Wildlife Watching Expedition on Somerset Island in Nunavut

After arriving at Yellowknife, the capital of the Northwest Territories, you’ll be transferred from the airport to the Explorer Hotel.

We’ll have breakfast at the hotel and take a charter flight to the north of the Arctic Circle. The flight will take about three hours and we’ll arrive at the Arctic Watch wilderness lodge in the afternoon.

Our team will introduce you to the lodge and the surrounding areas. You’ll have some time to settle in your cabins.

You can take part in an optional short hike up to a local mountain peak before dinner. Some breathtaking views of the Northwest Passage and unique ice formations on the Arctic Ocean open up from the summit.

You’ll have a practical introduction to ATVs, as this will be one of the main forms of transport for the upcoming days. ATVs are perfect for covering long distances on the barren tundra. We’ll take a short trip to the Cunningham Estuary to try out your newly acquired skills and also watch beluga whales.

We’ll drive along Somerset Island’s coastline, where you can see some archeological sites and artifacts that date back to the Viking Age!

After lunch, we’ll go on a short hiking trip to the Triple Waterfalls. You might meet some muskox and other arctic animals along the way!

We’ll cross the Cunningham River delta and travel to Muskox Ridge. The picturesque trail is an ideal place to watch muskoxen and arctic foxes.

Our picnic lunch will be served by Inukshuk Lake, where you’ll have a great chance to test your fishing skills. We’ll provide all the angling gear you need for this fun catch-and-release fishing experience.

On our way back, look to the skies to see some amazing birds hovering above our heads. Snowy owls, jaegers, and rough-legged hawks are some of the birds that live in the area.

After dinner, you’ll have an opportunity to listen to an informal lecture by Richard Weber. He’ll tell you about his expeditions to the North Pole, including an unprecedented unassisted journey in 1995.

We’ll kayak through the clear water of the Cunningham Inlet. Watch beluga whales passing by the boat, as they come here to calve and feed, before migrating to the shores of Baffin Island.

We’ll paddle to the other side of the inlet to Kayak Falls. Enjoy the stunning views of the Northwest Passage and, if we’re lucky, we might even spot some polar bears!

After a tasty dinner, you’ll have a chance to join an informal lecture by Nansen Weber, who will tell you all about the art of wildlife photography.

We’ll travel to the east side of Cunningham Inlet, where many nameless canyons provide great opportunities for hiking.

In the afternoon, we’ll observe beluga whales playing in the estuary. This is a great spot for whale watching, because of the number of whales packed in the turquoise waters of the bay. It is also relatively close to the shore, so you get a great view of the charming whales splashing in the water and rubbing themselves on the river stones.

Today we’ll explore the west shore of the inlet. We’ll visit a historic 1,000-year-old Thule site, the region that ancient geographers believed to be the most northerly site in the inhabited world. The Thule people are the ancestors of today’s modern Inuits. We’ll travel along the coast and learn about the rich history of Somerset Island.

We’ll take a short hike to Nansen’s ridge that offers some incredible bird’s-eye views of the spectacular Arctic landscape.

We’ll drive to the raft put on the Cunningham River. On our way there, we’ll stop to hike through a unique land with impressive views of the ancient 8,000-year-old bowhead whale bones standing out against the barren tundra.

Enjoy a picnic lunch while the team prepares all the equipment for paddling on the river.

The paddle back to the lodge takes around three hours. The river transforms from a wide valley to a narrow stream taking us through a towering canyon, before broadening again just in front of the lodge.

As this is our last night in the Arctic, enjoy a gourmet farewell dinner and don’t miss the chance to take a bracing polar plunge!

Our charter flight doesn’t leave until the afternoon, so you have some time to do anything you missed out on or to repeat your favorite activity.

The charted plane will fly us back to Yellowknife and you’ll spend the last night at the Explorer Hotel.

After breakfast at the hotel, you may spend some time exploring Yellowknife and get ready for your flight home.