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On this exciting itinerary, we follow the natural guides of sea and ice to showcase the region’s cultural, historic and geographic treasures, aiming to approach the farthest stretches of this rugged, rarely visited landscape. Ultramarine’s unprecedented range of adventure options, including activities such as helicopter flightseeing, gives you an unrivalled polar experience. You’ll be able to view the magnificent wildlife that make their home in this forbidding region: sea mammals, polar bears, muskox, and possibly even the elusive arctic wolf. From soaring cliffs to mummified forests, spectacular glacial formations to stunning alpine vistas, expansive waterways to sheltered shores, Canada’s Remote Arctic provides the definitive experience of a mysterious, magical region few ever get to see.
Day | Place | Highlights |
---|---|---|
Day 1 | Calgary | Explore this vibrant city |
Day 2 | Fly to Resolute | Take your charter flight from Toronto to Resolute, board the Ultramarine |
Days 3 - 10 | Canada's High Arctic | Glaciers, iceburgs, an abundance of wildlife and exploring some of the most remote places on earth |
Day 11 | Resolute | Disembark the Ultramarine and fly to Calgary |
Day 12 | Calgary | Check out of your hotel for your onward journey |
The newest ship in the Quark fleet, Ultramarine is designed to go beyond the familiar in polar exploration, to discover new places, and immerse you in the best the region has to offer. Ultramarine accommodates 199 guests and is equipped with two twin-engine helicopters to offer the most robust portfolio of adventure activities in the industry, the most spacious suites in its category, breathtaking public spaces, and more outdoor wildlife viewing spaces than other expedition ships its size.
With two dining areas, four bars, a panoramic lounge, theatre, library, spa and fitness centre, Polar boutique and an ocean view sauna your days at sea can be as busy or relaxing as you decide.
Your Arctic expedition begins in Calgary. Explore this vibrant city on your own before you spend the night enjoying the comforts and amenities of your designated hotel.
In the morning, the group will transfer to the airport and board your charter flight to Resolute. Upon arrival, you may have a chance to check out some of the town’s sites before being transferred to your ship via Zodiac or helicopter (depending on ship location and weather conditions).
Cruising around the remote islands of the Canadian High Arctic you’ll navigate the same icy inlets, channels and bays. Designed to give polar adventurers unprecedented access to the hardest- to-reach places on the planet, including reaching Canada’s most northerly islands: Axel Heiberg Island and the rarely visited Ellesmere Island, at the top of the world.
Our objective is to visit as many of the incredible highlights the season has to offer including daily Zodiac cruising, land excursions, a robust education program, a community visit and wildlife viewing opportunities.
This area has nurtured and sustained the Inuit and their predecessors who have called these shores home for almost 5,000 years. Learn first hand from the Inuit guides onboard and ashore.
The northernmost island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Ellesmere is one of the most remote places on the planet, a land of deep fjords, jagged mountains and massive ice shelves. If we’re fortunate enough to reach here, you will be among the few polar explorers to do so. One of the goals of this expedition is to introduce guests to the unique glaciology of Axel Heiberg Island, Canada’s second-most northernly island, one-third of which is covered in glaciers. A glacier that spreads out as a wide lobe as it leaves a narrow mountain valley to enter a wider valley or a plain. Axel Heiberg is home to the most dramatic and impressive Piedmont glaciers in the world. Birders will want to have their binoculars and cameras at the ready, as the island also affords opportunities for sightings of snow buntings, ptarmigans, jaegers and arctic terns, among others.
Wildlife sightings are almost guaranteed, as many of the areas we hope to explore are home to a surprising number of birds and mammals that thrive in this challenging environment. You may see polar bears, muskoxen and several bird species, such as gyrfalcons and dovekies (little auks) and the elusive narwhal or arctic wolf, though sightings are rare, even in these areas where we have the highest chances of encountering them.
Coburg Island, for instance, is a wildlife reserve for such birds as snowy owls and peregrine falcons, while the impressive vertical cliffs of Prince Leopold Island are dotted with nesting seabirds like northern fulmars and black guillemots. The sheltered shores and steep cliffs of Arctic Bay, a hamlet located off of Admiralty Inlet, provide an ideal nesting habitat for various High Arctic birds such as snow geese, thick-billed murres (Brünnich’s guillemots) and kittiwakes. The region has been inhabited by Inuit and Thule cultures for almost 5,000 years. This community is an ideal spot to go ashore and learn more about the Inuit culture, sampling the local cuisine and mingling with artists, perhaps picking up carvings or other handicrafts as a memento of your polar adventure.
Devon Island is another possible locale for wildlife encounters, as walrus, polar bears and muskoxen inhabit the area, which is also the location of the remains of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost, established at Dundas Harbour in 1924 to curb foreign whaling and other activities. Nearby is a small cemetery, one of Canada’s most northerly, still maintained by the RCMP to this day. Another exciting excursion your Expedition Team might offer, conditions permitting, is the opportunity to fly up to explore the Devon ice cap, one of the largest in the Canadian Arctic. History buffs will also be intrigued by the chance to visit an abandoned Hudson’s Bay Company trading post at Fort Ross, at the southern end of Somerset Island, and pay their respects to the ill-fated Franklin expedition of 1845–46 at the gravesite of three crew members on Beechey Island, one of Canada’s most significant Arctic exploration sites.
After disembarking in Resolute, you’ll be transferred to your charter flight to Calgary, where you’ll spend the night at your included hotel.
Today, make your way to the airport to catch your homeward flights, or spend the day exploring this fascinating city.