I went up for a while before breakfast to enjoy the morning and an amazingly beautiful sunrise with a sky that burst into various shades of pink. The view and the fresh air on the deck made me wake up properly. Soon our expedition leader Elke's sweet voice sounded out of the ship's speaker system - breakfast was served!

A couple of cups of coffee later it was time to get ready for a Zodiactur in the fjords. Once in the inflatables we were met by still water and a completely magical environment, and it was difficult to tear the gaze from the white-clad mountains.

We started today's adventure with a land climb at Jaegervatnet and a hike with snowshoes at a calm and comfortable pace. The sun shone over the white views and the snow absorbed all the sounds - all the big city stress was now blown away! Satisfied with our turn we jumped in the Zodiacs and made our way back to the ship. Just in case we had coffee in the lounge, our first wild friends showed up to join us. It was a fifty tumbler! They went around the ship and followed us for a good while before it was still in the water again, at least for a little while ... After the show they invited, one of our guides, Magnus, gave a talk about just a tumbler. However, he could not speak to the point, because soon there was movement both on the ship and in the water when it was sighted humpback whale from the dock! From the deck we could see how three humpback whales blew water and showed us their white tail fins for us. What a fantastic afternoon! I couldn't help but feel a little extra happy in my heart after getting a tour in beautiful scenery and also seeing choices. The fjords in Northern Norway do not disappoint a day like this!

Our adventure started in the city of Ushuaia, located at the southern tip of Argentina. We boarded the ship Ocean Nova and set course towards the Falkland Islands while seabirds such as petrels and albatrosses swept elegantly at our ship's side.

For many, the Falkland Islands are probably most known for the war between Argentina and the United Kingdom, but when you are a nature lover like me, penguins, albatrosses and endemic bird species are way better symbols for this remote archipelago.

At the ascent sites, we were welcomed by a penguin committee - Magellan penguins nestled in caves like rabbits, gentoo penguins were strolling on the beaches and rockhopper penguins jumped in front of one's legs as we walked among the meter-high tussock grass.

After a short hike we arrived at a black-browed albatross colony. We sat down next to the large and impressive birds and observed the couple’s gentle trimming and patting. They live in lifelong relationships and always make sure to be affectionate when they see each other. I wanted to take amazing photos, but at the same time be completely present. It felt important to put away the camera and fully experience the beautiful scenery. After two full days, we made a final stop at Stanley, the Falkland Island’s only town. Despite the long distance to Britain geographically, it was very much like visiting a small British town.

Now the sight was set on South Georgia and my heart was beating a little bit faster thinking about David Attenborough's nature films. I must say that my expectations were sky high. When we finally got there and stepped ashore, we were greeted by the sound of thousands of king penguins trumpeting and whistling and from the harem fighting giant elephant seals. I had to pinch myself in the arm.

The view can hardly be described with words. I felt so small in the huge sea of ​​penguins and seals. Just like Sir Attenborough, we basically had to step over wildlife which barely noticed our presence.

During our days in this wildlife mecca we got to visit several different penguin colonies, meet new albatrosses such as the graceful wandering albatross with over 3.5 meters in wingspan. The program also offered hiking and interesting history focusing on the polar explorer Shackleton.

Our South Georgia experiences ended with a boat cruise on the Drygalskifjord with its powerful rock formations, huge glaciers and large icebergs. New adventures on the seventh continent awaited!

After two days at sea, we arrived at the Antarctic peninsula, where gigantic icebergs and beautiful snow-covered landscapes welcomed us. During our first ascent we also got to see our seventh penguin species, the Adelié penguin. This penguin is one of the two penguins that only nest on Antarctica.

In addition to landings, we also spent a lot of time in the Zodiacs looking at the fantastic icebergs formations and saw different seals, including the leopard seal – a top editor specialised in hunting penguins.

I treasure my memories from this cold, windy and magnificent continent. There were so many unforgettable moments and although my expectations prior to this trip was roof top high, I was pleasantly surprised.   

More than a decade later, when I’m working at PolarQuest office planning and selling trips to new travellers, I look back at these moments almost daily and happily talk to travellers who want to make their first trip to Antarctica and the sub-Antarctic islands.

 

Could you please let us know your background and explain in short what your research is about?

– I am a meteorologist by training and am mostly interested in clouds and tiny particles (so-called aerosols) in the air. In my PhD research I am looking specifically into Black Carbon aerosol and how it impacts the Arctic environment. Black Carbon is an aerosol particle that is produced when something gets burnt: that can be everything from a candle, the firewood for the sauna, the car or on a bigger scale industry and natural sources such as forest fires. The particles are mainly produced outside of the Arctic circle but transported there and interact during the travel with other particles and clouds. The global impact is still an open question. We know Black Carbon is warming the atmosphere, but we do not know to which extent. To bring a little bit of light to the role it plays in the Earth system and climate change, I am looking on ten years of Arctic Black Carbon data.

Did a trip to Svalbard inspire you in your work and how?

– I more than ever want to preserve this environment and teach people about this amazing piece of the Earth, which we are currently destroying. My experiences and photos from this summer I shared with my colleagues, who are normally on Svalbard for work and do not have the time to go out for adventures such as mine. I designed a calendar for next year and show my photos in an evening gathering and I want to continue that on a bigger scale. A more direct impact is, for sure, that I look daily at my photos and dream a little bit back on my vacation whenever I am stressed at work or missing a little bit of motivation.

I already started a blog with a fellow PhD and friend in Leipzig to communicate science and our love for it. I want to, and I will, write about my experiences in Svalbard more but it is a hard job to combine it with my daily PhD routine. As most scientist I am very passionate about my research and very driven to produce impactful results in the since world, but sometimes we forget the outside of our bubble over that. Meeting all the people on the M/S Quest and hearing about their dream to go to the Arctic, their motivation made me realise again how important it is to share my science world with more, because everybody was so keen to learn.

What was your favourite experience or encounter on the trip?

– Our arrival at Ny-Ålesund really excited me: A town dedicated to research, nearly just scientist around, that was really a highlight. I would really like to go back there for working and experience the atmosphere since it is a very unique setting.

Favourite encounter is a really difficult question! I loved the fox encounters. Two baby foxes playing with each other was a once in my lifetime experience and the whales, my absolute favourite animal, we saw more than I expected (I expected zero!). Seeing a blue whale was just amazing, these huge majestic animals which for me just symbolise kindness.

The words that most sum up my feelings and experiences are by Birgit Lutz, a German polar adventurer (freely translated from her book: Eine Frau erobert die Arktis):

Who only sees the cold dessert in the Arctic Ice, to whom this world will never open up. 

It is so true, who only thinks about the cold, the polar bears and the ice will miss a lot up in the far North of our planet. But when you get bitten by the Arctic bug you see the most beautiful nature you can ever imagen and this far distant place will become a second home for you.

When I went to Svalbard this year in the early morning of August a new Arctic world just opened up for me; before Svalbard was a place to work, doing research, but never for holidays. On first sight, everything was weird. All the mountains, I only knew in white, were in a brownish colour. The feeling vanished quickly during our visit to Barentsburg the first evening, this Russian coal mining town with its special character, I fell in love again with this other face of the Arctic: A darker one, colour wise, but the beauty was just as astonishing as in its white winter dress.

Our first morning was spend in rainy weather at Recherchefjord with a Zodiac lesson, a little cruising along the glacier front and later that day we landed at Bamsebu. The old whaling town is already gone and just left behind hills of bones and a trapper hut. This winter, two women are staying there recording data for science and reaching out globally from a very special place of to classrooms to communicate climate. The whole project is called Hearts in the ice.

Normally wake up time was around 8 am with a great breakfast, but sometimes it could happen that you got a call a little Earlier. That one morning it was 5 am, message: Whale! More precisely Bowhead whale. I jumped out of the bed, grabbed my cloth pulled them on, grabbed my camera, got in my shoes and ran upstairs and outside. That sounds like it is done in a minute, and sure it was Arctic summer but standing on deck is still cold and windy. The putting your cloth on quickly in the Arctic takes a little longer then normally, you got at least two layers under your jacket and then you look and move more like a barrel than someone who wants to run upstairs for whale watching and the whole time you hope to be quick enough. I was and so I saw my first whale in an Arctic sunrise.

The excitement for that day was far from over, I went back to bed for another hour of sleep and after the breakfast we went for a walk at Kap Lee with walruses, kittiwakes and reindeers. After lunch we headed out in the Zodiacs because of a polar bear spotting. It was the third bear on our trip but the first one we came really close to. He was sitting at the beach looking at us. After some time, he left the beach to continue his travel. We headed to the other side of the fjord because there was another polar bear sighting: a mother with two cubs. Cubs isn’t really painting the right picture; teenagers fit a little better. It was their last summer with their mother and they just had a feast. At the beach was a massive walrus cadaver, on top of the cliff the three bears took a little after lunch nap. Down on the beach the walrus left-overs were eaten by some foxes and one gull. I cannot remember how much time we spent there going back and forth to see the bears and the foxes. At one point one of the teenager bears came down the cliff, scared away the foxes and checked out the food again, only to climb up a few minutes later. The commitment to slide down the cliff was such a clumsy and cute move and you could really see how well fed they were from the walrus they had shared. Back on top of the cliff the mother bear slowly begun to make its way and the three left to the inland.

I will leave it here, dreaming back to my vacation while going through a few more of my photos and leaving you with another quote from the book:

In moments like this one lays the answer.

Text & photos: Roxana Cremer

It is barely 5:00 AM, but I am already up, awake and fully dressed. Two pairs of socks, three pairs of trousers and three layers of sweaters. It's for best when a chilly adventure in South Georgia is what awaits!

Moving smooth and freely is not the easiest, but one by one we descend into the inflatable Zodiac that will take us all the way ashore. Our Zodiac makes a so-called surf-landing, which means the guides stand and receive us at the beach while the waves roll in. With waterproof clothing from top to toe, it is really fun to have to put your feet in the water before you can step up on the beach.

The sound of the waves drowns in the humming of the elephant seals, the delightful whine of the king penguins and the groaning of the fur seals - it is a way for them to show where the boundary of their territory goes. Once the ears get used to all the sounds, the eyes start to work too. Wherever I look, there are hundreds of king penguins standing in large clusters or strolling around. The elephant seals are like little lumps everywhere and are looking for eye contact with their big, round eyes. Suddenly we hear a thundering noise and the ground vibrates slightly. Right next to us are two elephant seals who are about to challenge each other in a harem fight!

I look out over this gigantic sea of ​​fantastic animals, and there I stand, trying to capture everything from the surroundings - what a fantastic way start to the day!

Text & photo: