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10
Day itinerary for the Narwhal of Baffin Island Adventure Expedition |
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Day
0, Saturday, August 4, 2012: You
need to arrive in Ottawa today, so that you can join the flight tomorrow
from Ottawa to Iqaluit and then onward to Pond Inlet. The flight and
plane change in Iqualuit consume much of the day tomorrow. We suggest
that if you want a distinctive arctic souvenir, you do some window
shopping for soapstone carvings today in Ottawa. Then when you are
in Pond Inlet you will have an excellent idea of quality and price.
Almost always the quality and price are superior in Pond Inlet.
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Day
1, August 5,
2012: Our
Arctic narwhal adventure begins when we meet in Pond Inlet, Baffin Island,
Canada. From Ottawa we’ll probably all fly together to Iqaluit and
on to Pond Inlet. Although the price of the
air tickets from Ottawa to Pond Inlet is not included in the tour price.
We’ll
meet up with our local guides and spend our first night in a local hotel,
probably the Sauniq Inn.
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Day
2 August
6: Today we go through our final gear check and then travel via
motor boat to our base camp location at Koluctoo Bay. On the
way we’ll begin the
Narwhal and Bowhead whale search while enjoying the passing arctic scenery.
The odds are excellent we will sight several icebergs along the way. We
will set up camp and then probably have time to explore the area around our
camp.
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Day
3 Sunday, August
7: Today we will go out in our chartered boat in search of Narwhal
and other marine wildlife. We’ll adjust our routine to suit the weather
and the group personality. We expect to land and spend some time on a point
of land known as Bruce Head. This is dependent on whether or not there are
Inuit hunters there. If hunters are present, we don't stay there.
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Day
4, 5 & 6
August 8, 9 & 10: These
days are set aside for hiking, fishing and observing the narwhal and seals
from the shore
or
from the point of land at Bruce Head. This special rocky ledge is
an area where the narwhal pass close to shore as they enter and leave Koluctoo
Bay. This past year we experienced
what we called the narwhal parade, when for 25 uninterrupted minutes we watched
a steady stream of narwhal
swim by, as close to us as 20 feet.. We expect that by day 6 we will have
viewed Narwhal several times. On all previous trips the best viewing
of narwhals took place from the shore, not from the boat. So don't
let the days on shore make you think nothing will happen. In 2008 our
group sighted tusking narwhals very close to shore and for a long time. Our
Inuit guide rated that viewing as the most amazing and one of the best he
has ever seen in his entire life.
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Day
7 Thursday, August 11 : This
will be our last full day at base camp. The boat will take us out
on the water again to observe marine life and to explore the bay. If
conditions are right we'll take a high tide exploratory trip to the
Roberson River where Arctic Char up
to 50 pounds in size can be seen and fished for. On our last trip the
group felt that our trip here was one of the major highlights of the entire
adventure.
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Day
8
- Friday, August 12: Today
the boat returns us to Pond. But that doesn't mean you won't see whales
today. Last
year Orcas were sighted just outside of Koluctoo Bay by our group on the
return to Pond Inlet. Bowhead whales have been seen in this channel.
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Day
9 Saturday, August 13 - We
have a relaxed and open schedule today. This is really a weather day,
to allow us an extra day in Pond Inlet, should the weather delay our
return from Kolucktoo Bay. Today is an excellent time to make some
last minute souvenirs purchases.
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Day
10 Saturday, August 14:Today
we fly south from Pond Inlet to Ottawa and home.
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This
itinerary is a sample only. Each
day our activities will be dictated by the weather, the animals and by the
other special social situations that can occur in Nunavut Territory. I
promise you that the past August Narwhal trips were
very successful with narwhal sightings every day from the boat and
on several occasions from the shore at our base camp. On one trip we
had a pod of narwhal tusking just offshore of our camp, almost felt like
we could reach out and touch them they were so close. This is a unique trip.
Nobody else in the world does a trip like this. This trip is one of
a kind and designed specifically to get to see as many narwhal as closely
as it is practical to
do. Therefore you will experience and see things that almost
no other travelers have ever seen. On
any given year maybe only a dozen tourists from outside Nunavut
visit Koluctoo Bay. Each year for a number of years now, narwhal
researchers from the USA, Canada and Greenland have used this area to further
their research into narwhal behavior and migration patterns because it is
the best place in the world to view narwhal. |
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