Itinerary
Day 1
Fly to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, the administrative capital of the Kamchatka region. The city was established in 1740 by Vitus Bering of the Second Kamchatka Expedition and came to prominence during the cold war as a major Russian naval base. There is still a significant military presence here, and parts of the harbour have restricted access.
Day 2
Your Expedition departs from the Port of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy on Monday, 27th June 2011.
There will be some free time before boarding the ship in the afternoon. We suggest that you explore the town – the hotel will be able to assist you in finding the principal sites. There are some significant monuments celebrating important events in the history of the town, including the British and French attacks. There is also a very good museum.
Transfer from the hotel to the Spirit of Enderby in the Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy harbour on the shores of Avacha Bay, claimed by some to be the world’s most beautiful natural harbour. We sail this afternoon.
Day 3: Zhupanova River
We will spend the morning in the Zhupanova River region on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Our zodiacs can negotiate the shallow meandering river where there are superb opportunities for both birding and nature walks. We are likely to see up to 40 species of birds, including such special Siberian species as the yellow billed loon, yellow-breasted bunting, greenshank, Far-Eastern curlew, and common tern. Beyond the river, in mature birch forest there is a good chance we may see a Steller’s sea eagle.
Day 4 & 5: Commander Islands
The Commander Islands are steeped in history and the only place where Steller’s sea cow was ever recorded. They are named after famed explorer Commander Vitus Bering. A simple tombstone marks his grave. We will visit the small museum in the village of Nikolskoye for an introduction to the culture of the local people. We plan to visit Bering’s grave and possibly raise a toast to Bering at the gravesite. The Commander Islands are home to a huge number of birds, including horned and tufted puffins, crested and parakeet auklets, thick billed murres, red-legged kittiwakes, and red-faced cormorants. We may also spot harbour seals, Steller’s sea lions and northern fur seals.
Day 6: Unkinskaya Guba
We plan an expedition landing in Ukinskaya Bay. There will be an opportunity to explore the extensive beach, the grass and scrubland behind the beach, and the large area of swamps. Several rivers and streams flow into the bay. We will navigate these with our zodiacs, landing often to enjoy the landscape and wildlife.
Day 7: Karaginsky Island – Verkhoturova Island
We anchor in the Gulf of Lazmykh Vestey on the western shoreline of Karaginsky Island, where we will make an expedition landing to explore the island’s forests and wildlife. This afternoon we land on the small island of Verkhoturova, where there is a traditional walrus haul out. Walrus may be present, if not it is a great island for wildflowers and walking.
Day 8 & 9: Goven Peninsula
The Koryaksky Preserve on the Goven Peninsula protects a wide array of habitats from raised beach plains to steep glaciated mountains while the surrounding waters house a rich diversity of marine life including species such as Steller’s eider and Kittlitz’s murrelet. Ashore wetland areas provide an internationally important refuge for migrating birds. Our two days in the region give ample opportunity to explore a range of habitats as well as look for elusive snow sheep or encounter the brown bears which inhabit this wilderness.
Day 10: Bukhta Natalii
The coastline between these two prominent capes in the Koriyak District is dominated by a number of drowned river valley’s. These navigable sounds give good access to the interior where reindeer herders sometimes graze their herds in summer. We explore Bukhta Natalii where there will be opportunities to land and enjoy the many wildflowers and wildlife, which may include Bears. Walrus’s are likely to be encountered on the small islands at the entrance to the sound.
Day 11: At Sea
At sea we will follow the coastline north past Cape Gavriila, named after Bering’s ship St Gabriel. Because of the strong tides there is an abundance of food in the water, and numerous seabirds and grey whales can be seen feeding here. Cape Navarin marks the place where the land bridge to North America began when the sea levels were much lower. We sail across Anadyrskiy Bay into the Chukotka region.
Day 12: Yttygran Island
On Yttygran Island Russian anthropologists discovered an astonishing ancient memorial site nicknamed ‘Whale Bone Alley’ where whale bones stretch along the beach for nearly half a kilometre. We will explore this ceremonial site which has immense jawbones and ribs of bowhead whales placed together in a stunning arch formation. Walruses are known to frequent the area and there is a large seabird colony on neighbouring Nuneangan Island.
Day 13: Provideniya
We visit the small industrial and administrative centre of Provideniya named for Saint Providence. This is an important port and a major enterprise for the local inhabitants. It is ice-free from May to October each year and handles much of the freight for this region. Provideniya has an excellent museum which we will visit.
Day 14: Egvekinot
From Egvekinot, a small port in Kresta Bay, there is a road running inland across the tundra of the inland plains where the reindeer herders graze their herds in the summer months. Today we travel by Russian Ural buses into this region so you can explore and appreciate the vastness and beauty of the area, see the many tundra plants and hopefully meet up with a group of nomadic reindeer herders.
Day 15: Anadyr
Our journey ends in Anadyr on Monday, 11th July 2011. The first outside visitor to this place was the Siberian Cossack and seafaring explorer Seme Dezhnev, who arrived in 1648. The region is rich in natural resources and today it is an administrative and trading centre. Although the town itself has only been in existence for just over a century, the origins of the name Anadyr are much older. The name initially derives from the Yukaghir word “any-an” meaning “river”. When Semyon Dezhnev met Yukaghir peoples in the area and the indigenous name was corrupted to form “Onandyr”, later Anadyrsk, the name of the ostrog (fort) upstream of the present-day settlement, from which the current name is derived.
