Narwhal 10 day itinerary
Jones Adventure
Travel
10
Day itinerary for the Narwhal of Baffin Island Adventure Expedition
Day
0, Saturday:
You need to arrive in Ottawa today, so that you can join the flight tomorrow from Ottawa to Iqaluit and then onward to Pond Inlet. The flight and plane change in Iqualuit consume much of the day tomorrow. We suggest that if you want a distinctive arctic souvenir, you do some window shopping for soapstone carvings today in Ottawa. Then when you are in Pond Inlet you will have an excellent idea of quality and price. Almost always the quality and price are superior in Pond Inlet.
Day
1, Sunday: Our Arctic narwhal adventure begins when we meet in Pond Inlet, Baffin Island, Canada. From Ottawa we’ll probably all fly together to Iqaluit and on to Pond Inlet. Although the price of the air tickets from Ottawa to Pond Inlet is not included in the tour price. We’ll meet up with our local guides and spend our first night in a local hotel, probably the Sauniq Inn.
Day
2 Monday:
Today we meet our outfitter and review
what you have packed. Then we have time to explore the small town
of Pond Inlet.
Day 3 Tuesday:
Today
we travel via motor boat to our base camp location at Koluctoo
Bay. On the way we’ll begin the Narwhal and
Bowhead whale search while enjoying the passing arctic scenery.
The odds are excellent we will sight several icebergs along the
way. We will set up camp and then probably have time to
explore the area around our camp.
Day
4 Wednesday:
Today we will go out in our chartered
boat in search of Narwhal and other marine wildlife. We’ll
adjust our routine to suit the weather and the group personality.
We expect to land and spend some time on a point of land known
as Bruce Head. This is dependent on whether or not there are Inuit
hunters there. If hunters are present, we don't stay there.
Day
5, 6 & 7 Thursday, Friday, & Saturday: These days are set aside for hiking, fishing and observing the narwhal and seals from the shore or from the point of land at Bruce Head. This special rocky ledge is an area where the narwhal pass close to shore as they enter and leave Koluctoo Bay. This past year we experienced what we called the narwhal parade, when for 25 uninterrupted minutes we watched a steady stream of narwhal swim by, as close to us as 20 feet.. We expect that by day 6 we will have viewed Narwhal several times. On all previous trips the best viewing of narwhals took place from the shore, not from the boat. So don't let the days on shore make you think nothing will happen. In 2008 our group sighted tusking narwhals very close to shore and for a long time. Our Inuit guide rated that viewing as the most amazing and one of the best he has ever seen in his entire life.
Day
8 - Sunday: Today the boat returns us to Pond. But that doesn't mean you won't see whales today. Last year Orcas were sighted just outside of Koluctoo Bay by our group on the return to Pond Inlet. Bowhead whales have been seen in this channel.
Day
9 - Monday: We have a relaxed and open schedule today. This is really a weather day, to allow us an extra day in Pond Inlet, should the weather delay our return from Kolucktoo Bay. Today is an excellent time to make some last minute souvenirs purchases.
Day
10 - Tuesday: Today we fly south from Pond Inlet to Ottawa and home.
This
itinerary is a sample only. Each
day our activities will be dictated by the weather, the animals and by the
other special social situations that can occur in Nunavut Territory. I
promise you that the past August Narwhal trips were
very successful with narwhal sightings every day from the boat and
on several occasions from the shore at our base camp. On one trip we
had a pod of narwhal tusking just offshore of our camp, almost felt like
we could reach out and touch them they were so close. This is a unique trip.
Nobody else in the world does a trip like this. This trip is one of
a kind and designed specifically to get to see as many narwhal as closely
as it is practical to
do. Therefore you will experience and see things that almost
no other travelers have ever seen. On any given year maybe only a dozen tourists from outside Nunavut visit Koluctoo Bay. Each year for a number of years now, narwhal researchers from the USA, Canada and Greenland have used this area to further their research into narwhal behavior and migration patterns because it is the best place in the world to view narwhal.