August 31 - Saturday
The captain gave a presentation last night sharing our plans for today. He was quite excited about it.
Planning a year in advance, our expedition archaeologist Chuck had obtained a permit to visit Borge Island today. The tiny island is named for Roald Amundsen’s birthplace, a former Norwegian municipality which coincidently is also the birthplace of our captain. It would be the first known instance of visitors to the island, and the captain brought a special flag from his home to “claim” the island.
Before anyone else could land, Chuck had to do a thorough investigation of the small island. What an exciting opportunity for him! If there were any signs of human habitation, he would report it to the proper authorities who would conduct further studies. It would be off-limits to the rest of us.
Borge Island
Our planned small boat cruising was canceled due to high winds, and since Chuck found no signs of humans activity, we got to go ashore instead. Yay!
The island is a study in rocks.
A series of immense sweeping arcs show previous high water levels
A pair each of tundra swans and red throated loons were in a small distant pond, and some Arctic hares were reported.
Tiny plants and, of all things, mushrooms were also spotted.
Fun fact: split rocks like the formation above are called “troll bread”.
Our beaming captain was in full Amundsen regalia. I asked him how often he wears it. “Once.” But well worth it to mark the occasion.
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