Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Return to Longyearbyen...

Today the team returned to Longyearbyen from the Isfjord Radio Station. The weather had warmed to around -5 degrees C and winds were calm. On the way back the team visited Barentsburg, a Russian mining community, where they had coffee and shopped for souvenirs. Barentsburg is like a small slice of Russia on the coast of Spitsbergen. A very unusual and interesting community.
The Isfjord Radio Station
By late afternoon the team had returned to Longyearbyen where they learned that their flight to the North Pole might be delayed by a day for which they are making tentative arrangements. They met and joined up with Atul Patki, another PolarExplorers team member who will be joining them on the flight to the Pole.

Atul had his own adventure today... His snowmobile trip to the east coast of Spitsbergen had to be changed due to the increasing poor visibility. The east coast has the highest concentration of polar bear in Spitsbergen, and Atul might have thought that his chances of seeing a polar bear were dashed. But on the return from his alternate snow mobile trip he was privileged to encounter a polar bear who had just hunted two seals, right in front of the group! An amazing scene, and one he will never forget.

The King of the Arctic - Atul got to see one up close!

Check back tomorrow for another update from the team!

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