Polar Bear watching cruise, Labrador coast
| country: | Canada |
| departures: | 2009: 10 Aug |
| price: | From US $6900 (14 days) excluding flights based on 2 sharing or 13% tax for a single Candian traveller and 6.5% for non Canadians |
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
This expedition to look for the polar bears of Canada’s newest national park takes in one of Canada’s least explored and most beautiful coastlines.
The north coast of Labrador is home to some of the planet’s most stirring Arctic tales. Traders, explorers, distinctive cultures, and delicious traditions going back to the earliest peoples in North America combine to make this one of our planet’s most exciting coastal adventures. We join the expedition ship in Nain, Labrador and take an 11-day adventure to a dramatic coast boasting an abundance of polar bears. Our six comfortable but basic cabins allow us to explore in style on this beautiful, converted fishing vessel.
Passengers need to be comfortable with using sturdy, attached ladders but other than this requirement, there are no exceptional physical skills required to thoroughly enjoy and fully participate in this gentle adventure. A well-stocked library, a cozy dining room, and gourmet food with a Labrador flavour adds to the daily adventure of exploring dramatic fjords, archaeological wonderlands, and rich coastal waters… all on our quest to photograph polar bears. Local elders and Parks Canada staff will tell you that the mountainous coastline is home to a wonderful abundance of polar bears.
In the summer of 2006, a crew of five biologists managed to tag 123 polar bears over a five-day program which may be a world record for bear tagging. The crew saw other animals they were unable to tag indicating an amazing abundance of polar bears. The area is clearly the province's polar bear capital, and coastal people always see them as they travel the region in summer. Wolf dens, ancient quarries, coastal whales and seals, stunning northern architecture, tales from other ages, and a coastline unchanged since the days of Cain add to the cruise highlights.
The day-to-day cruise itinerary will follow the coast, the interests of our passengers, and the weather, which is usually wonderful and calm in late July and early August. Our crew will feature a local host who will join us on our landings and make sure we understand the stories and special spirituality of the north.
This exclusive expedition includes two nights accommodations in Nain, breakfasts and lunches in Nain, community walking tour, and the all-inclusive coastal cruise to the new Torngat National Park in the new Inuit territory of Nunatsiavut. You will have private washroom facilities and showers throughout this itinerary.
The north coast of Labrador is home to some of the planet’s most stirring Arctic tales. Traders, explorers, distinctive cultures, and delicious traditions going back to the earliest peoples in North America combine to make this one of our planet’s most exciting coastal adventures. We join the expedition ship in Nain, Labrador and take an 11-day adventure to a dramatic coast boasting an abundance of polar bears. Our six comfortable but basic cabins allow us to explore in style on this beautiful, converted fishing vessel.
Passengers need to be comfortable with using sturdy, attached ladders but other than this requirement, there are no exceptional physical skills required to thoroughly enjoy and fully participate in this gentle adventure. A well-stocked library, a cozy dining room, and gourmet food with a Labrador flavour adds to the daily adventure of exploring dramatic fjords, archaeological wonderlands, and rich coastal waters… all on our quest to photograph polar bears. Local elders and Parks Canada staff will tell you that the mountainous coastline is home to a wonderful abundance of polar bears.
In the summer of 2006, a crew of five biologists managed to tag 123 polar bears over a five-day program which may be a world record for bear tagging. The crew saw other animals they were unable to tag indicating an amazing abundance of polar bears. The area is clearly the province's polar bear capital, and coastal people always see them as they travel the region in summer. Wolf dens, ancient quarries, coastal whales and seals, stunning northern architecture, tales from other ages, and a coastline unchanged since the days of Cain add to the cruise highlights.
The day-to-day cruise itinerary will follow the coast, the interests of our passengers, and the weather, which is usually wonderful and calm in late July and early August. Our crew will feature a local host who will join us on our landings and make sure we understand the stories and special spirituality of the north.
This exclusive expedition includes two nights accommodations in Nain, breakfasts and lunches in Nain, community walking tour, and the all-inclusive coastal cruise to the new Torngat National Park in the new Inuit territory of Nunatsiavut. You will have private washroom facilities and showers throughout this itinerary.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | Arrive Nain and get settled at our hotel, the famous Atsanik Lodge. |
| Day 2-12: | Depart on our 11-day cruise to Torngat National Park where our polar bears are waiting. Visit Hebron, Saglek, Ramah, and other northern highlights during the cruise. Enjoy the comforts of the ship and the majesty of northern Labrador. Learn the authentic stories of Labrador from our local host. |
| Day 13: | Our vessel returns to Nain. We bid you a fond farewell and we toast the wonders of Labrador. Overnight at the Atsanik Lodge. We make sure you have time to tour our home port of Nain, the province's most northerly community, as we learn more stories of this northern land. |
| Day 14: | Depart for home. Remember to send your submissions to our annual photo contest. |
how this holiday makes a difference
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This is the first expedition cruise to feature this little known part of the world as a destination. We are using this trip to investigate the status of the region's polar bears. There appears to be good numbers concentrated in one area of this new national park but how many are there and how healthy is the population and the individuals? Further, this new national park represents a pioneering, cooperative effort between the Government of Canada and the Government of the new Inuit territory of Nunatsiavut. The people of Nunatsiavut are looking at the new park as a source of new opportunity while they strive to maintain their culture and traditional relationship with the land. We are working in cooperation with the park and the government of Nunatsiavut to pioneer what we hope will be a long term, appropriate tourism development celebrating the people, wildlife, and landscape north of Labrador's most northerly community.
We believe the creation of parks is vital for the survival of the planet and the long term survival of this innovative new park arrangement depends upon appropriate, tangible benefits being made available to the people of the region. National Geographic Adventure Magazine was so impressed with this itinerary that they named this trip one of the planet's top 25 new tours for 2008. We also hope to use our 2008 trips to supplement our understanding of the region's marine mammals. For example, in 2007 there were several groups of orcas reported off the park and we are interested in learning if these animals originated to the north or if they are some of the animals we observe off Northern Newfoundland and southern Labrador on our Northern Whale Study Expedition in early September. |
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