Africa Wild

Isbjørn is the Norwegian name for a Polar Bear. Ever since I was a small boy I've revered these animals and have always dreamed of heading North to the Arctic in search of the Ice Bear, as they are sometimes called. Although the Arctic has always called within me, it was to the Antarctic that I ended up working for several years as some of you already know from my earlier posts. Now, after over a decade of saving up for the trip of a lifetime, my dream is about to become a reality. In a few weeks time, I will be amongst the ice searching for the animal that conjoured up so many dreams and hopes of a small boy growing up in Wales.

I've booked to go with a small group of 11 other passengers under the guidance of World Bear Safaris, a specialist offshoot of Natural World Safaris.

Link to their website......

http://www.naturalworldsafaris.com/

Arriving home from work midweek, I found that the postman had delivered a package from the tour company and in it was a wealth of information on what to expect from the trip. To say that I'm excited at the prospect of heading North would be an understatement. I've read through the literature sent several times already and the anticipation is starting to drive me crazy as I search through all my library for any tidbit of information that will assist me in my search of this magnificent creature.

I opened the envelope to find this folder inside.


Within the folder was a mine of information.


Luggage tags for my baggage.


Species checklists for what to expect.


Lavishly illustrated to whet the appetite further.


An illustrated booklet full of a wealth of information.


With details of the reason for my trip.


And a detailed map of Svalbard to pore over and dream.


Needless to say, the pack has not been closed much since it arrived on my doorstep.


As a boy, I dreamt of ice and lonely windswept scenes.
where a bear in white and a daytime night, haunted all my dreams.

"Isbjørn" is also the Danish word for polar bear and Norway having been part of Denmark for centuries until two hundred years ago......... Svalbard is definitely Norwegian though Are you flying to Svalbard and the cruise starts from there? (I know that you told me about flying to Copenhagen and then to..?? )

It must be more or less at the height of the magnetic Northpole and almost at the North of Greenland Brrr.!

You really must be someone who likes the cold -O Probably you will have sun all the time though, which is more than you have now

Hi Lis,

I fly to Copenhagen, then Oslo, then Longyearbyen, the capital of Svalbard, where we start the cruise.

At present, the Magnetic North Pole is at 85.9°N 147.0°W. It used to be in the Canadian Arctic, but is moving slowly towards the Russian Arctic.

like a kid... you are like a kid

superb to put at last, images on a dream
and for me (us), not able to go more north than Neuschwanstein (and soon Düsseldorf -O ) because of the cold

I can't read the dates

Hi Nan,

I really am like a kid who has been promised a visit to the sweetshop at the moment.

I'll see if my age has affected my tolerance to the cold and let you know when I get back, but the temperatures will be around 5 degrees centigrade while we are there, so not too bad.

Everything looks blue there :D

5° is not so hard... about what we have in winter... a not normal winter

but some long days, and that will be a plus for me

5° is too cold for me..... in summer but then again, you are not going to stay there for very long, so it might we worth the cold to see isbjörne, raindeer, seals and similar and lots of sea birds of all kinds. I love the ones with the multi-coloured bill, puffin I think it's called

I can imagine your excitement levels Dewi!!!

I was watching a movie called "The Golden Compass" and thought of you...they go to Svalbard where the "ice-bears" are!

I can't wait to see the pics you bring back!!

When do you go, Dewi?