Things to Do in Nunavut, Nunavut, Canada

5chc9533 5:00 PM Oct 20, 2016

Life and wildlife in the High Arctic
At 196K sq.km., Ellesmere Island is Canada's 3rd largest island, the 10th in the world and the most northerly island in the Arctic Archipelago. Ellesmere Island only has one small community, Grise Fjord at the southern coast plus some research station and military bases. According to Wikipedia, the population of Grise Fjord was 130 per 2011 census. We cruised the southern and eastern coastline of Ellesmere Island on board NG Explorer. Prior to our tour, we were not able to find any review about this place with the exception of the one reviewer here (thank you, Spartz). Although a few day's visit to Ellesmere didn't turn us into an expert, we hope to share with you what we saw. - An expedition ship is probably the only practical means of transportation to come here. It is going to be expensive. Knowing what you are looking for, and learning more about this place can help setting your expectation accordingly. - Unlike a trip to Alaska or Africa where you can choose where to go and the duration of your stay based on your personal interest, you won't have that option here. You go with the ship's itinerary, period. However, one itinerary cannot possibly meet the wishes of each and every passengers. So study the itinerary very carefully and ask questions to make sure that most of your needs will be met. - But in spite of having a itinerary, a plan is a plan! At the end of the day, you go where the ship takes you, the ship goes where ice and weather conditions permit, and you see whatever wildlife and scenery as mother nature is willing to show you! While this is true everywhere, it is particularly valid here as you don't have the luxury of staying for an extra day or driving a different route. But come prepared to accept the Arctic in its own terms - and it will open its heart to you! - Scenery: countless glaciers, fjords, icebergs, and ice-capped mountains along the way. Take note that Ellesmere is a true polar desert, vegetation is spare. The arctic willow is the only woody species to grow on the island. As we visited in late August, the tundra and willow has put on their autumn colors and they were awesome! - Wildlife: we saw bowhead whale, belugas, walrus, bearded seal, ringed seal, muskox, and of course, polar bears (see photos). A word of caution: don't expect any similar QUANTITY of wildlife as you can see in Africa, Alaska, etc. The land here is barren and cannot support a large quantity of life - wildlife or human. Having the fortune of coming here, we have gained a much better understanding and appreciation of the Inuit's art of survival in such harsh environment ! The chance of seeing any wildlife here remains to be a hit and miss. IMHO, the QUALITY of arctic wildlife more than make up for the quantity :-) Our ship crossed 80*N, just 600 nautical miles from north pole. At this point, Ellesmere seemed only a stone's throw from Greenland. Our ship turned and travelled south along the western coastline of Greenland. Our journey was 20-night on board NG Explorer and I would say Ellesmere was the highlight of our trip!

5Spatz 5:00 PM Sep 1, 2015

Great nature and nothing else
We cruised around Ellesmere Island. One interesting stop was Craig Harbour , a former Police Station of the Canadian Mountain Police; it is closed today and you can visit the ruins. At the beach you can find the bones of all sorts of animals. The colours of the rocks and the Tundra are just amazing. If you are lucky you can see Arctic hares and musk oxes. Further north you have the chance to see polar bears on the ice or even on the island itself.