Arctic Passage: Amudsen's Route to Asia

Day 1 Embark in Ottawa, Canada

Arrive in Ottawa, Canada in time to be transferred to the airport for the group flight to Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, where they embark the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov for this End of an Era voyage.

Day 2 Sisimuit

Kayak is an Inuit word that English has borrowed to describe a small vessel propelled by paddles that seats one or two people. When you are ashore in Sisimuit, you'll watch a demonstration of traditional kayaking. There will be time to explore the town, where 18th century buildings from Greenland's colonial period still stand. Keep an eye open for the town's public swimming pool. It is built on stilts so the heated water won't melt the permafrost!

Day 3 Ilulissat

Ilulissat Kangerlua is Greenlandic for The Iceberg Fjord. The glacier that the head of the fjord is the most productive in the Northern Hemisphere. The icebergs it calves float down the fjord to enter Baffin Bay. As you approach Ilulissat, have your camera ready to take photos of young icebergs at the start of their journey that will end somewhere off the coast of Newfoundland years later. So significant is this fjord that UNESCO has designated the area a World Heritage Site. You'll cruise the fjord in a Zodiac, hike the shoreline and explore the community of the same name located near the glacier.

Day 4 Baffin Bay

Baffin Bay, an extension of the Arctic Ocean, is a sea not a bay. The massive body of water separates Canada from Greenland. As you sail from east to west, special guest John Murray, will prepare you for the transit of the Northwest Passage. As Managing Director of Crossing the Lines Films, John has produced eight films about the polar regions - five in the Arctic and three in the Antarctic. John's passion for the Franklin saga inspired him to back the Irish-Canadian Franklin Search Expedition that sought the underwater location of Erebus and Terror, Franklin's lost ships. His support of the project led historian Andrew Lambert to dedicate The Gates of Hell: Sir John Franklin's Tragic Quest for the North West Passage to John.

In addition to being an explorer and award-winning producer, John is a director, cameraman and writer. During the voyage, he will deliver illustrated presentations about the Irish-Canadian expedition and his adventures working and filming in the wildest places on Earth from the Sahara to the Amazon.

Day 5 Pond Inlet

In the Canadian Arctic, the people of Pond Inlet or Mittimatalik, as it has been called by the Inuit for thousands of years - will welcome you to the Artist's Co-operative. In addition to the international reputation for the art they produce, the people of "Pond" earn their living fishing for Arctic char. You will have time to take photos, explore the hamlet and hike the nearby tundra, before boarding Kapitan Khlebnikov once again.

Days 6-7 Devon and Beechey Islands

Over these two days, you will explore the southern shore of the largest uninhabited island in the world, Devon Island. You'll go ashore to visit a deserted Royal Canadian Mounted Police station. You'll learn about the Thule, the ancestors of the Inuit. Be alert for musk oxen as you hike or cruise in Zodiacs. Just off shore at the western end of Devon Island is Beechey Island. There, on a stony beach, stand three grave markers, grim reminders of the lives lost during Sir John Franklin's search for the Northwest Passage.

Day 8 Prince Regent Inlet

Prince Leopold Island is a bird sanctuary with soaring cliffs, where seabirds nest. It also marks the eastern end of the Northwest Passage. You will begin your transit of the fabled northern sea route to Asia today. Roald Amundsen is credited with the first successful full sea transit of the Northwest Passage. He, however, was not the first to discover the route. The Northwest Passage was discovered piece by piece over hundreds of years. As you sail south down Prince Regent Inlet, you will be sailing through a segment that was discovered by William Parry in the early 19th century.

Day 9 Bellot Strait

Bellot Strait was named to honor Lt. Joseph Rene Bellot, second-in-command of an expedition sent to rescue Sir John Franklin. The strait separates Somerset Island from the Boothia Peninsula. Although the strait was first charted in 1852, it wasn't until 1937 that a vessel successfully transited the strait. It was at that time, that the Hudson's Bay Company established Fort Ross, which was closed 11 years later, as ice often made the strait inaccessible. It will take a polar-class icebreaker such as Kapitan Khlebnikov to transit the Bellot Strait in 2011.

Day 10 Victoria Strait

No transit of the Northwest Passage would be complete without visiting the locales synonymous with Sir John Franklin's ill-fated search for the Northwest Passage. Franklin's ships were beset in the ice of Victoria Strait, off King William Island, before they were abandoned. Evidence of what happened next is scanty. Explorer John Murray is intimate with the evidence, as he backed the Irish-Canadian Franklin Search Expedition in Victoria Strait. The results of the expedition furthered our understanding of the fate of Erebus and Terror. He will provide an explorer's insight during an illustrated presentation.

Day 11 Iqaluktuuttiaq

The people of Iqaluktuuttiaq, also known as Cambridge Bay, the largest community on Victoria Island will make you welcome, and introduce you, through dance and song, to their culture. You will have time to explore the community of 1,400, a commercial hub for the region.

Day 12 Johansen Bay

A tundra hike is no stroll in the park. You will walk rough, undulating ground that has never been manicured, seeded or covered by a boardwalk. You will walk on the wild side in Johansen Bay.

Day 13 Ulukhaktok

Ulukhaktok, known in English as Holman, is an Arctic village with an international reputation in the Fine Arts community. The prints created in the Artist's Co-op can be found hanging in art galleries and homes around the world. You will have time to visit the co-operative and attend a cultural demonstration, before returning to the icebreaker.

Day 14 Walker Bay

Throughout this expedition, activities on the ship and ashore combine to create a powerful package that will engage your mind and emotions. The planned visit to the wilderness of Walker Bay is no exception.

Day 15 Mackenzie Delta

The estuary formed at the mouth of the Mackenzie River where it empties into the Beaufort Sea is classified as a delta. For 7,000 years sediment brought down river has built up to create a vast surface area where wildlife congregate. You will be on the lookout for Snow and Brant Geese, Tundra Swans as well as beluga whales while in the vicinity of the Mackenzie Delta.

Day 16 Qikiqtaruk

Kapitan Khlebnikov has navigated the Northwest Passage more than 16 times, a record that no other expedition vessel has surpassed. Today, the ship's last visit to Herschel Island - known as Qikiqtaruk in Inuvialuktun - will occur. We plan to mark the occasion with the presentation of a plaque to the Territorial Park's administrators.

On Qikiqtaruk, archaeologists have found evidence of a thousand years of human habitation. The Thule people were the first to settle on the island. They were the ancestors of the Inuvialuit, the local native people. Whalers sheltered in the island's natural harbor. The Hudson's Bay Company built a trading post and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police assigned a detachment to the island. The park was established in 1987 to protect what remains of the island's human history.

If you are birding enthusiast, carry your binoculars during the visit to the park. More than 90 species of birds have been counted on the island.

Days 17-18 At Sea

As Kapitan Khlebnikov steams westward across the Beaufort Sea watch for marine mammals in the water and seabirds swirling about the ship. Should the vessel encounter pack ice, the onboard helicopters will take you aloft to watch as the powerful ship crushes through to open water.

You will lose a day when you cross the International Date Line from east to west.

Days 19-21 Chukotka Peninsula, Russia

More presentations to commemorate the icebreaker's farewell voyage through the Arctic will occur when you reach Russia's Far East - the Chukotka Peninsula. Cultural presentations will demonstrate the similarities and the differences between the indigenous people of the Russian Arctic and those of Canada and Greenland. You will visit the tiny village of Uelen, known for its talented carvers who carve walrus ivory.

At Cape Dezhnev, the most easterly point of the Asian continent, the architecture of the buildings that remain is distinctively Russian. You'll cruise in Zodiacs to Puffin Island where two species of the comical bird cohabit. On the shore of Ittygran Island the ribs of whales, planted on the tundra by people long ago, still stand on the lowland known as "whalebone alley." The final shore landing planned is a visit to Novoyo Chaplino, where the local people dressed in traditional attire will demonstrate their skills as wrestlers and ropers of reindeer.

Day 22 Anadyr, Russia

You will disembark Kapitan Khlebnikov's End of the Era voyage through the Arctic in Anadyr, Russia. A helicopter will transfer you one last time from the ship tot he airport for the charter flight to Anchorage, Alaska, where you will spend the night. Crossing the International Dateline en route turns the clock back a day.

Day 23 Anchorage, Alaska / Home

Depart Anchorage, Alaska on your independent flight home.