The port of Longyearbyen is often the departure point of Nordic expeditions.
It is the world most northern town.

It is mainly a mining center and the administration is done by Norway.

The group name of all the islands is Svalbard or Spitsbergen and the island archipel is divided into different sectors. Russia has one of them. On other islands a lot of international scientific groups are doing research

A lot of inhabitants from Longyearbyen are coming from exotic countries like The Philippines, Indonesia, etc. Why ? because the companies caanot find enough labout in the western countries and only those hard working people where courageous enough to go there. It is a hard way to survive. Only the summer months the weather is acceptable, the rest of the year, freezing temperatures and a lot of snow are isolating this part of the world.

Main economic activity is coal mining.

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The top of the bill in Greenland was our cruising of the Scoresby Sund (also called Scoresby Inlet).

Amazingly beautiful.

One year before i was in Antarctica, but this area was as beautiful as Antarctica, although totally different.

So much nature and so few people (only a bunch of local indians).

The Scoresby sound was fascinatingly beautiful, with icebergs, tens and tens of glaciers with the lower portion of the ice almost arriving in the salt sea water.

And as top of the bill we saw the last night 'the northern light' - a laser show all over the sky for almost 30 minutes ! Unfortunately my camera was not good enough to take a picture from it.

What an extraordinary experience!!

We stayed for 3 days in the Scoresby inlet. It is so deep with so many arms that one could be in the sound for more than a week without seeing the same things.

Very negative point on this ecologic adventure is the hunting drive of the inuit people. They shoot on everything what moves. Result : if an animal sees a human being he is braking olympic records to get away.

Younger inuit people are seeing the benefits of ecologic tourism and try to change the habbit (in earlier times they need the hunting for food, but these days they have food enough trough other sources).

This cruise is only possible for 4 to 8 weeks a year (from August to September if weather permits). The rest of the year this area is frozen.

Link to part 1
Link to part 2
Link to part 3
Link to part 4
Link to part 5

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The top of the bill in Greenland was our cruising of the Scoresby Sund (also called Scoresby Inlet).

Amazingly beautiful.

One year before i was in Antarctica, but this area was as beautiful as Antarctica, although totally different.

So much nature and so few people (only a bunch of local indians).

The Scoresby sound was fascinatingly beautiful, with icebergs, tens and tens of glaciers with the lower portion of the ice almost arriving in the salt sea water.

And as top of the bill we saw the last night 'the northern light' - a laser show all over the sky for almost 30 minutes ! Unfortunately my camera was not good enough to take a picture from it.

What an extraordinary experience!!

We stayed for 3 days in the Scoresby inlet. It is so deep with so many arms that one could be in the sound for more than a week without seeing the same things.

Very negative point on this ecologic adventure is the hunting drive of the inuit people. They shoot on everything what moves. Result : if an animal sees a human being he is braking olympic records to get away.

Younger inuit people are seeing the benefits of ecologic tourism and try to change the habbit (in earlier times they need the hunting for food, but these days they have food enough trough other sources).

This cruise is only possible for 4 to 8 weeks a year (from August to September if weather permits). The rest of the year this area is frozen.

Link to part 1
Link to part 2
Link to part 3
Link to part 4
Link to part 6

Permalink | Comments

The top of the bill in Greenland was our cruising of the Scoresby Sund (also called Scoresby Inlet).

Amazingly beautiful.

One year before i was in Antarctica, but this area was as beautiful as Antarctica, although totally different.

So much nature and so few people (only a bunch of local indians).

The Scoresby sound was fascinatingly beautiful, with icebergs, tens and tens of glaciers with the lower portion of the ice almost arriving in the salt sea water.

And as top of the bill we saw the last night 'the northern light' - a laser show all over the sky for almost 30 minutes ! Unfortunately my camera was not good enough to take a picture from it.

What an extraordinary experience!!

We stayed for 3 days in the Scoresby inlet. It is so deep with so many arms that one could be in the sound for more than a week without seeing the same things.

Very negative point on this ecologic adventure is the hunting drive of the inuit people. They shoot on everything what moves. Result : if an animal sees a human being he is braking olympic records to get away.

Younger inuit people are seeing the benefits of ecologic tourism and try to change the habbit (in earlier times they need the hunting for food, but these days they have food enough trough other sources).

This cruise is only possible for 4 to 8 weeks a year (from August to September if weather permits). The rest of the year this area is frozen.

Link to part 1
Link to part 2
Link to part 3
Link to part 5
Link to part 6

Permalink | Comments

The top of the bill in Greenland was our cruising of the Scoresby Sund (also called Scoresby Inlet).

Amazingly beautiful.

One year before i was in Antarctica, but this area was as beautiful as Antarctica, although totally different.

So much nature and so few people (only a bunch of local indians).

The Scoresby sound was fascinatingly beautiful, with icebergs, tens and tens of glaciers with the lower portion of the ice almost arriving in the salt sea water.

And as top of the bill we saw the last night 'the northern light' - a laser show all over the sky for almost 30 minutes ! Unfortunately my camera was not good enough to take a picture from it.

What an extraordinary experience!!

We stayed for 3 days in the Scoresby inlet. It is so deep with so many arms that one could be in the sound for more than a week without seeing the same things.

Very negative point on this ecologic adventure is the hunting drive of the inuit people. They shoot on everything what moves. Result : if an animal sees a human being he is braking olympic records to get away.

Younger inuit people are seeing the benefits of ecologic tourism and try to change the habbit (in earlier times they need the hunting for food, but these days they have food enough trough other sources).

This cruise is only possible for 4 to 8 weeks a year (from August to September if weather permits). The rest of the year this area is frozen.

Link to part 1
Link to part 2
Link to part 4
Link to part 5
Link to part 6

Permalink | Comments

The top of the bill in Greenland was our cruising of the Scoresby Sund (also called Scoresby Inlet).

Amazingly beautiful.

One year before i was in Antarctica, but this area was as beautiful as Antarctica, although totally different.

So much nature and so few people (only a bunch of local indians).

The Scoresby sound was fascinatingly beautiful, with icebergs, tens and tens of glaciers with the lower portion of the ice almost arriving in the salt sea water.

And as top of the bill we saw the last night 'the northern light' - a laser show all over the sky for almost 30 minutes ! Unfortunately my camera was not good enough to take a picture from it.

What an extraordinary experience!!

We stayed for 3 days in the Scoresby inlet. It is so deep with so many arms that one could be in the sound for more than a week without seeing the same things.

Very negative point on this ecologic adventure is the hunting drive of the inuit people. They shoot on everything what moves. Result : if an animal sees a human being he is braking olympic records to get away.

Younger inuit people are seeing the benefits of ecologic tourism and try to change the habbit (in earlier times they need the hunting for food, but these days they have food enough trough other sources).

This cruise is only possible for 4 to 8 weeks a year (from August to September if weather permits). The rest of the year this area is frozen.

Link to part 1
Link to part 3
Link to part 4
Link to part 5
Link to part 6

Permalink | Comments

The top of the bill in Greenland was our cruising of the Scoresby Sund (also called Scoresby Inlet).

Amazingly beautiful.

One year before i was in Antarctica, but this area was as beautiful as Antarctica, although totally different.

So much nature and so few people (only a bunch of local indians).

The Scoresby sound was fascinatingly beautiful, with icebergs, tens and tens of glaciers with the lower portion of the ice almost arriving in the salt sea water.

And as top of the bill we saw the last night 'the northern light' - a laser show all over the sky for almost 30 minutes ! Unfortunately my camera was not good enough to take a picture from it.

What an extraordinary experience!!

We stayed for 3 days in the Scoresby inlet. It is so deep with so many arms that one could be in the sound for more than a week without seeing the same things.

Very negative point on this ecologic adventure is the hunting drive of the inuit people. They shoot on everything what moves. Result : if an animal sees a human being he is braking olympic records to get away.

Younger inuit people are seeing the benefits of ecologic tourism and try to change the habbit (in earlier times they need the hunting for food, but these days they have food enough trough other sources).

This cruise is only possible for 4 to 8 weeks a year (from August to September if weather permits). The rest of the year this area is frozen.

Link to part 2
Link to part 3
Link to part 4
Link to part 5
Link to part 6

Permalink | Comments

The real Russian Siberian atmosphere can be smelled here.While we were at the Baikal lake (in October) the lake was not yet frozen, but the temperature dropped under 0.

Look also at the small but special houses and the immensie forests.

Pictures will follow soon

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I was surprised by so much pure nature and colorful culture.
The post Russian era seems like a revival of entreprise and colorful buddhist monasteries.

We also spend a night in a yurt (typical mongolian house) in the mountains.

In Mongolia do also live Yaks, high mountain cows.

Also to mention : In the capital Ulan Bator, i have been seen 'the best cultural show' ever whitnessed. I have forgotten the name, but this show (there is only one) has my ****** ranking.
Supreme quality singing, acrobats, cultural clothes etc

Unfortunately, i have no pictures of the show, but it is a 'no missing' show !

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And ... the penguins are so cute and lovely. You dont find them nowhere else in so big numbers.

Therefore, this post is an honour for the penguins

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If you want to feel the 'Out of Africa' feelings, you have to mae at least once a wildlife safari in Kenia, Tanzania and/or Namibia.
These are certainly the best places to view wildlife in freedom from very close distance.

We were also in the surroundings of Mount Kenia and did visit a couple of Masai tribe settlings.

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That particalar day, we landed in San Cristobal one of the main villages in the Galapagos Islands.

In the afternoon we visited Espanola island - a fascinating place.

We saw that day, gulls, seagulls, blue-footed boobies, sea lions, pelicans, iguanas, the waved albatross (love dancing to each other) and their nests etc.

Enjoy

Back to Galapagos Islands part 1

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Due to the lack of predators, animals have no fear at all from human beings.
Every person going ashore has to be careful not to step on nesting birds, bird eggs, turtles, etc.

Some species are the red-billed tropic bird, brown pelican, booby, etc.

The pictures in this serie are from Bartolomé and Espanola island

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We were immiatly surrounded by enourmes economic activity on the river and the river banks.

We have visited some places in between and finally arrived at the Three Gorges Dam - The Great Wall Across the Yangtze, one og the greatest (controversial) projects of the last 100 years.

The pictures will speak for themselves

My final opninion on this cruise : it was a real experience seeing the activity on the river and the huge dam at the end.
However the currently used river cruise ships dont have the comfort what we are used too today. The sightseeings such a program mandatory carry are to artificial and unpleasant.

I guess that in 2010 this river will be ready to accommodate tourist in more comfort and safety than today.
Those who want i little adventure today, they have to travel as fast as possible to Chongqing.

Reference : hotels in Chongqing

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The ice was faschinating and of a virgin beauty.
Although icebergs do melt faster away than before due to global warming, it still can take ten's of years before it has been melted completely.

One can experience the ice giants the best with the small zodiacs underneath. Altough it can be dangerous when an iceberg or part of it callepses, the feeling is one of the most fascinating i ever experienced.

Greeenland cruises have to occur from the middele of August to the end of September. All the other periods of the year the sea is frozen.

I can really suggest this cruise to everyone who likes the nature and want to feel a little bit like the early ecplorers did.

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Spitsbergen was impressive and a very good warmup for Greenland which we did visit later on.

Our ship was not luxurous at all, but had everything we need and a cosy atmosphere. Because it was quiet small (only about 50 guests) after a couple of days, everyone did meet each other. 15 nationalities where aboard

We cruised in far away bays with huge glaciers melting away in the salt sea water.

Once we arrived in such a spot the crew immediatly landed the zodiacs in the wtaer and all of the passengers could immediatly navigate amids the glacier ice. A tremendous experience.

The radioation of the ice is as powerful is the inverse from heat radiation.

In one of the Spitsbergen bays we where fortunate to see a Polar Bear. As these beautiful animals can be very dangerous, we kept a far enough distance with the zodiacs from the shoreline where the Polar Bear was grazing.

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The volcano started erupting ash and stones 2 months earlier.
The eruption was even 1 month after the start still very violent.

Altough we could not see any fire and/or lava, what the volcano did before, the eruption was really violent.

Depending of the wind direction, the ash cover was everywhere.

As a volcano freak (i whitnessed other eruptions like Sangay (Ecuador), Merapi (Indonesia) and Kilauea (Hawaii)) i was once again suprised by the incredable power of mother nature.

Look also at the google map. The volcano was smoking at the time of the photograph !

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One of the rare occasions we saw human beings was in the inuiit village of Ittoqqoortoormiit. We could experience the hard life these people are living in.

Ittoqqoortoormiit occupies one of the finest districts for local hunters in the country and muskoxen, seals and polar bears are plentiful. It sits at the mouth of Kangertittivaq, or Scoresbysund, which is by far the world’s longest and widest fjord system.

The Danish name honours Captain William Scoresby, a Scottish whaler who arrived in 1822. As far as anyone knows, he was the first European to set foot in North-East Greenland.

The current residents of Ittoqqoortoormiit are mostly descended from Ammassalik emigrants who sailed north in September 1925 on the vessel Gustav Holm. The town of 480 residents is today a logical launch point for wilderness expeditions, and the nearby Stauning Alps attract an increasing number of climbers seeking challenging new terrain.

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