Europe, with an Arctic cruise, a Balkan tour and bits of France and Malta

[drron]

Well done TR. But I knew there was a reason we avoided the northern Hemisphere in July.
Our cruise to Svalbard was in August so much less sea ice so a lot more polar bears. We were very lucky and came across a Celebration of polar bears. Six including a mother with a young cub.




That second picture I showed to the birder on board and made his cruise. The gull in the picture is rare and he said only about 10 breeding pairs on Svalbard. I had to send him the photo.
We saw lots of other bids, a couple of different species of seals and 2 actually followed our zodiac. Also arctic foxes, reindeer and geese. A few whales. But we didn't see walrus. went to 3 known haul outs but weather was atrocious and no visiblity.
Also going later you see some flowers.




But most importantly I took the plunge. Note the rope. i was tied up by one of the women on the Expedition staff. I asked if she was used to tying men up. she assured me she was but as soon as I hit the water the rope came off.


So I think later in the season is better for wildlife. Ours was the last Svalbard cruise of the season.

 

[VPS]

Thanks, great report to read and beautiful photos. I really like the look of the San Souci and it has been ages since I visited the Loire.

You won’t regret it

 

[VPS]

Thanks for another comprehensive and informative TR

 

[RooFlyer]

Our cruise to Svalbard was in August so much less sea ice so a lot more polar bears. We were very lucky and came across a Celebration of polar bears. Six including a mother with a young cub.

Was that on the east or west of the archipelago? As I noted, they told us that the east has more sea ice, and more bears, but as it melts later, only the later cruises do along the east coast.

 

[drron]

Both the east and west coasts. We were on track to do a circumnavigation of Svalbard but an Atlantic gale scuppered that plan. All of the bears were seen on the west coast. The east was mainly millions of birds and a huge glacier.