OAT's Arctic Expedition: Untamed Norway & Svalbard - September 2022

This was a small ship exploration of the Svalbard archipelago. Seven OAT trip leaders stayed with each small group from Oslo through the whole trip. Twenty-one expedition leaders planned and executed the Svalbard excursions and provided daily updates and lectures. The Ocean Diamond had seventeen Zodiacs that the team deployed for landing in various places to observe the wildlife and the current and abandoned infrastructure. Svalbard is just 650 miles from the North Pole and was the launching site for early expeditions to reach the pole. Our hunt for the polar bear was wildly successful.
The trip started and ended in Oslo with plenty of free time to explore and discover. A charter jet ferried us from Oslo to Longyearbyen.