Silversea Explorer Nome to Seward August 13-25, 2018-live

August 14 (skipped)-August 15, 2018-crossing the Bering Sea to Provideniya Russi

As promised by our captain, the seas were quite rough through the night, sort of like riding a bucking bronco all night long. We were able to fall sleep but were awakened by the sound of our fruit plate crashing to the floor. George got up to secure the fruit that was rolling around and immediately fell over. Then the closet door started flying open and shut. We finally corralled all the runaway fruit, then put a bunch of heavy stuff in a backpack and wedged it against the door.

To make things more confusing, we crossed the international date line and went ahead in time 20 hours. Or skip a day and go back 4 hours.

After the longest night ever, The seas had calmed considerably, and there was sun peaking the clouds. Temperature in the upper 40s. In the distance, we could see fairly barren peaks, some still snow capped. With minimal wind, it was perfect for walking outside on the little hamster wheel walking track. I soon had 10,000 steps, and saw lots of birds as well as a couple of whales.

Our captain for this trip is Adam Boczek, from Poland, who we have sailed with before, most recently a year ago in Iceland where he skillfully navigated us through the icebergs.

Last year, when they refurbished this ship, they replaced the bathtubs with showers, a good thing IMO. However, there was a terrible design flaw. The showers have a very shallow lip and no door plus the drain is very small, the same size as what had been the bathtub drain. Therefore, if you take a shower which lasts more than about 3 minutes, you have a flood, particularly in rough seas, where the wave motion creates a sort of tsunami onto the bathroom floor. I had forgotten and was not in speed shower mode this am, so we had a bit of a flood.

Several lectures on for this morning about birds and rocks. We had to pick up our boots though we will not need them today as we are at a proper dock.

At 11 am, we sailed into Provideniya, a former Soviet military outpost which then fell into disuse with the population dropping from 12,000 to about 2000. Recently the government has begun efforts to try to revitalize the town as a gateway to the northeast passage, but it is still very depressed with many deteriorating empty buildings, the typical Soviet era block apartments, and streets full of potholes.

The people however were uniformly kind and welcoming to us, even the Russian customs officials. I have never seen a Russian customs official smile before, but these guys were very friendly. Everyone loved George’s cowboy hat and boots. He was sort of a pied piper, with kids following us all over town.

We had a visit to the tiny but very well done local museum, which had some excellent exhibits of Native art. Then there was a cultural performance at the civic center, with native dancing and throat singing, Russian dancing and singing, and some of the cutest kids you have ever seen.

After the performance, we were free to walk anywhere in town we wanted and hike out to the lighthouse and cemetery, built overlooking the harbor on a pretty steep hill.

Back onboard, we had recap and briefing followed by dinner with a fun multigenerational family from Mexico. They are like us, except Mexican. Love to travel, take their kids, etc. George had the clam chowder which he proclaimed excellent and duck, which was ok. I had asparagus arancini and hake with spinach. Both were very good. But the chocolate mousse at the end was outstanding.

Arrival into Provindynia

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Russian billboard

Just hanging out with Lenin

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Art at the museum

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Pied piper of Tulsa

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Culture show

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Weird cemetery on a hill

The hospital

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Rachel; delightful posts and beautiful photos. Especially enjoyed the "pied piper of Tulsa" moniker for George. Thanks again for sharing your Explorer Nome to Seward adventure with us.

August 16, 2018-Chukotka Peninsula, Russia

In contrast to last night, the seas were so smooth during our sleep that you could hardly tell you were on a ship. I was up and out on deck by 5:15 when the captain announced we were in Penkigney Bay surrounded by whales and with 3 brown bears on shore feasting on a whale carcass.

We quickly threw on our parkas and ran up and out to the top deck. Right in front of us were three very fat brown bears having a whale for breakfast. Not close enough for me to get a good picture with my iPhone but close enough that we could easily see them with binoculars. All around were whales spouting in the water, probably at least 20. We watched till the bears decided they were full and ran off up the ridge. Boy, they can really move. I would not want to be on land with them.

It was really cold outside, probably in the upper 30s, so we came in to get breakfast. I rarely eat breakfast on a ship, usually just opting for a few cups of tea, but the early rising and cold made me hungry. And I was not disappointed. Someone on the ship knows how to perfectly cook American bacon to just uniformly crispy but not burnt.

While we were eating, the captain dropped the anchor at Proliv Senyavina. We board the zodiacs in totally calm seas to arrive at a flat gravel beach. To the left was a ranger station, to the right a gentle stream, flowing into the ocean, and in front, gradually rising glacial moraine covered with boggy tundra. There were the usual flat to the ground birch and willow “trees”, the same tree one would see further south, but here unable to grow more than a couple of inches high so spread out flat on the ground. Lots of tundra grass and lovely wildflowers blooming. Every so often, we would spot a little marmot or ground squirrel. We hiked to the hot springs, about a mile as the crow flies, but quite a bit further because there is no path, so you have to take a circuitous weaving route to stay out of mud.

There were millions of mosquitos, but fortunately it was cold enough that I could keep all my layers on to shield from the bugs and not feel hot. Only had to take a glove off to make pictures.

The rangers had built a hot tub at the springs, and lots of people got in. George and I explored along the river. He saw some salmon swimming up. We hiked back down by a different route. This area was really boggy, and a couple of ladies got stuck in the mud and fell down. I had mud up to mid calf, but didn’t get stuck.

Over at the ranger station, the rangers had prepared a snack for us—smoked and dried salmon and trout, fried salmon, caviar, and bread. The fish was outstanding. We were able to view their drying hut, and I made acquaintance with the resident cat.

As we rode back to the ship in the zodiacs, we had to de-mosquito our hats and clothing. They were really swarming.

After lunch, we arrived at Yttygran Island. The sun had come out, and it was considerably warmer. Much fewer layers needed. Here we could only go ashore in small groups, and ours was last. Last off, and last back on. We arrived at a rocky beach littered with whale bones which had been there 400-600 years. They had been hunted by the natives, then the bones were used for various purposes, both ceremonial and practical, such as holding down the edges of tents or covering stores of preserved meat.

Past the bones were cliffs with nesting sites for puffins then cormorants, and we were able to get very close. We went back to the ship just long enough for tea, then back out on the zodiacs for a whale and walrus watching cruise.

The water was completely calm, and the whales and walruses were out in force. We went to a point where over 300 walruses were on shore and in the water and were able to get pretty close to the ones in the water. Russian law requires we stay at least 300 meters away from the ones on land, but there is no restriction in the water.

Finally, on the way back to the ship, a whale came up right beside our zodiac. Of course, I didn’t get a picture of that one because it was a complete surprise.

Rachel really enjoying your posts, excellent reporting and photographs.

Thanks, Jean.

Whales all around

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Plenty of walruses too

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Wow Rachel! What a fun trip. We love the expedition cruises. This trip report reminds me of why.

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Great write up Rachel. Sounds like everything is going well - lucky you to have seen those bears.

That's interesting that you had so many mosquitos at the hot springs landing - we didn't have any there, or really anywhere thankfully.

Plenty of walruses too

Sounds fantastic so far! Thanks for the detailed reports.

Very cool! Is there a lot of polar cod in those seas that are attracting so many walrus?

The walrus eat clams, and they love to hang out in this location because it is relatively shallow water with. Lots of clams. We saw the shells all over on the beach.

Will try to post more pics today. Internet kept giving me a failure signal yesterday.

Cute puffins. These were really fat and healthy.

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Wow what a great adventure!

Whale bone alley

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Great write up Rachel. Sounds like everything is going well - lucky you to have seen those bears.

 

That's interesting that you had so many mosquitos at the hot springs landing - we didn't have any there, or really anywhere thankfully.

If there is a mosquito anywhere, it will find me. There were millions, but fortunately my skin was mostly covered by clothing so no bites. One guy had a really cool mosquito jacket and hood. Lots of people had mosquito netting over their heads.

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The walrus eat clams, and they love to hang out in this location because it is relatively shallow water with. Lots of clams. We saw the shells all over on the beach.

 

Will try to post more pics today. Internet kept giving me a failure signal yesterday.

BTW... loving your pics! I especially like the one with George and the three dancing girls where the brunette was looking at him while you caught George laughing. It was so cute! Would have loved to been a fly on the wall to see what you said to capture him laughing like that. :)

Thanks for the explanation Rachel! I didn't think about the water being shallow. Completely makes sense now.

 

BTW... loving your pics! I especially like the one with George and the three dancing girls where the brunette was looking at him while you caught George laughing. It was so cute! Would have loved to been a fly on the wall to see what you said to capture him laughing like that. :)

I think I told him something like “ snuggle up with the girls so I can get a good picture”.

I think I told him something like “ snuggle up with the girls so I can get a good picture”.

Awesome!

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On our trip we did bring mosquito netting hats which also had insect repellant in them. My DH chided me for buying such items, as he felt they looked ridiculous but later he was happy to don it, they were worth every penny. The mosquitoes swarm all over you as you said! Hope you don't get bitten.