Arctic Kingdom's Narwhal & Polar Bear Safari - Day 1

After arriving in Ottawa at 230am, a sleepless night, I was up early and back at the airport for the journey to the great white north - bound for Pond Inlet via Iqaluit. 


High above the clouds over northern Quebec, the mainland disappears as we cross over the Hudson Bay - what begins as small chunks of ice in the water below turn into lily pad shaped bergs. This is it! As we decend our way into iqaluit the land is rolling tundra, rock and ice covering the bay. 
A short drive back to the airport, I walk strait through the door and shuttled to our Dash 8. Pond inlet is a town of 1500, large for a northern community. Children playing with kites made out of plastic bags, houses raises on blocks due to the permafrost, Bylot Island across the frozen bay. The shore is dotted with Qamutiq (Inuit sleds designed to travel on ice and snow) and dogs. The wind is howling, its cold, but so remotely beautiful. This, is the Arctic. I've been dreaming about this for years and I'm here!This evening we walk to the cultural centre to learn more about the Inuit way of life - The Northern Games (kind of like the Olympics but strange competitions consisting of wrapping ones arms around each other necks and pulling on the others lip until one gives in, to standing on forefingers and kicking up to a piece of seal bait). I guess you gotta spend your time doing something? Some of these activities must have been invented in the dead and darkness of winter. The presentation concludes with drums and throat singing. The people here are interesting, smiling, shy, and so friendly. 
Its about 11pm - completely light out. Welcome to no darkness for the next 7 days. Welcome to trying to sleep. It really throws a person off...I wake at 230am to the sun peering through the curtains, time to get up yet? This will take a couple days to get used to.

With an hour to connect I'm met by smiling Arctic Kingdom staff and some of my group; 6 travelers from Germany and Switzerland. "Let's go check out the town", one of the gals says...I'm like, really? What about our flight? "Oh, there's lots of time". Hmmm…ok, cool. 
Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut, is a population of 7000, mostly Inuit. Dirt roads, buildings built for the harsh climate - Iqaluit is a bustling little town. Our quick tour allows us to check out the legislative building, filled with beautiful artwork, furniture adorned with seal fur, narwhal tusks and other materials made from the land; the Arctic hotel, RBC bank (for some last minute cash) and shopping! 

As our flight nears Pond Inlet the scenery is dramatic - snow covered mountains, ice as far as the eye can see, the small northern community hugs the shore. Huge cracks in the ice...the land looks so unforgiving and I'm thinking what the hell have i got myself into? Oh my gosh. Excited, ecstatic and a little bit nervous. 
I'm greeted by Jane, our guide (from Canmore) and whisked down the street to the hotel waiting for the rest of the group to arrive - a mother and daughter from London, and a couple from Ohio.


The Inuit are proud people and it shows in conversations about hunting and their way of life. While everyone speaks english, the main language here is Inuktitut. It's interesting to think that this is part of Canada, but so different from anything most of us know, or even realize as part of this country. 
Nunavut is Canada's most northern territory and is one of the world's most remote settled regions. Divided from the Northwest Territories in 1999, the word, "Nunavut" translates to "Our Land". 

Living Out a Dream in the Canadian Arctic

The high arctic, many people say you'd be crazy to go there. 

I've always been fascinated with the polar regions. One of the first dreams I remember having was when I was about 6 years old, the image is still clear in my mind. My grandma, an iceberg and a polar bear. It was a nightmare, but at the same time a certain calmness, it never ended. I've had reoccuring dreams of being surrounded by ice and swimming with bears all my life. A premonition maybe?

After a delayed flight I finally arrived to my Ottawa hotel around 2am this morning, not even 6 hours later to be back at the airport headed for Pond Inlet, a small community located around 70 degrees north on Baffin Island. 

From here, we take qamutiq (local Inuit sleds) across the ice for around 5-7 hours before reaching our camp on the floe edge to spend the week experencing what is known to be one of the richest areas for marine activity in arctic waters - especially at this time of year as species like narwhal and beluga are migrating to their annual summering grounds.

So why the arctic? Why go back to winter, when we finally just escaped it? 

For me, it's not about the cold weather, or returning to snow covered landscapes. Like my dreams, there's peace here, solitude that you can't find anywhere else. As most people will say, once you go, there's always a longing to return. 

Not to mention some of the super cool things to 'check' of the list:

Crossing the Arctic Circle! Need I say more? 

Spending a week in 24 hour daylight. I've always wanted to witness the midnight sun, visualizing the earth rotated on its axis...to be a spec in the north where the sun just rotates along the horizon (or high above at this time of year, time will soon tell).

To learn about the local Inuit culture, how they live, their beliefs. 

And finally, the wildlife! Two occurrences that have stuck with me:

When I first learned that narwhals existed after watching some documentary, I was blown away. The unicorns of the sea - beautiful, intelligent and highly adapted creatures that only live in these frigid northern waters. 

The other pivotal moment that brought me here was 5 years ago at Virtuoso Week - up comes appointment #218 or something like that. Before my eyes is Arctic Kingdom's beautiful brochure filled with imagery and experiences that you only see on something like National Geographic. I was in awe, hooked. I can swim with narwhals and belugas off the floe edge? What was a floe edge? We can camp there? Seriously? When can I go? I returned back to Calgary determined to do this trip...and 5 years later, here I am. 

Stay tuned...

Some Interesting Facts about the Asmat

Thanks to Christine with Noble Caledonia for sharing some of her daily bulletin reports with me - I thought this information would be helpful to give a better idea as to the area of the world I'm currently exploring - the people, the land, the politics. Enjoy…

Some Interesting Facts About the Asmat

Deep in the southern coast of New Guinea, surrounded by tropical rainforest and mud all over the ground are the Asmat people. In an island where one side is inaccessible from the sea and the other has a snowy mountain range live a people 60,000 strong, safe from enemy attack. Wood, masks, drums, and art are the four elements essential to the Asmat people of New Guinea. Asmat, another name for wood, was chosen as the name of the people because they believe they were created from it. Masks, a beautiful form of artwork in the Asmat culture, offer a great sense of culture. There are two types of masks for the Asmat, one representing ancestors and fertility, the other representing the community. Drumming is significant to the way of life, and very simple music is played on the drums during any sort of festival or event. Lastly, and probably the most famous is the art of the Asmat family. The Asmat artists, referred to as wow ipits, only use three colors: white, the basic color; red, to detail tattoo marks or bone structure; and black, used only for the hair. Most of their art is two-dimensional, along with round figures and large protrusions. These elements combined with the people of this community bring together a beautiful sense of culture, respect and meaning to the word Asmat.

The people that belong to this family live in villages divided into quarters with a large ceremonial house in the center called a yeu. Each household must have a fireplace for each woman living there and the yeu must always face water. The yeu is very important in the Asmat culture because all the festivals, ceremonies and dances take place in there. Unmarried boys and men usually spend a great amount of their time in the yeu, also referred to as the bachelor house. From there, the men keep an eye on their enemies and ensure the safety of their village. Long rows of fireplaces inside the yeu, called jowse, represent each family group. Curiously, women are only allowed in the yeu on special occasions, but their presence is vital when inaugurating a new ceremonial house or adopting others into the yeu tribe. When an outsider is initiated into the yeu tribe, the women must enter the yeu and stand one in front of the other with their legs widespread. The newcomers then pass between the women’s legs while the women moan, representing childbirth. This initiation resembles the women giving birth to the new members of the group. Rituals such as this among the Asmat people always have a purpose and weave together the idea of food, sexuality and hunting. Surprisingly, the Asmat people are thought of as killers that believe in cannibalism, fierce warriors and murderers. It is true that in the former days the head of the family collected the brains of the enemy and victoriously ate them, but after 1954, when the Asmat people were reestablished, they did away with their cannibalistic ways. The Asmat people are not cruel, their actions and beliefs have deep meaning and are a significant part of their culture. The Asmat do not chop down Sago trees to hurt their earth or kill nature’s gifts, in fact, the Sago tree is known as the “tree of life” and is considered a human being, a woman to be exact, to the Asmat people. Just as a woman bears children, the tree bears sago, an edible starch, and the main source of food for the Asmat. To show reverence to the Sago tree, there is an important initiation and ceremony that is held frequently. A tree is picked out at random and dressed with a woman’s skirt, a skirt made out of the same leaves a woman wears around her waist. The skirt is then decorated with masculine symbols, to represent men as well, and once it is fully dressed it is called the “mother tree” of the feast. Then, to initiate this tree as one of their sacred Sago trees, the decorated tree is cut down, another important ritual to the Asmat, which closely represents the slaying of an enemy. Once opened, if it contains the precious sago, it is initiated as a Sago tree, and screams can be heard miles away. An enormous feast follows this joyful initiation of the Sago tree.

To undo the myth that Asmats are murderers and kill for joy exist the deep symbolism that accompanies the ceremony of eating the brains of an enemy. In the days when the Asmat were cannibals, the an, a bowl symbolizing a woman’s vagina, was used to collect brains. With a stone ax, a hole would be made in the temple of the fresh skull, the brains removed and placed in the an. The sexual symbolism came together with the brains representing sperm in the woman’s vagina. There is another initiation that shows the profound meaning of a human skull among the Asmat culture. Once a fresh skull is obtained, it is painted with chalk, ashe, and ochre. Decorations are placed all over the skull and it is laid between the legs of the initiate. The initiate is forced to stare at the skull for two or three days, until the entire village comes together to witness the event. The villagers decorate themselves and their canoes, and the initiate stands in the canoe of his family members, holding a stick, portraying himself as an elderly man. As the drumming begins, the canoes start rowing down the river, and the initiate is thrown into the water along with his skull. After he is successfully recovered, he is undressed, and the skull is his to keep. After learning about the different initiations and rituals that complete the Asmat culture one can only agree that they are meaningful to the people as well as unique to their primitive surroundings.

Rockefeller, Michael Clark. The Asmat of New Guinea. New York: March 1967.

The Asmat

We're headed into the Asmat, located on the south western part of New Guinea. The Asmat is a region dotted with villages but it's also a people and a culture. The headhunters, these people are also world famous for their wood carving and art. One the the most primitive cultures in the world, the entire society is extremely complex, the way these people live is fascinating. I'll have to post some some some fact sheets to  really explain it, but it's all about balance, ancestors play a huge role in why these people do what they do and live the way they live. Animal symbols like flying foxes, cuscus and others are represented throughout the artwork, mirroring animals who 'eat heads', like the people.

The social system is quite interesting, I think. There are men's houses, places for women and children. Each gender and age range has specific roles, beliefs and traditions on reproduction and maturity.

Unlike western society, there is little focus on individualism.

The sea goes from blue to brown as we enter into the Awesets River, only 2 meters under the keel and at one point we ran aground for a brief moment. The captain has updated charts which are incorrect so he reverts to the charts used on a previous expedition.

We anchor and not soon after, Lex Mono is met by a small boat, 3 of us are down at the marina watching as they pull up, wearing head feathers, huge bone rings in their noses. So exciting! Lex is a legend, he's the guy that gives us access to these villages, he's been coming here for years and if it wasn't for him these visits would be difficult or impossible to arrange. He leaves us this evening to join the people, helping them prepare for our arrival which apparently involves no sleep and lots of beetle nut.

For the first time (that we've noticed) on this voyage, the ship has spotters and security up through the night on look out. It's reassuring and makes me super excited, a bit nervous, anticipating the days ahead.

The Most Phycadalic Dream of My Life

This morning was a 5am wake up call and for some stupid reason I stayed up until 1am last night watching flying fish and chatting with friends. 

I couldn't miss the zodiac cruising through the mushroom like limestone islands, watching for birds and looking at rock art...but after a few hours on the zodiac and having breakfast looking like a total zombie I decided it would be best to skip the morning snorkel and catch up on some sleep.

I'm pretty sure I had a better trip than anyone awake cause I had the most crazy dreams that I can ever remember. 

I was on this trip with small avatar like creatures everywhere, fish jumping into the boat with big eyes, multiple heads making faces and waving at me, tribal humans with strange things growing out of their heads, little creatures resembling mudskippers and sea stars, thousands of dolphins jumping over me spinning high into the air. 

Then I'm on land taking pictures and instead of a normal camera flash, the flash would come out of the front of the camera on a long pole shooting like 30 feet in front of it and at the end of the pole a big umbrella would come out flapping open and closed. The umbrella was alive, everything was alive. The umbrella hit a palm tree and suddenly all the palm trees started falling over hitting the ocean and village, ruining everything in its path. I felt so guilty and had to tell the chief of the village that it was me that destroyed the village, it was such an awful feeling. 

Waking up, these scenes were so vidid, I really felt like I just experienced something totally out of this world. 

Later in the day as I reflected on all that happened in my dream, I realize that my brain was filing and sorting everything that I've been learning and experiencing on this trip. All the diverse marine life we've seen, the umbrella from my camera was actually images of the flying foxes we saw at Palau Palau Su, the falling palm trees that we learned about during one of the lectures onboard, how they grow in the soil and eventually fall over. And me ruining the village was a reflection to us humans destroying the planet. 

I just think that it's interesting how we are all so connected, and how our minds work to filter our experiences. 

Mommon Peninsula, West Papua

Mommon Peninsula, West Papua 

A beautiful morning at sea and headed to the 'waterfall'...a huge of spinner dolphins to the starboard side of the ship. The captain (who is excellent by the way), gets us right up to the waterfall, and we're told to get our swimsuits on cause we're going for a zodiac cruis!!! YAY!!! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself. We definitely got the 'fun boat' with MiMo as our driver all of us are laughing, screaming and shouting as he sucks the zodiac right under the waterfall, the fresh water is pounding us, cruising around bailing water for another few dips, so much fun!!! The captain comes down dressed in uniform and joins in the fun. 

Whatever hangover I had from my birthday party was long gone!

Repositioning the ship into a secluded bay the scenery is beautiful, limestone islands, bright blue water and pristine beaches. The rainforest comes right down to the water and it's an interesting dynamic. 

The snorkeling here is spectacular, among the best I've done. Water so calm and warm, fish just everywhere above huge sea beds of branching coral. 

A colorful sunset off the horizon and an end to another great day!

Jayapura, West Papua

We woke today cruising the northern coast of Papua New Guinea, crossing over into Papua, a province of Indonesia. 

Welcomed by dancers dressed in their traditional wear, the girls with elaborate head gear made if birds of paradise, the men painted with red beetle nut and grass skirts. 

There is an option to go to the McArthur Monunent, an important historical site from World War Two, or the local market and natural history museum. 

We opted for the market to get a glimpse into local life. Jayapura is so different than Wekak in that it's totally Indonesian, I knew the trip involved Indosnesia but am learning so much about the corrupt and debatable politics of this region. 

Entering the maze of shops the people are all over us to take their pictures, pointing at beetle nut, fish, clothes, smiling and cheering. It's so nice to be asked to take shots of then whereas in so many other countries it's frowned upon or awkward at times to shoot the locals. 

We continued on to the natural history museum which showcases some awesome collections from tribes all over New Guinea. 

The local guide tells us we have to stop at the school for cake that they made us, and as we go in the children and teachers are just going crazy, they have their cameras, putting us knot position to get photographed with the kids. One lady came and put a little bird of paradise hair clip on me, then another comes and crowns me with a tiara made of chicken feathers. It was time to go but they wouldn't stop taking pictures, "one more one more!", sunglasses on, then off, so many different positions and we finally got outta there. So fun!