September Reviews

Traversing the Arctic Northwest Passage in the footsteps of my Ross explorers ancestors and landing at Fort Ross. The beauty of pristine landscape wildlife will be a lasting memory of a once in a lifetime trip. The Aurora Expedition team and Greg Mortimer Crew were top notch and made my dream come true.

The Torngat Mountains in north Labrador are stunning. We spent 3 days in the area. It was wonderful to be able to hike in this pristine and beautiful area. I have been to Greenland before. The east coast has more spectacular scenery. I wonder if a trip to the Greenland icecap could have been included on this occasion . It would be of general interest. The program included a comprehensive program of visiting the old, abandoned settlement sites and on board this was complemented by presentations about the history of the Inuit and Innu way of life and their history post white settlement. This was instructive and interesting. There was a number of locals who lived in Nain on board and it was great to be able o share their stories and interact with them. Lanse Aux Meadows is a place that I have always wanted to visit. It is well presented and very interesting.

This trip was simply marvelous. The hour long up close viewing of a female polar bear from the bow of the ship as she crossed the sea ice and put on a show for us was certainly a highlight. The 1500 pictures I took over the course of this viewing is a testament to this. The expedition staff were amazing - 3 Ph.D.'s and each and everyone had a wealth of knowledge to share. Ali, the expedition leader, was wonderful in explaining all the reasons for our changing itinerary and worked with the captain to ensure fabulous landings and zodiac cruises.

I will not go back to Greenland. I have seen it now. The trip is expensive so that's a problem for me. The day we took the icebreaker right up to the edge of the glacier was the highlight. We did see a few polar bears in the distance. The zodiacs chased them so people could get pictures which I think was really bad. In one instance the zodiacs chased the bear for about 15 min. The bear was far up the mountain but it was clearly scared. Also there was a polar bear in the water and about an hour later the zodiacs went out. I don't think the guides were watching closely ...they definitely were not ...it was dangerous. The guides were not seasoned enough ..they were nice but they need more experience and knowledge of the area.

Seeing the polar bears but they are far away really, and seeing the ice bergs , wild life is infrequent and far away most of the time .

Seeing the musk ox at fairly close distance

Sam Ford Fjord, Baffin Island.

Sam Ford fjord