My Photography Journey
When planning our itinerary for Svalbard, one particular activity immediately caught our eye: a kayak tour to the face of a glacier.
To us – accustomed to city life – it sounded almost surreal. First of all, it was freezing cold inside the Arctic Circle. But more importantly, how could anyone just put a tourist in a kayak and let them paddle completely on their own through drift ice, surrounded by walruses and whales? It seemed impossible. Naturally, we booked it.
As it turned out, in the Far North, everything is possible.
Our group was small – just ten people. The prep work took two full hours: we were outfitted with heavy-duty waterproof thermal suits, specialized boots, and dry bags for our gear.
Next came the mandatory safety briefing, covering every worst-case scenario imaginable. When I asked, “What exactly am I supposed to do if a walrus pops up right next to my kayak?”, the entire room burst into laughter. I never did get a straight answer. But I figured if no one else was worried, I might as well relax too.
Once geared up, a speedboat brought us far out from Longyearbyen toward the glacier. Our kayaks were already waiting on the shore, guarded by a guide carrying a rifle – whose primary job was to make sure no polar bears were lurking nearby. The casual mention that bears could just be strolling around terrified a couple of girls in our group, but our guide quickly reassured everyone that the rifle was there just in case.
Finally, we slipped into our kayaks and pushed off into the open water…
It was worth every single dollar. The deep, absolute Arctic silence was broken only by the gentle lap of water against the hulls and the quiet whispers of awe from our group.
Eventually, we reached the glacier. The sea around us transformed into a dense, slushy carpet of shuga – an accumulation of soft ice crystals and floating snow. As our kayaks sliced through it, the ice hissed, crackled, and whispered against the plastic hulls. For two whole hours, we drifted in this frozen maze, navigating between towering icebergs and drifting floes.
By the way, we didn’t spot a single walrus or polar bear during the paddle.
Though later, while riding out in open water on a RIB boat, two massive walruses surfaced right alongside us. But that’s a story for another time.