An exciting photo expedition to Svalbard, the home of the polar bears. Two guides lead you through this breathtaking ice landscape in search for polar bears, arctic fox, walrus, reindeer and stunning landscapes. With zodiac boats you will be able to get close and personal with the local wildlife.   

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Some highlights of the tour

• A great chance to see Polar Bears in a magnificent landscape.

• Visit to Walrus colonies.

• Arctic foxes and Svalbard Reindeer.

• Ivory Gulls and other exciting birds. 

• The use of Zodiacs for going ashore and for getting better angles of photography.

• Glaciers and pack-ice.

• Midnight sun.

• The tour leader will show you their best sites and provide photographic advice to a small like-minded group.

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Svalbard

Geographically, Svalbard belongs to Europe, but hardly resembles any other part of the continent. An arctic area, between 74 and 80 degrees north and only 600 km from the North Pole. Svalbard has fantastic environments with glaciers, icebergs and pointy mountains – which have given Svalbard it’s other name – Spitzbergen.

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Apart from ice, glaciers and mountains, Svalbard also has arctic tundra, where arctic flowers bloom just during the short summer. Despite it’s isolated location, Svalbard is one of the most accessible arctic regions in the World. This is thanks to the infrastructure developed by Norway around Longyearbyen.

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The archipelago has fantastic glaciers, glittering in the sunlight, midnight sun from mid April until the end of the summer, and an interesting wildlife. Svalbard is mostly known for it’s Polar Bears, but also has Walruses, seals, reindeer, arctic foxes and Whales. Arriving in May, when the landscape is still white is a great experience. Most of the snow and ice melts in the summer.

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The Svalbard Reindeer roams here. It is a subspecies, adapted to the harsh winter environments. Walruses search for mussels along the beaches, whilst baleen and toothed whales feed in the rich sea currents.

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Polar Bears and Walruses can be quite curious and come close. You can never be sure with wild animals, which is important to be aware of. The chance of coming across Polar Bears is good, and the backgrounds for Polar Bear photography are unique.

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Our route is not set from start. As we have the use of the whole boat, we also have the freedom to plan depending on weather, ice and animal reports. The boat has Zodiacs for landing, but also for photography from low angles. We will use the Zodiacs to access areas that M/S Origo cannot get to.

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Nature and wildlife are the focus of this tour.

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Crew, captain and guides all have extensive experience of the arctic, and photography in these special conditions. The crew speak Swedish and English.

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The M/S Origo has a capacity for 24 passengers and two guides. We will limit the numbers of passengers to 12. The ship offers six rooms with private shower and WC. Another room has a private WC and shared shower. Other rooms have shared WC and showers. The WC/showers are just outside these rooms.  Beds are made and cabin cleaned daily, or as often as possible. The chef produces delicious food. Nobody goes hungry on this boat.

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The photographic tour leader will hold several lectures. During the tour there will be time for photographic workshops, e.g. covering techniques for the next day’s photography, but also looking at image composition and discussing each others images. All in order to take your photography to the next level.

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Itinerary

• Day 1. Those arriving at Longyearbyen on the afternoon flight will be picked up and transfered to the boat. Anyone arriving earlier will be picked up at their hotel. We head out from Adventfjorden at about 4 o’clock, probably heading north via Isfjorden unless anything indicates that it is better to see Polar Bears on the east side. Welcome dinner in the evening.

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• Day 2-7. Cruising, with a schedule updated daily if necessary. We are likely to head through the drift ice on the north side of Spetsbergen and Nordaustlandet, going into various fjords. Apart from Plar Bears, we hope to see Walrus and seals. The landscape will be very wintery and white. If lucky we will pass Alkefjell, with about 5000 Thick-Billed Murres. They nest on the cliffs amongst snow and ice. With the midnight sun, we will be photographing both day and night.

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• Day 8. Arrival back in Longyearbyen. After a departing breakfast you will be transferred to the airport or town.

 

Fill in the booking form.

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Or contact us for inquiries for other dates and other questions.