SPRING/SUMMER 2024 DREAMSCAPES
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Since Baffin Island hamlets like
Pangnirtung and Pond Inlet were off-limits
due to sea ice, we sailed far west to
Resolute, Nunavut. But, at least we weren't
trapped like Franklin.
Zigzagging across Lancaster Sound,
there were wildlife and historical highlights
aplenty. Hundreds of white belugas and
long-tusked narwhals swam freely in
turquoise-tinted Radstock Bay. Marauding polar
bears and rough seas prevented our landing at
Beechey Island, a National Historic Site where three
Franklin crew members are buried.
Still, I enjoyed exploring Somerset Island's Port Leopold.
At this former Hudson Bay trading post, a carved rock
commemorates Sir James Clark Ross's 1849 visit in search
of Franklin.
But when Ultramarine finally reached Iqaluit, Nunavut's
capital, we had travelled an epic 7,800 kilometres. I was
happy to head home with incredible memories, having
escaped Franklin's dark fate.
TRAVEL PLANNER
Quark Expeditions quarkexpeditions.com
Greenland visitgreenland.com
Nunavut travelnunavut.ca
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