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On the Floe Edge – Seven Hours North of Baffin Island

Last June, travel journalist Liz Fleming joined the Arctic Kingdom team for the polar bear and narwhal safari north of Pond Inlet in Sirmilik National Park. Her blog posts give a day-by-day look at life on the ice, 80 kilometers from anywhere.
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Day 1

Jun 01, 2012
The day began with flights – first, from Ottawa to Iqaluit where I spotted some other members of our group in the airport. I’m not gifted with great detective skills – they were easy to spot and so was I. Grinning from ear to ear, wearing coats way too bulky for the airport and wheeling duffel bags straining their zippers – we were stoked and it was obvious! By the time we landed in Pond Inlet, we were old friends and ready for anything. The evening included performances by local throat-singers, young athletes who demonstrated their kicking and wrestling skills and even a rendition of “O Canada” in Inuktituk. While the cultural performances were fascinating, the most important moments of the night came when our Arctic Kingdom group leaders Tom Lennartz and Mike Beedell told us, “I think we’re all looking for some magic in our lives - and you’re going to find it here.”

Day 2

Jun 02, 2012
Packing for the polar sea ice is a mammoth job. Luckily, the Arctic Kingdom guys are masters of organization. Not did they tell us exactly what to bring, but they also rented anything we didn’t own – genius! Decked out in huge clouds of Canada Goose down - coats, pants and mitts - we climbed into the komatiks (wooden trailers) for the seven-hour rock-and-roll ride to camp. Cracks in the ice proved to be nothing but fun for the guides. Komatik skis glide over almost anything but snowmobiles don’t…so our guides backed up, gunned their engines and leapt across the biggest cracks. Cirque de Soleil should hire those guys. We arrived at camp to find towering icebergs beside which our little white and yellow tents looked hilariously tiny. But they were warm, and inviting, and the aroma of a hot dinner wafted from the dining tent…we were home.

Day 3

Jun 03, 2012
“Best advice…” Tom said as we climbed into the komatiks and headed for the ‘bird cliffs’, “Don’t open your mouth when you look up!” When we reached the cliffs, the guides warned us to watch where we stepped – but while photographing the hundreds of terns and mers, our Aussie buddy Brett learned the hard way, plunging into the water up to his armpits. The guides hauled him out and showing true Aussie toughness and good humor, Brett stayed and dried out remarkably quickly. After lunch, we made our first trip out to the floe edge where we sat at the edge of the ice, stunned by the vastness of the environment and watched huge flocks of King eider ducks swooping past, their images reflected in the mirror-like water. Suddenly our guides signaled us. Less than a mile away, a polar bear watched - we were in his backyard. It was an afternoon of watching, of breathing cool, clear air, and of trying to capture our new world with cameras that suddenly seemed totally inadequate.

Day 4

Jun 04, 2012
On our way to the floe edge this morning, we spotted polar bear tracks and stopped to scan the horizon with our binoculars. The print-maker was far off but we snapped shots until he ambled away. The sun shone and the water was alive! Tom and Mike hauled out paddles, survival suits, drysuits, snorkels, masks – everything we needed to get up close and personal with whales, narwhals and seals. We took turns stuffing one another’s heads, hands and feet through the rubber openings of the dry suits and laughed ourselves silly. My best moment came when two enormous, brownish-grey narwhals surfaced on either side of my kayak. I raised my paddle and laid it across the gunwales, while my heart tried to beat its way out of my chest. That night, too pumped to go to bed, we headed out with Mike and Tom to hike our neighborhood icebergs where we leapt like ballet dancers off icy outcrops. I didn’t think I’d ever want to sleep…

Day 5

Jun 05, 2012
After yesterday’s adventures, crawling out of bed was hard on this, the longest day of the year. At the floe edge we found belugas cavorting, so we hurried into our dry suits and kayaks. The whales lingered, gliding around the drifting ice chunks, then slowly swam off, leaving us eager for more. Flocks of King eiders swooped overhead and Brett brought out his a kite and flip-flops (what else would an Aussie pack for an Arctic adventure?) A duck hybrid dropped by but other wildlife proved elusive so we were content to head back for dinner at what seemed like the early hour of 8pm. (When the sun’s always out, you lose track of time!) After dinner, a guide told the story of his grandparents’ two-year migration from a tiny, remote community to Pond Inlet. The grandfather was sick so the grandmother managed the family alone. Often starving, the family lost six of their seven children – those survived did so only because the desperate woman managed to kill a walrus. Listening to one guide speaking in Inuktituk as another guide translated, we realized life in the high Arctic is unlike anywhere else.

Day 6

Jun 06, 2012
Our last full day was so warm, madness struck. At the floe edge, Sandra, Tom, Cornelius and I posed in bathing suits on caribou skins for an Arctic Sports Illustrated swimsuit shoot, while Justin and Jens kayaked to a floating berg and were quickly surrounded by belugas. The biggest excitement of the day came when fifteen-year-old Edward decided to do the polar plunge he’d threatened all week. Tied together with a rope for safety Tom and Edward jumped into the icy water, impressing us all. We tried to make that day last forever…to savor every moment of our Arctic passion. Cornelius and I did a slow paddle in our kayaks. Each stroke of our paddles carved into the thin crust of ice on the utterly still surface. In the distance, narwhals breeched as the gargantuan sound of a bowhead whale breathing filled the landscape. It was a sound I’ll remember all my life.

Arctic Kingdom Blog Day #7

Jun 07, 2012
After hours of bumping around in the komatiks, we arrived back in Pond Inlet, tired and ready for our denouement dinner – a bitter sweet moment. Mike had promised we’d find our magic in the Arctic and we had. My favourite surprise revelation came from Sandra, my Singaporean buddy. Tiny but intrepid, she’d struggled her whole life with a fear of water, but wanted to snorkel with whales and narwhals. After a year of terrifying swimming lessons, she’d worked her way from wading to actually swimming. When I remembered wrestling her into a dry suit and seeing her hop off into the icey water, her courage stunned me. The funniest ‘best moment’ belonged to Sandra’s husband, Soo Young, a cautious orthopedic specialist who told us his ‘magic’ was…riding in the komatiks. As we were all nursing various degrees of stiffness from banging around in those komatiks, Soo Young’s comment was a laughter bombshell. Perfect timing – we needed something to keep us from crying as we finished our incredible adventure. As a travel journalist, I’ve been to some of the world’s most exciting destinations but no trip has ever topped this one. No destination has challenged and changed me as this did and no other group has ever bonded like ours. Mike was right – we found our magic on the ice along with a lifelong passion for the Arctic. If that sounds like a dramatic statement, it is…because only words of that strength can describe a life-changing experience.

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