10 days kayaking in the Svalbard archipelago
In Summer 2011, I had the opportunity to go kayaking around the Svalbard archipelago. The archipelago is about 61,022 km2 or 23,561 sq mi and consists of many islands including the Spitsbergen, the largest and only populated island of the Svalbard. The trip was a full 10 days in complete autonomy with more than 3000 polar bears living in the area. Since I never went to the Arctic region before as the closest I got to the Arctic Circle was Iceland, I signed up for the Svalbard trip. Do you know where Svalbard is? Below is a map. The group of islands ranges from 74° to 81° north latitude, and from 10° to 35° east longitude. One of the Svalbard settlements (Ny-Ålesund) is the public and permanent settlement (with a post office) closest o the North Pole...
Postcard from the Big Island of Hawaii
Aloha everyone, A postcard from Hawaii (Big Island) where I went for a long weekend. I was there for a wedding (congratulations to Nervin and Laura). I also managed to do a little scouting for a longer trip there. While I have not yet looked at all my images, here is a preview. The picture above is from the peak of Mauna Kea’s observatory at sunset. This one is from our day in Volcanoes National Park where we hiked to the lava ocean entry. That’s it for now, I’m back home (at least in body, my mind is still in...