The North Cape was shrouded with mists and fog early this morning as Endeavour journeyed south - sadly leaving behind the high arctic and… wait a minute: are we in the tropics? On our approach to the Cape the clouds suddenly lifted and sun spilled across the horizon, filling our senses with the color and scent of green plants and warm earth as we basked in the balmy fifty-degree air. Our Zodiacs whisked us into Skarsvarg, a tiny fishing port on the north coast of Norway and our first human contact since we boarded Endeavour in Lonyearbyen, such a very long time ago.
Reindeer grazed on the rolling hills surrounding Skarsvarg and we delighted in the opportunity to walk among the wildflowers, listening to Steve’s plant stories and testing the wild blueberries for ripeness. The only shop in town did a brisk business and the weather was glorious…. T-shirts were the costume of choice this morning. Our afternoon continued in the same warm, blissful way; crowberries and cloudberries were abundant all over the rock-strewn, lichen-encrusted tundra at Juobmoluft, the old Lapp name for our landing place.
Reindeer grazed on the rolling hills surrounding Skarsvarg and we delighted in the opportunity to walk among the wildflowers, listening to Steve’s plant stories and testing the wild blueberries for ripeness. The only shop in town did a brisk business and the weather was glorious…. T-shirts were the costume of choice this morning. Our afternoon continued in the same warm, blissful way; crowberries and cloudberries were abundant all over the rock-strewn, lichen-encrusted tundra at Juobmoluft, the old Lapp name for our landing place.
