Best viewed in conjunction with this travel essay on the Tongariro Alpine Crossing.
Category: solo female travel
travel essay: hiking at stephen’s garden, svalbard
It isn’t the North Pole, and it isn’t even the northernmost point that my feet touched land that week. But hiking at Stephen’s Garden in Svalbard is the highest we went: approximately 1500 feet. Leaving the ship anchored in her small cove in front of a glacier, our zodiacs zipped around the fjord entrance, depositing…
travel essay: polar bears in arctic svalbard
I’m about to take my first sip of espresso when the announcement comes over the PA in Lucho’s smooth Ecuadorian accent: “ladies and gentlemen, the sharp eyes of our captain have spotted our first bear.” These aren’t just bears (though I suspect you could say that about most bears, if you’ve never seen one), they’re…