Ny Alesund’s 12 permanent residents proudly proclaim theirs to be “the world’s northernmost settlement.” and you are hard-pressed to find a challenger – the co-ordinates: 78 degrees 55’N, 11 degrees 56’E are hard to “top” There no McDonald’s and the hearty townsfolk live in a nature preserve. Walruses, seals, wild reindeer, and Arctic foxes thrive in the cold habitat, and dramatic passages, such as Kongsford (King’s fjord), are breathtaking. (courtesy Holland America)
I thought the cruise into Kongsfjord, was almost as spectacular as Maagdalenefjord, the day before. We learned that all we thought were individual glaciers, emanated from the massive Krome Glacier
Since this is a preserve, we were permitted to go ashore with instructions to “leave only footprints, and take only photographs” by our captain. Even smoking was not permitted. There is a very popular souvenir store and I imagine there were thousands of Kroner $$, left behind with the “footprints”.
One of the greatest Polar explorers, Roald Amundsen, set out from Ny Alesund in a zeppelin in an attempt to reach the North Pole, but lost that race and had to be satisfied as the first man to reach the South Pole instead.
By noon the skies had cleared somewhat and we had a marvelous view as we sailed out of Kongsfjord and turned south on a 185 degree heading to Bergen, Norway.
Next: Bergen, Norway and “Norway in a Nutshell”
Cummings Family Adventures 