may also attract polar bears.

Across the sound, Port Leopold recalls the many expeditions sent in search of Sir John Franklin. HMS Enterprise and HMS Investigator wintered here in 1848–49, and the remains of later commercial activity add further layers to the site. If conditions permit, we hope to walk the coast and consider this history alongside evidence of Inuit presence that long predates the explorers.

Beechey Island is a small island off the southwest coast of Devon Island, separated by a narrow waterway called the Barrow Strait. Captain William Edward Parry was the first European to visit the island in 1819. His lieutenant, Frederick William Beechey, named the island after his father, the artist William Beechey (1753–1839). Beechey Island played a significant role in the history of Arctic Exploration. During the winter of 1845-46, Sir John Franklin and his men camped on the island as part of their ill-fated quest to find the Northwest Passage. Mummified remains of three of Franklin’s crew were discovered, giving a better understanding of what happened before the disappearance of the expedition. In 1850 Edward Belcher used the island as a base while surveying the area. Later, in 1903, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen stopped at the island at the beginning of his successful voyage in search for the Northwest Passage. Subsequently, Beechey Island has been declared a "Territorial Historic Site" since 1975 by the Northwest Territories government

Beechey Island (Iluvilik), a Canadian National Historic Site, is one of the most poignant places in the story of the Northwest Passage. Franklin’s expedition wintered here in 1845–46, and the graves of three crew members remain on the shore. Later search parties, including those following Inuit testimony, returned repeatedly to this stark landscape. A guided walk will help place the site within both the Franklin story and the broader history of Arctic exploration.

At Radstock Bay, beneath the imposing limestone mass of Caswall Tower, archaeological remains reveal generations of Inuit life. Stone house foundations, food caches and whale bones speak to skilled use of local resources and extensive movement through the region. We may hike across the raised beaches while watching for musk oxen, Arctic hare and signs of foxes.

Devon Island is Canada’s sixth largest island and was first seen by Europeans in the early 17th century. The Thule culture had already settled there many centuries before, and left behind qarmat homes, made of rocks, whale bones, rock and sod walls, and skins for roofs that tell a story of over 800 years of human habitation. Other striking finds in this area are the many fossils of corals, crinoids and nautiloids that can be seen. Just across Lancaster Sound is Prince Leopold Island, a Canadian Important Bird Area, a federally listed migratory bird sanctuary, and a Key Migratory Bird Terrestrial Habitat site with large numbers of Thick-billed Murres, Northern Fulmars and Black-legged Kittiwakes that breed there.

Bellot Strait is one of the most dramatic and technically challenging waterways in the Northwest Passage. Barely two kilometres wide at its narrowest point, it separates Somerset Island from the Boothia Peninsula and is swept by strong tides and shifting ice. Our transit and activities will depend entirely on safe conditions.

We hope to explore in the vicinity of Fitzroy Inlet, Bellot Strait or Strzelecki Harbour. These sheltered waterways and austere shores invite Zodiac cruising and tundra walks, while their position at the northern edge of mainland North America evokes the navigational challenges faced by earlier expeditions. We will watch for polar bears, seals, beluga and seabirds along the ice edge and coast.

As we sail towards Victoria Island, join the Expedition Team for presentations on Inuit archaeology, polar exploration and the wildlife of the western Arctic. Time on deck may bring sightings of seals, whales or migrating birds.

Later, we hope to visit Iqaluktuuttiaq, or Cambridge Bay, whose Inuinnaqtun name means ‘place of many fish’. This important western Nunavut community has long been a gathering place, supported by rich fishing and hunting grounds. Its more recent polar history includes Roald Amundsen’s ship Maud, which spent years in the area after becoming trapped in ice and eventually sank in the harbour. A community visit offers insight into contemporary Inuit life and the enduring connections between people, land and sea.