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This 13-day active adventure embarks in St.
John’s, on the island of Newfoundland to
follow the Labrador Coast to Ungava Bay. En
route, you’ll visit L’Anse aux Meadows, where
a Viking village predates the arrival of
Columbus in North America by 500 years. Shore
landings will be made in Torngat Mountains
National Park Reserve, Canada’s newest
national park. Our Expedition Team will
contrast the cultures and languages of the
indigenous people who live along the coast. We
disembark on Baffin Island in the Nunavut
capital, Iqaluit. Day 1:
Embarkation St. John’s
Ships have been sailing to the Arctic from St.
John’s for hundreds of years. So often in fact
that Newfoundlanders still sing traditional
songs about leaving for “the Labrador.”
Day 2: L’Anse aux
Meadows
At the northern tip of the island of
Newfoundland is a lonely rocky beach at the
edge of a low lying meadow across which north
Atlantic winds can whip. When you approach
from the sea in Zodiacs you will be able to
imagine the small band of Vikings approaching
that same beach 1,000 years before to
establish the first European settlement in
North America. The tiny beach and the
archaeological remains just above it have been
designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Days 3-4: Labrador
The economy of Labrador has always been based
on natural resources, particularly cod
fishing. We’ll visit Battle Harbour which has
been partially restored to act as a living
museum depicting the harsh life of cod
fishermen and their families. From Battle
Harbour, we will continue northward to Hawkes
Harbour to visit an abandoned whaling station.
Day 4: The Coast of
Labrador
Labrador is one of the oldest European words
in use in Canada. It is a variation of the
name of Joao Fernandes Lavrador, who in 1498,
was credited as the first European to sight
the eastern coast of North America. We now
know that Vikings may have been the first
Europeans to explore the coast 500 years
before Lavrador.
Day 5: Hopedale
We’ll visit the Hopedale Moravian Mission, the
oldest building east of Quebec, erected in
1782. The history of the Inuit people is
intertwined with the work of the Moravian
missionaries.
Day 6: Okak Bay, Cape
Mugford
The abandoned mission we visit today was also
a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post. We’ll
explore the lush sub-arctic tundra and
open-rock barrenlands, typical of the coast of
Labrador. At Cape Mugford, you’ll learn about
Ramah Chert, a stone found only in two places
on Labrador’s coast. The chert was used by
Paleo-Eskimo peoples and Maritime archaic
Indians over 7,000 years ago.
Day 7: Torngat
Mountains
The Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve
was established in 2005 to protect the highest
mountains east of the Rockies. We’ll explore
breathtaking fjords with barrenland views. The
Inuit have inhabited the region for 7500
years.
Day 8: Nachvak Fjord
We’ll pass the second location of Ramah Chert
en route to Nachvak Fjord, where, if
conditions permit, we’ll go ashore to hike in
the mountains.
Day 9: Button Islands
Unbeknownst to the Allies, during the Second
World War, Nazis established a secret
automated weather station in October 1943 in
Martin Bay. It was discovered 30 years later
by a historian doing research in the German
naval archives.
Day 10: Akpatok
Islands
Our exploration of this northern island may
include a hike through a slot canyon to view
some archaeological remains and a Zodiac
cruise along the base of a bird cliff which is
inhabited by 500,000 breeding pairs of
Thick-billed Murres between May and September.
Day 11: Hudson
Strait to Lower Savage Islands
This strait is rich in marine life, supporting
many seabird colonies along its shore. In the
Lower Savage Islands we will be on the alert
for polar bears. If none are spotted we will
go ashore.
Day 12: Monumental
Island
The last few nautical miles of this expedition
are spent sailing Frobisher Bay to Iqaluit. En
route we visit Monumental Island, known as a
habitat of polar bears and walrus.
Day 13: Iqaluit
After disembarkation, those who have added our
charter air transportation to their expedition
package will tour the capital of Nunavut
before boarding their flight |
