Svalbard: Land of the Ice Bear July 6, 2014

I just returned from an amazing adventure to Svalbard, Norway with National Geographic/Linblad to visit the land of the midnight sun – the Arctic. The grand prize was seeing polar bears in the wild but the Arctic has so much else for adventurers including walrus’, seals, Arctic foxes, whales (Beluga, Humpback and Fin) and reindeer.  The richness of it’s bird life kept us busy scanning the skies and the waters.  We reached the 80th parallel north and were about 600 miles from the North Pole. Part two will feature more mammals, birds and the beauty of the landscape. A special shout out to a great crew and expedition naturalists. For those interested in maps, I have included a map of Svalbard below today’s montage.