Page 26 - 2003 SVALBARD, NORWAY

It was curious to be led and followed by men with serious-looking

rifles over their shoulders and flare guns in their pockets. Also,
there were wandering lookouts everywhere similarly armed. We

were told to stay in our groups always with no straying or lagging
allowed.
At our first stop, someone in the group looked out into the side

bay at a large skerry with a W-formation cutting partway through
its blackness. There to the right of the cut was our first polar bear!

He was climbing about on the rocky formation and then took to
the sea for a swim. Quickly, there were naturalists tracking him in

Zodiacs as we continued up the hillside. We were beneath
Barnacle Geese flying about, Kittiwakes and Guillemots nesting in

the niches and ledges of the face, looking alertly for Arctic Fox. Of
the foxes, we saw nothing, but we did learn something about the
bird life and examined the beautiful and dainty little tundra and

moss flowers: whites, purples, pale pinks.

The mossy patches were spongy but supportive and we felt a little
guilty walking on these little tussocks. The grass was a bit more