PLEASE NOTE
All itineraries are for guidance only. Programs may vary depending on local ice and weather conditions and in order to take advantage of opportunities to see wildlife. Flexibility is paramount for expedition cruises.



Day 1  Embarkation: St. John’s
Ships have been sailing to the Arctic from St. John’s for hundreds of years. So often in fact that Newfoundlanders still sing traditional songs about leaving for “the Labrador.”

Day 2  L’Anse aux Meadows
At the northern tip of the island of Newfoundland is a lonely rocky beach at the edge of a low lying meadow across which north Atlantic winds can whip. When you approach from the sea in Zodiacs you will be able to imagine the small band of Vikings approaching that same beach 1,000 years before to establish the first European settlement in North America. The tiny beach and the archaeological remains just above it have been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Days 3-4  Labrador
The economy of Labrador has always been based on natural resources, particularly cod fishing. We’ll visit Battle Harbour which has been partially restored to act as a living museum depicting the harsh life of cod fishermen and their families. From Battle Harbour, we will continue northward to Hawkes Harbour to visit an abandoned whaling station.

Day 4  The Coast of Labrador
Labrador is one of the oldest European words in use in Canada. It is a variation of the name of Joao Fernandes Lavrador, who in 1498, was credited as the first European to sight the eastern coast of North America. We now know that Vikings may have been the first Europeans to explore the coast 500 years before Lavrador.

Day 5  Hopedale
We’ll visit the Hopedale Moravian Mission, the oldest building east of Quebec, erected in 1782. The history of the Inuit people is intertwined with the work of the Moravian missionaries.

Day 6  Okak Bay, Cape Mugford
The abandoned mission we visit today was also a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post. We’ll explore the lush sub-arctic tundra and open-rock barrenlands, typical of the coast of Labrador. At Cape Mugford, you’ll learn about Ramah Chert, a stone found only in two places on Labrador’s coast. The chert was used by Paleo-Eskimo peoples and Maritime archaic Indians over 7,000 years ago.

Day 7  Torngat Mountains

The Torngat Mountains National Park Reserve was established in 2005 to protect the highest mountains east of the Rockies. We’ll explore breathtaking fjords with barrenland views. The Inuit have inhabited the region for 7500 years.

Day 8  Nachvak Fjord
We’ll pass the second location of Ramah Chert en route to Nachvak Fjord, where, if conditions permit, we’ll go ashore to hike in the mountains.

Day 9  Button Islands
Unbeknownst to the Allies, during the Second World War, Nazis established a secret automated weather station in October 1943 in Martin Bay. It was discovered 30 years later by a historian doing research in the German naval archives.

Day 10  Akpatok Islands
Our exploration of this northern island may include a hike through a slot canyon to view some archaeological remains and a Zodiac cruise along the base of a bird cliff which is inhabited by 500,000 breeding pairs of Thick-billed Murres between May and September.

Day 11  Hudson Strait to Lower Savage Islands
This strait is rich in marine life, supporting many seabird colonies along its shore. In the Lower Savage Islands we will be on the alert for polar bears. If none are spotted we will go ashore.

Day 12  Monumental Island
The last few nautical miles of this expedition are spent sailing Frobisher Bay to Iqaluit. En route we visit Monumental Island, known as a habitat of polar bears and walrus.

Day 13  Iqaluit
After disembarkation, those who have added our charter air transportation to their expedition package will tour the capital of Nunavut before boarding their flight.