Rúnar Karlsson Rúnar Karlsson | Tuesday August 3 - 2010

Aurora in Greenland - welcomed by the true locals

The local next to Aurora
The local next to Aurora
After easy sailing to the East coast of Greenland, the crew of Aurora was welcomed with heavy ice. The entrance to Nansen fjord was well packed with ice but after many hours of zig zagging, they made it to the anchorage. The group on board are all experienced sea kayakers and will use the next 12 days to explore new areas in the huge fjords along the coast. The kayaks were put out in the morning of 1. August and captain Siggi moved the boat to a different anchorage. He was welcomed by a polar bear that came to say hello!

There are many polar bears now in the area and one was shot in Sodalen Valley where a crew of scientists are working. After few days of trying to scare the beast away, they were forced to pull up the gun. Another one was chased by a helicopter over to Kangerlusuaq fjord. There are also number of walruses in the fjords so the crew on Aurora needs to be extra careful. 

You can follow their track on SPOT. 


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Haukur Sigurðsson Haukur Sigurðsson | Wednesday July 14 - 2010

Review in Lonely Planet

This is how the front our house looks like. Haukur's Mini parked in front.
This is how the front our house looks like. Haukur's Mini parked in front.
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We got some good review in the latest Lonely Planet Iceland book that got published in May 2010:

"High-quality tours usually involve multiday trips aboard Aurora…  The boat is beautifully outfitted and meals aboard will be some of the best you'll have during your visit to Iceland.  A yearly voyage schedule is posted on the website and includes everything from out-of-this-world sea kayaking around Hornstrandir to exhilarating journeys to Greenland, Svalbard and Jan Mayen.  In winter Borea leads invigorating six-day skiing, glacier hiking, and northern lights trips around Jokulfirdir and the upper Hornstrandir.  Try to book as early as possible - the fun-loving guides and kick-ass itineraries mean that these trips fill up very quickly!"

We are very happy to see these nice words coming from such an important guidebook.  This reminds us that we must be doing something right!

Aurora is now in Jan Mayen for the 2nd time this season.  They got some bad weather after departure from Isafjordur and had to take a break in Husavik, in north-east Iceland.  After a day's rest they continued their journey and had a good cruise to the north where the group spent a few days exploring the island.  Aurora will be back in Isafjordur on Friday.

Our new brand, North Explorers, has been a big hit.  We now also operate all kinds of day tours from Isafjordur; climbing, kayaking or hiking, depending on people's wishes.  The new house has also became a cozy oasis for travelers in Isafjordur.  We have comfortable sofas, outdoor magazines lying around and a fireplace, all in an old wooden log house right in the middle of town.

Yes, summer is on full swing and the Borea team is busy playing outside most of the time.  What more could we possibly ask for?
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Rúnar Karlsson Rúnar Karlsson | Thursday July 1 - 2010

Aurora in Jan Mayen

Aurora with scientists from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Aurora with scientists from the Norwegian Polar Institute
Here is a brief email from captain Siggi:

Well, it´s getting closer to departure for AURORA from Jan Mayen. We have had a great adventure so far. Beerenberg has proven to be quite a challenge though with strong winds, crevasses and fog so the group hasn´t reached the summit yet. They will have another go tomorrow if weather permits. Down on the coast the winds have been lighter and visibility better. AURORA did a trip today with two bird-scientists from the Norwegian Polar Institute to Koksletta on the northern tip of the island. We also had a group from the Norwegian Olonkin station along for a great day on the water. Highlight of the day must have been when we saw a Blue Whale up close, blowing his spout probably around 10 meters up in the air and showing us his fin.

Attached is a photo from the Weyprecht glacier earlier today.

Coming up from Iceland we encountered sea-ice a number of times along the way but the weather was really fine. Actually to good (!) that we had to motor all the way. We also had a visit from a family of five Northern Bottlenose whales who stopped only a few meters from our boat and had a long and relaxed inspection of us.

We should be back in Isafjordur on Thursday afternoon and we look forward to start another trip with you on Monday.

All the best from aboard AURORA at anchor in Kvalross bukta...
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Haukur Sigurðsson Haukur Sigurðsson | Friday June 11 - 2010

So, what's new?

Skinning up in the morning sunshine
Skinning up in the morning sunshine
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Our 4th skiing season has now come to an end and we're moving into other activities.  We did some great runs this season and even occasional first descents.  We are pretty much the only ones going to the Hornstrandir area during the snowy months, so we've always had the entire fjords and mountains for ourselves!  Our groups this season were exceptionally good and fun but on the contrary to previous years, this year we mostly got Icelandic guests.

Just as Runar announced in the last entry, Borea Adventures is expanding and we are now selling shorter trips under another brand, North Explorers.  Our new brand has been a big success and so far we've taken numerous persons, from different parts of the world, for kayak and hiking trips.  We are very optimistic for this summer and we hope to make many new friends in the coming months.

Our new office, our home, is up and running. There are still a few minor issues that still need to be fixed, but the most important things, our comfortable sofas and the fireplace, are up and working!  Now we have plenty of space to store our skiing and kayaking equipment and we have the best hangout place in town. When we ourselves are not outside playing, we always have coffee and some outdoor magazines lying around, so come hang out with us! (that also gives us an excuse to take a break from our less exciting computer work!)

There is one thing that we have completely forgot to mention here on cyberspace, for our friends far away. Borea Adventures has now 3 new staff members.  First I'd like to introduce Höskuldur who is our kayaking specialist.  Secondly it's Örvar who is our climber and mountain goat.  And third, but not last, it's myself, Haukur, and I'm responsible for everything and nothing.  The Borea family is expanding rapidly and we are all very happy about that.

Aurora, our sailing yacht, is going to Jan Mayen in the middle of this month with captain Siggi and Höskuldur as a guide. They will go there twice, with two different groups, and they are hoping to get good weather to climb the volcano.  The rest of us will stay in Isafjordur enjoying summer and hopefully get many visitors to our new house. 

I´ve attached few photos here from our friend and photographer Colin Samuels from La Grave, France who joined us on three ski trips. One trip was pretty special. A camping trip with a Swiss group where we had a Zodiac to move the gear between fjords. Runar, who guided the trip, said it was one of the best trips ever. The weather was bluebird everyday but a little fog on the glacier that we crossed the last day. Never done that before with a group and probably the first time snowboarders have crossed the glacier. We´re thinking about offering that trip next year in May when you can find dry grass to camp close to the water but still good snow in the mountains. Life is good.

P.s. I´m sorry but I couldn´r resist in putting in lots of photos...!
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Welcome to the website for Borea Adventures, Iceland, your number one stop for Arctic adventures in high latitudes. We provide great adventures and expeditions in Iceland, Greenland, East Greenland, Jan Mayen and Svalbard (Spitzbergen), mainly using our spacious yacht, the Aurora. Our philosophy is to make our trips as silent as possible where we minimize the use of motorized power and encourage physical activities, whether sea kayaking, climbing, sailing, walking and hiking, wildlife, ski touring and backcountry skiing for beginners, experts and people of all ages. The North Atlantic is our playground and we offer scheduled trips for individuals and groups as well as customized itineraries and charter for groups. We travel in harmony with the wildlife of the area: Arctic Foxes, Birds, Seals, Whales and Polar Bears. Aurora is a sturdy expedition yacht and was raced four times around the globe as part of the Clipper Round the World yacht race under the ownership of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. She gives us a great opportunity to provide Arctic adventures in areas that are hard to reach otherwise. We call her our floating basecamp. Our name is derived from Greek mythology where Boreas was the god of the north wind. Aurora on the other hand was the Roman rosy-fingered goddess of dawn. Aurora Borealis is a name for the Northern lights which are common in our area. As we humans have proven through the decades, names can be hard to remember. Especially if a bit of alcohol gets passed around the galley too many times! You might spell our name Boreal Adventures, Borial Adventures, Borea Adventrues and Borealis Adventures. Thank you for visiting Borea Adventures.

 

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