With a busy September past, we have found time to launch a small selection of the very best cruises in the Arctic around Spitsbergen and Greenland for the summer of 2010. These are initmate trips with terrific guiding that are sensitive to the environment yet provide you with incredible wilderness experiences and wildlife encounters with a small group of like-minded enthusiasts. There is a choice of 3 ice-strengthened ships carrying between 12 and 50 passengers although only the larger vessel explores the remote northeast Greenland coast. Further details will be added shortly but do contact us if you are interested in discovering the Arctic on an expedition cruise next year.

Shortly we hope to launch Arctic safari holidays for general wildlife enthusiasts. However, professional wildlife phototgrapher, Andy Rouse, has just completed the first of 3 trips this summer with Wildlife & Wilderness leading small groups in search of polar bears and other Arctic wildlife around Spitsbergen and the Svalbard archipelago in the high Arctic. On board a small ice-strengthened vessel that can reach locations no other ship can get to ensured the group got some spectacular wildlife encounters both with polar bears, walrus and other wildlife. None of more usual larger ships offer this type of initmate experience but unfortunately all of Andy’s trips for this summer are fully booked, not suprising given that these are probably the best Arctic safari holidays you can find. Some of his initial stunning images can be seen at www.andyrouse.co.uk/blog.

Svalbard is a truly stunning wildlife holiday destination. The wilderness feels immense and I suppose as you sit among the pack ice that stretches 800km to the north pole and beyond, it is immense. In this awe inspiring group of islands there is a wealth of Arctic wildlife. On a 10 day reconnaissance cruise we saw polar bears, including a mother with two cubs curled up on an ice floe, walrus which were just incredible to be among. Weighing in at around 600kg they are huge members of the seal family and are rather inquisitive. Reindeer and Arctic fox made up the other mammals whilst bird watching was also splendid with the rare ivory gull, Brunnich’s guillemots by the thousands, puffins, little auks and Arctic terns among others. However, it is the small flowers such as saxifrages among highly dramatic mountain scenery and lonesome polar bears out on the ice that give a scale to the islands and their fragility. Besides the charters that we are running next year with wildlife photographer Andy Rouse, we shall be bringing a selection of the highest quality polar trips to you shortly so that you to can experience the a Spitsbergen wildlife holiday from a small ship.

Just a short message that comes to you from the northernmost town in the world, Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen in the Svalbard archipelago. We flew in over stunning glaciers and nunataks yesterday and tomorrow we set off on the small vessel we are using next year with Andy Rouse’s wildlife photography tours. Having just chatted with a couple of guides we are in an excited mood before searching for the elusive white bear. An estimated 3000 polar bears inhabit the region so on this week long marine safari our chances should be good. I’ll update you as soon as we return to civilisation from this Arctic safari.

Steve