We have just landed with the Twin Otter. |
An ivory gull in flight |
Rock formation (splitting due to ice) |
An Eider on her nest |
A sabine gull defending her nes |
Brent geese and chicks |
Sea ice and iceberg |
One of several polar bears which approached our camp |
Dr. Adrian Aebischer photographing a polar bear |
Polar bear |
Polar bear |
Polar bear on the sea ice |
Back to camp |
Food cache (made by Inuits - Thule culture)
was used to hide seal meat |
Sea ice and iceberg |
Polar bears footprints on snow |
Arctic poppies |
Dr. Olivier Gilg and Adrian Aebischer have just captured an ivory gull using a trap/net |
Dr. Adrian Aebischer fitting an ivory gull with a radio transmitter |
An ivory gull fitted with ring |
Luc Hardy ready to release an ivory gull fitted with a radio transmitter |
Ben (our paraglider pilot) sorts through the sail suspenders |
The sail is ready to be connected to the paraglider's seat and motor |
Dr. Olivier Gilg plays paraglider pilot on land |
Ben and son Baptiste (13- himself an accomplished glider) go for a test flight |
Kaffeklubben surrounded by melting sea ice |
Kaffeklubben |
The northern tip of Kaffeklubben. This is where we collected the northernmost Arctic poppy and purple saxifrage (along with other plant, flower, moss and lichen specimens) on Earth! |
The "summit" of Kaffeklubben |
Our powered paraglider at Kaffeklubben |
Our powered paraglider at Kaffeklubben |
The northernmost Arctic poppy (and flower!) in the world on the northern tip of Kaffeklubben |
The northernmost purple saxifrage |
We saw 14 Brent Bernaches, the northernmost ever observed near a land mass. |
Ben, our pilot, and the powered paraglider |
Luc Hardy and the powered paraglider |
The northern coast of Greenland in front of Kaffeklubben |
In flight: Ben (pilot - never without his REVO!) and Luc Hardy, back from Kaffeklubben towards our base camp at Bliss Bugt |
Back from Kaffeklubben towards our base camp at Bliss Bugt |
The northernmost Arctic poppy and purple saxifrage (along with other plant, flower, moss and lichen specimens) on Earth! Dr. Olivier Gilg examines specimen which will be sent for further analysis. The specimen were collected on the northern tip of Kaffeklubben |
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From left to right: Dr. Olivier Gilg, Luc Hardy, Brigitte Sabard and François 'Ben' Bernard around the Arctic poppy |
Olivier points out to Flaam the different types of lichens on the rock sample |
Lichen samples |
Meanwhile, Vladimir colors his canvas |
Wearing TWO pairs of REVO sunglasses... |
Brigitte Sabard and Olivier Gilg (with Vladimir in the sled) coming back from rocks were we found lichen and flowers |
Vladimir takes a nap |
Our kitchen, dug directly into the glacier |
Our fridge! |
Nothing tastes as good as French saucisson... |
With the midnight sun, Sunglasses are indispensable |
Celebrating with REVO, our main sponsor |
Our partner Green Cross and the junior team |
The Twin Otter arriving with the rest of our team |
Ben, our guide/parasailing pilot/photographer... greets Aïnhoa |
Arnar, one of the two pilots, refuels the plane from the drum they had left behind the day before |
Olivier Gilg, the chief scientist of our expedition, talking to Ragnar, the other pilot |
Adrian, expert on ivory gulls (and many other two and four-legged animals) is in transit, he is going directly to the North and we will meet him there next week |
The Hardy’s with the pilots |
Brigitte quickly installs our kitchen as soon as the plane leaves, melting snow for many purposes |
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Baptiste helps Vladimir set up his playground |
Once base camp is ready, Ben leads Flaam, Ainhoa and Luc on the start of their summit adventure |
After several hours of skiing, we set up an intermediary camp for our first (sunny) night |
Preparing dinner by re-hydrating instant meals |
Breaking sea ice as we approach Greenland |
Mountains in the Watkins range where Gunnbjornsfjeld (GBF) is situated |
Ainhoa in the jumper seat wearing her REVO sunglasses |
Landing on GBF glacier |
Unloading the Twin Otter |
A drum of fuel to be used to refuel the plane for its way back to Iceland |
Plane prepares for take off to pick up the other team members while leaving us behind to set up camp. |
Left alone on the glacier to prepare the camp before the other’s arrive on the Twin Otter |
Aïnhoa and Flaam in good spirit although we have no idea how long we will be stuck here alone |
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Our camp with Gunnbjornsfjeld in the background |
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Preparing equipment before loading the Twin Otter. Departure tomorrow for Greenland. The big skis are for the plane!
