Tuesday 23 August 2011

An Unexpected Encounter with Spitsbergen Reindeer

(Continuing the day-by-day look at my recent Spitsbergen cruise with Hurtigruten)

It's today that our voyage on Hurtiguten's M.V. Fram brings us to Kongsfjorden, one of the most beautiful areas of the cruise and one of the most spectacular places in Spitsbergen.

The bay of Fjortende boasts magnificent scenery, a glacier that calves into the sea and a cliff on the north side that's alive with breeding seabirds.

Svalbard reindeer - as you can see - are stockier than their Norwegian mainland cousins with distinctly shorter legs. They tend to live in small groups of five or six and feed off the moss and willow on the tundra.

Tomorrow we will be going on a Polar Circle boat cruise deep into the ice field of the glaciers in another bay.

More information about the cruise can be found on www.hurtigruten.co.uk or from the specialist adventure-cruise experts of The Cruise Line Ltd.