Arctic Cruise: Baffin Island Explorer & Total Solar Eclipse

Itinerary

Day 1: Embarkation: Iqaluit

You can add charter air transportation from Ottawa to Iqaluit to your package. If you do so, a transfer from a pre-arranged location in Ottawa to the airport is included.

Day 2: Monumental Island

If there is pack ice near the island, then you’ll be on the alert for walrus and polar bear. The survival of both marine mammals depends on the presence of pack ice.

Day 3: Pangnirtung, Baffin Island

Inuit art is coveted by art collectors around the world. Your exploration of "Pang" includes a visit to the Artists’ Co-op to learn the importance of print-making and weaving to the local economy. Pangnirtung is the only community on the shores of Cumberland Sound, which is about 250 km (155 miles) long and 80 km (49 miles) wide. Belugas and orcas frequent the massive sound, so you’ll be keeping watch.

Day 4: Davis Strait

Your Adventure Ship will sail across Davis Strait to Greenland. En route, you will cross the Arctic Circle to enter a world of virtually continuous daylight.Some of the deepest waters in the Eastern Arctic are in southern Davis Strait, which is name for John Davis, who explored the area nearly 425 years ago.

Days 5-7: From Sisimiut to Uummannaq, Greenland

Perhaps the most significant difference between the Canadian Arctic and Greenland is the production of icebergs. More are produced in Greenland than any other area in the Arctic. Ilulissat – Greenlandic for iceberg – one of the island’s most productive icefjords has been designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. You plan to explore the town at the head of the fjord as well as cruise among the icebergs.

Days 8-9: Baffin Bay

While you sail to Greenland via Baffin Bay your Expedition Team will deliver illustrated presentations about Arctic wildlife, its indigenous peoples, and the life cycle of ice.

Days 10-11: Devon Island and Solar Eclipse

At Dundas Harbour, you will explore an abandoned Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost, nestled among tundra covered hills.The Expedition Leader will be reviewing charts and weather reports to identify the best location to view the solar eclipse. According to NASA, the event should occur August 1, 2008 at 04:20. Your goal will be to go ashore on the northeastern tip of Somerset Island, near Port Leopold. From there you hope to get an excellent northerly view of the eclipse. The event should occur just above the horizon, northwest of Port Leopold.Following the eclipse and a morning nap, you will visit Prince Leopold Island’s towering limestone cliffs. They are renowned as a breeding ground for many species of Arctic seabirds. If the conditions are right, you’ll see thousands of birds in flight or at rest on the cliffs.

Day 12: Beechey Island

In 1845, three members of Sir John Franklin’s expedition in search of the Northwest Passage died on Beechey Island. Their grave markers are silent reminders of the sacrifice explorers made to find the northern sea route to the Orient.

Day 13: Disembarkation: Resolute

There will be optional charter air transportation between Ottawa and Resolute. If you include the optional airfare in your package price, you’ll transfer you to the airport from a pre-determined departure point.