Sval..what? This time we are traveling together and I am taking you to one of the most magical places I’ve ever been to! Romantic trip to Paris? Nope! Gondola ride in Venice? Nope! We are going to the land of the polar bear and big fat walruses: Svalbard! And who doesn’t like a big fat walrus that smells like fish?
I am sure you are already thinking « who goes there and why would you go there? ». I could give you so many reasons about why you should visit this island situated 3 hours away (by plane!) of Oslo, Norway. It is not the typical destination one might think of and obviously you wouldn’t go there for a long week end. Where is it located? Take a globe and search for a Dorito shaped island within the arctic circle, at the very top of the globe. That is Svalbard!
Why Svalbard? My brother and I wanted something adventurous and one day, while looking at guide books about Norway and Scandinavia, I randomly ended up on the page about Svalbard. I remember seeing a photo of a wild polar bear, surrounded by snow, and thinking « this is the typical national geographic destination in the middle of nowhere where you can’t go if you’re not an explorer! » Well, yes and no!
Why? Because it is quite easy to go to Svalbard. And if you are not an explorer, by the time you leave the island you will feel like one! How do you get there? Book a flight with the Scandinavian airline (SAS) and three hour later (yes three… it is quite far!) you will land in what you could consider the middle of nowhere. While we were approaching the Longyearbyen airport we were flying through thin grey clouds and suddenly, out of nowhere, huge brownish mountains appeared with hundreds of little rivers flowing down to the Arctic sea. It was magical! I hadn’t seen anything like this in my life! It was completely different to other mountains ranges I had seen in Europe, South America or Asia. These mountains had suffered from erosion and even though it was August, you could still see a bit of snow on the top! (Nope, not a good place to go sunbathing and sip tequila by the pool… remember, by the end of this trip you become an explorer!). Svalbard is situated so high on the globe that in summer you almost have 24 hours of sunlight! What does that mean? That our plane landed around midnight and it was sunny! It wasn’t like sunrise or sunset, it was sunny! It is a really strange feeling and in some way, it is very confusing because we are not used to such extreme changes of sunlight, especially in Spain where I now live!
Longyearbyen is the main village on the island and it has everything on the check list of how you would imagine a nordic village in such extreme latitudes. It has one main street but honestly, you don’t need more! You can find cosy restaurants (try the reindeer pizza), shops with everything you need and many options for adventures. You have to visit the supermarket because it is always funny to see what other people eat, especially this far away from the rest of the continent! The island is not cheap but compared to continental Norway, we could say that prices are reasonable!
To visit the outskirts of the village we decided to do it with a little company… A car picked us up and took us a few kilometers away, in polar bear land. It actually sounds nice and adventurous but it is very dangerous! Actually, locals do not allow tourists to pass a certain limit because there is a high probability of finding yourself face to face with a wild polar bear and if you have a guide, you will see that they usually cary a rifle. Apparently polar bears are not as cute as the polar bear ornament you put on your Christmas tree! Locals even say that you do not want to see one! Anyway, back to the story! We arrived at this place that had a nice, higher view, on the plain. We suddenly saw a wooden structure made of three long tree trunks, as if it were for a tipi, and you could see three dead seals hanging. What is this for? I asked! The guide answered: for the dogs!
Yes, the dogs! We were going dog sledding! Without snow? Without snow! What was curious was that each dog had its own elevated hut and when you approached them, they would all start to bark! Why? Because they want to play and run! The owner told us that they absolutely love running! These dogs, which I believe were huskies, or something that really much does look like a husky, spend their days outside because they are « made » for extreme cold weather and if the thermometer goes above 10ºC they do not like it! They are real road runners and it was an incredible experience to see how they could pull a sleigh so easily. If you know me, you know how much I love big fluffy dogs and Fia, Twitter, Custer, Frigg, Moy, Igloo were the fluffiest things I had ever seen! The dogs can also smell polar bear and we were told that if one approaches, they will all start to bark to scare it away.
What I love about Svalbard is the nature that surrounds it! While visiting the island you realize that the tourism industry has to reinvent itself in the way it sells destinations. Sell nature! Sell conservation! Sell discovery! Sell the moment you have to admire how everything works so perfectly and how life adapts to different climates. It is possible to visit the world and find a way to give back or make a difference! I strongly believe that it is also very important to travel to realize that we need to protect what surrounds us. Visiting Svalbard was like visiting a part of the world that is not common when it comes to traveling, and entering a world where wildlife still owns the place. Completely.
One morning I woke up and outside our room I saw a reindeer! The ones in Svalbard are not very big, they are like big goats with big antlers. But they are wild! It is really strange because they are not afraid of humans. They look at you but don’t run away like deers. There it was grazing, so I suddenly took my coat, went outside and slowly approached the animal. Once I was few meters away from it, I sat on the floor and started staring at it, enjoying the moment of being this close to a wild animal. I have to say that reindeers are funny. Their nose, their fur, their googly eyes, they are just funny animals!
When I say that Svalbard is nature it is not just because of the bears and the reindeers! The island has so much to offer! Svalbard to me is synonym of one of the most magical moments I have ever lived: finding myself face to face with two walruses!
It was something I really wanted to do and I am sure you understand now when I say that you leave Svalbard thinking that you are an explorer! We hopped on this small boat and left for this island about an hour away from Longyearbyen… or that is what I was told! To make things short, it took us almost three hours to get there (click here if you want to read what happened). Somehow I did not get sea sick but I was clearly on the verge of it! I was as white as the clouds covering the top of the mountains. But it was definitely worth it!
Once we reached the cost, the waves suddenly calmed down and we got off on this tiny piece of land with no trees, just rocks and a few pl ants. Have you ever been surrounded by silence? It is a strange feeling! There was barely any noise and the only thing you could hear was water, making the noise of a small stream. By that time I had completely forgotten that I wasn’t feeling well and the contrast of the silence with the engine of the boat was almost soothing.
We then slowly approached a group of twenty walruses. They are massive and smell a lot! They were laying down on the beach, all sticking to each other, making their usual walrus noise (it is like a very very bad cough). I could’ve spent hours looking at them! Hours! If you see them in an aquarium they already look huge, so seeing 20 of them is impressive and simply magical! Suddenly out of nowhere…
… (Sorry, I just wanted to add a bit of suspense to the story), two walruses stuck their heads out of the water only a few meters away from us. The guide told us not to make any quick gesture. This had never happened to him either. It look like these two chubbies wanted to know who we were and what we were doing. After all it makes sense, we were on their island! What do I do? Should I take a video? Should I take some photos? Should I just enjoy the moment? These walruses had obviously already been on a red carpet in a previous life because they gave me the time to do all three! It was simply incredible…
Why am I sharing this story? First of all, I wanted to share with you what has been one of my most unforgettable trips! Many might think that Paris, Rome, New York, Tokyo might be more impressive, but once you’ve been to such a magical place like Svalbard, it gives you a whole other vibe! It is not just about being in contact with nature, it is also about being in contact with wildlife and appreciating its presence. It makes you feel small, especially in such extreme climates where, compared to us, they have everything under control. Hundreds of animals who do not depend on humans and who live their lives peacefully. What does a whale do when it encounters another one? What does a walrus do when it wakes up? What do polar bears do when spring arrives and the ice starts to melt? All these creatures have everything under control and it has been like that for centuries.
In Svalbard they live surrounded by silence and far from civilization, Longyearbyen being a very very very small village on a very very big island. It might seem far but we do have one thing in common: climate change (click here to understand the difference between climate change and global warming). Visiting Svalbard helped me understand what I don’t want to happen: mankind directly or indirectly taking away the nature and uniqueness of such places. I do understand that it is hard to realize and you might see thousands of documentaries on your television, it will never match the feeling when you see it with your own eyes. It might sound silly but you really do look at everything and think « this really does exist… ». A bit like in the first Jurassic park when they see living dinosaurs for the first time. You do not realize what is out there until you see it.
I have worked many years in tourism and I myself had the opportunity to visit many places. It is about time that we start traveling and appreciating what surrounds us. It is good for the industry, revolutionary, and it will help preserve every country’s treasures. Tell me if you want to hear more stories about my travels to these unique places and do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions! The goal is really to share my experience and invite you to visit these place that really change the way you see our planet…
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