Arctic Express Canada: The Heart of the Northwest Passage

Your Arctic expedition begins in Toronto. Explore this vibrant city on your

own before spending the night at your well-appointed hotel.

This morning, board your charter flight to Resolute, Nuvanut. Upon arrival,

you may have a chance to check out some of the town’s sites before being

transferred to your ship via Zodiac or helicopter (depending on ship location

and weather conditions).

Winding your way around the remote islands of the Canadian High Arctic aboard

Ultramarine, the newest ship in our fleet, you’ll navigate the same icy

inlets, channels and bays that fascinated legendary explorers of long ago as

they searched for the fabled Northwest Passage, the great sea route at the

top of the world. Designed to give polar adventurers unprecedented access to

the hardest-to-reach places on the planet— and equipped with two onboard

twin-engine helicopters for unparalleled access to areas only Quark

Expeditions can bring you—this one-of-a-kind ship, in its inaugural year,

will take you beyond the familiar in Polar exploration. Throughout your

journey, the Expedition Team will work hard to give you a taste of the best

the Arctic has to offer, immersing you in the heart of the Northwest Passage

in under a week.



Remember that no two Polar voyages are alike, since each expedition presents

new opportunities and different weather and ice conditions. While this voyage

has no fixed itinerary, our objective is to visit as many of the incredible

highlights the season has to offer, using the opportunities provided by the

weather and ice to give you the best experience. Each day, your highly

skilled Expedition Team will read the conditions and choose the best course

to set, but despite their extensive expertise in these areas, each visit

brings something new to discover. That said, our expeditions will have some

elements in common, including daily Zodiac cruising, land excursions, a

robust education program, a community visit and wildlife viewing

opportunities. And thanks to our onboard helicopters, you’ll also discover

the ultimate Polar expedition experience: as stunning as Polar landscapes are

from your ship, they’re even more striking from the air! Conditions

permitting, you’ll enjoy ultra-immersive activities like flightseeing

(short sightseeing flights around your ship and surrounding areas) and

heli-landings (flying to places we could not otherwise access for shore

excursions), two breathtaking options that are unique to Ultramarine and give

you an exhilarating Polar experience like no other.



While this waterway is known to European cultures as the Northwest Passage,

this area has nurtured and sustained the Inuit and their predecessors who

have called these shores home for almost 5,000 years. Moving through these

remote landscapes you will be travelling through the ancestral homelands of

this ancient culture, illuminated in person by Inuit guides onboard and

ashore. Nunavut is an Inuktitut word meaning “our land” and the

Nunavummiut (the people of Nunavut) are renowned for their incredible

resourcefulness, hospitality, good humour, and a deep knowledge of the land

and animals that has allowed them to thrive in the far north for millennia.



Remote and rich in history, the Canadian High Arctic is as awe inspiring as

it is informative. Your days spent exploring this mysterious region will have

you travelling back in time to the Age of Exploration. While following in the

footsteps of famous explorers like Sir John Franklin and Roald Amundsen,

you’ll navigate the waters and visit the historic sites in the area around

Lancaster Sound that were key to the discovery of the Northwest Passage.

You’ll also learn about the scientific, cultural, geopolitical and

environmental aspects of the route from our world-class experts, guides and

the local communities. Reaching remote lands that have lured adventurers for

centuries and few have ever set foot on will be an experience you’ll never

forget.



Wildlife sightings are almost guaranteed, as many of the areas we hope to

explore are home to a surprising number of birds and mammals that thrive in

this challenging environment. You’ll likely see Polar bears, Musk ox and

several bird species, such as gyrfalcons and dovekies (Little auks). If

you’re lucky, you may even spot the elusive narwhal or Arctic wolf, though

sightings of these iconic creatures in the wild are rare, even in places

where we have the highest chances of encountering them.



Coburg Island, for instance, is a wildlife reserve for such birds as Snowy

owls and Peregrine falcons, while the impressive vertical cliffs of Prince

Leopold Island are dotted with nesting seabirds like Northern fulmars and

Black guillemots. The sheltered shores and steep cliffs of Arctic Bay, a

hamlet located off of Admiralty Inlet, provide an ideal nesting habitat for

various High Arctic birds such as Snow geese, Thick-billed murres

(Brünnich’s guillemots) and kittiwakes. Occupied by Inuit nomads for

almost 5,000 years, this traditional community is also an ideal spot to go

ashore and learn more about the Inuit culture, sampling the local cuisine and

mingling with artists, perhaps picking up carvings or other handicrafts as a

memento of your Polar adventure.



Devon Island is another possible locale for wildlife encounters, as walrus,

Polar bears and Musk ox inhabit the area, which is also the location of the

remains of a Royal Canadian Mounted Police outpost, established at Dundas

Harbour in 1924 to curb foreign whaling and other activities. Nearby is a

small cemetery, one of Canada’s most northerly, still maintained by the

RCMP to this day. Another exciting excursion your Expedition Team might

offer, conditions permitting, is the opportunity to fly up to explore the

Devon ice cap, one of the largest in the Canadian Arctic.



At the western end of Devon Island, windswept Beechey Island might be small,

but it’s steeped in history, as its flat beach and safe anchorage made a

suitable stopover for Arctic expeditions. You’ll want to pay your respects

to the ill-fated Franklin expedition of 1845–46 at the small marked graves

of three crew members on the island, one of Canada’s most significant

Arctic sites. This is also where Norwegian Roald Amundsen stopped to pay his

own respects to his childhood hero, Franklin, during his 1903–06 voyage,

which became the first successful transit of the Northwest Passage in

history.



History buffs will be further intrigued by the chance to explore an abandoned

Hudson’s Bay Company trading post at Fort Ross, at the southern end of

Somerset Island.



Nearby is the Bellot Strait. One of the goals of this expedition is to

transit this famous channel, one of the most narrow and challenging of the

passage. If we’re successful, at the midpoint you’ll sail past Zenith

Point, the northernmost point of continental North America. Named for

Frenchman Joseph Bellot, one of several explorers who set out in the 1850s to

search for Franklin’s doomed expedition, the strait separates Somerset

Island from the Boothia Peninsula on mainland Canada. (On Beechey Island, you

can visit the memorial to Bellot, who disappeared during his search for

Franklin.)



Those looking for even more excitement may have the opportunity to cruise by

Zodiac along the face of an active glacier near Croker Bay, Devon Island and

possibly even witness the wonders of calving ice, at a safe distance. Listen

closely for the steady crackle and loud roars as pieces of ice break off and

crash into the water below. You’ll also want to be on the lookout for the

walrus that are often seen in the area.



There is no shortage of natural beauty, wildlife and history in Canada’s

High Arctic. Each day, you’ll discover something new and inspiring, whether

it is admiration of the tundra flora to survive the rugged environment, a

rare bird species soaring overhead, a Polar bear on the hunt in its natural

habitat, or the remains of a century-old hut.

After disembarking in Resolute, you’ll be transferred to your charter

flight to Toronto, where you’ll spend the night at your included hotel.

Today, make your way to the airport to catch your homeward flights, or spend

the day exploring this fascinating city.