Why didn’t you just say you wanted to see a polar bear…
With the anticipation of nearing the pole and the excitement /celebration of reaching 90⁰N behind us, we head south – the only direction in which we can travel . Day 7 is calm and quiet on the boat. Passengers have achieved the purpose of the trip and the vessel travels back through our original path, moving easily through the broken ice at up to 19Kn. It is windy and the visibility is poor. Passengers lounge in the bar or their rooms, as few – including MG and me – are interested in braving the weather out on the decks or even watching the day pass by from the bridge.
The highlight of the day is a lecture from our expedition leader, Laurie, describing his ski trip from Siberia to Canada via the north pole in the 1980s. His personal account of the expedition and all of his other adventures are impressive – his accomplishments inspiring. MG appropriately comments that he has accomplished enough for two lifetimes
Later in what was planned as a quick drink in the bar, turns into a long chat with a fellow passenger (an American from Texas) who has been to over 150 countries. We chat animatedly about places we’ve been and places we’d like to see. Our new friend describes his membership in a club which requires one to have visited over 100 countries – MG is intrigued and I know he will investigate further (Note – and he did…within 6 hours of having internet access).
The interest in polar bear lookout from the bridge has waned and the expedition crew encourages us to stop by the bridge and help with the round the clock lookout. With an hour free before dinner, we head to the bridge. There has not been a polar bear sighting since Day 4, but as we head back towards open waters (approaching 82⁰N) we are in prime ice bear sighting territory. After minutes of arriving at the bridge MG spots the first polar bear. Two more are spotted in the next 15 minutes. It’s a flurry of cameras and binoculars, as yellow parkas appear, all trying to catch a glimpse of a polar bear. The ship Captain slows the boat and tries to get as close as possible. Initially they seem unfazed by the vessel, but as we slowly approach, fear causes the polar bear to take off running in the opposite direction. We leave the polar bears to their solitary life in the arctic and as the day comes to close, we move back into long stretches of open water.