Burgerbutka, Svalbard - landing.

As we neared Hornsund fjord and our first scheduled stop at Burgerbutka the waves, and then the wind died down considerably, much to everyone’s relief. We dropped anchor just after lunch and then the decision was made that we could go ashore using the zodiacs. Under the Association of Arctic Cruise Ship Operators (AECO) rules, no more than 100 explorers should be ashore at any one time and as we narwhals had been first ashore in Jan Mayen, we were in group last ashore here. 

We stepped off the zodiac on a small beach of dark sand. Several glaciers stretched to the sea nearby and, not surprisingly, we could only take a short walk along the beach and up through the snow to get a better view of the fjord. Our expedition team had already gone ahead to mark out safe routes and check for any other potential dangers, ie polar bears. None were sighted although we did come across some polar bear tracks. Slightly less benign but potentially just as deadly were icebergs floating in the fjord as we sailed out.

It was really just a short stop for an hour or so as the weather in the fjord was rather misty and there was rain in the air. However, after everyone’s sleepless night the spectacular glacial, fjord and mountain scenery and the chance to set foot on another of the world’s remote islands more than made up for the ordeals of the previous hours.