Provideniya is directly west of Nome in the district of Chukotka on the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia. The primary purpose of the stop here was to clear the ship for travel in Russian waters. Provideniya is Russian for Providence (originally named by a British explorer in the 17th Century) and is the location of the closest Russian airport to the U.S. It was long a location for fishing & whaling but the first buildings weren’t constructed until the 1930s. During the Cold War it was a Soviet military port but the base is now abandoned. While waiting for the authorities to clear the ship we saw some grey whales in the harbor, but they were too far away to get any good photos. After about 3 hours the ship was finally cleared and we were able to walk into the town. There is hardly anything here and the population is about 2000 with over half being Inuit of the Chukotka tribe which is closely related to the Alaskan Inuits. The buildings are all Soviet era architecture and in poor repair. There was a small Chukotka welcome ceremony with children dancing. We walked to the statue of Lenin and then into the town where we visited the museum of Chukotka history which had very interesting displays and photographs. We wandered around the town for a bit and then went to the Cultural Center where they had tea, candies & cookies for us followed by a folkloric show. The show was put on by children with one adult Chukotka woman doing the singing and beating the flat drum. They performed several Chukotka as well as a few Russian & Tartar dances, all in appropriate costume. We spent about 3 ½ hours in town which was experiencing really warm & sunny weather, about 48 degrees F.
We were back in our room after dinner reading before going to sleep when the captain made an announcement at about 10:30 that the Northern Lights were glowing and were visible from the back deck. We quickly dress and headed for the deck and saw what looked like a dull green cloud on the horizon. One of the expedition leaders finally got the outside lights at the rear extinguished and everything got much clearer and brighter. Spikes began to shoot skyward from the Northern Light cloud and put on a spectacular show. We had the additional pleasure of seeing 3 meteorites shoot down past the lights. Without urban light pollution we could see billions of stars like sparkle dust sprinkled all over the heavens and it was brilliant. I loaned my laser pointer to one of the expedition leaders who pointed out stars and constellations and I suggested we have a star gazing night sometime during the voyage with someone knowledgeable pointing out the various stars.

I love the photographs that you have included with your description. Wishing you many nights of the Northern lLights in all of the colours dancing across the sky, stargazing with either a guest or staff who is able to point out the constellations, and many shooting stars. May your days be filled with unique experiences (all positive), sea life, and excursions that "wow" you.

I can't wait to keep on reading about your journey!

The northern lights are SO beautiful. Hope you get a couple more good shows of them.

Nice to hear from you Jim. I will be following this thread as closely as I can . Will be out of town next week but still can slip in some LCT time for sure.

Provideniya all we saw was the dock while we sat there for 24 hours.

So excited you got to see the Northern Lights. I am a little "jealous" we were hoping for that on our 23 days on board in the Arctic but no luck at all.

Love the pictures too - I guess the internet is now working with no problems that is great to know!

Love the bus to nearby!

September 4th was a sea day with plenty of rain. We had several lectures by naturalists and the most pertinent one was on birds of the North Pacific. We saw plenty of them including several species of gulls and Albatross. Additionally we saw kittiwake, horned puffin, cormorant and shearwater and many were flying alongside the ship. We also had our mandatory zodiac safety briefing and virtually everyone on this cruise has been on zodiacs and practically all have previously been on an expedition cruise and many nationalities are represented by the guests on board. This evening was the captain’s welcome cocktail party and dinner and we were seated with one of the expedition staff. We had a great table with Chris and an Australian couple and we kept talking until we were the last table in the restaurant.
On the 5th the rain continued, but there was a zodiac tour to get up close with a colony of walrus in Dezhneva Bay. The parkas we received on board (paid for as part of our cruise fare) are waterproof and worked quite well. We also had rubber pants we brought with us and gum boots borrowed from the ship to keep us dry. There were nearly 300 of the animals resting on the beach and a few clusters in the water ducking down to get clams. The naturalists on the ship had never seen this many walruses in one spot before. These huge mammals can weigh up to 2 tons and they consume about 4000 clams and other mollusks per day. They also stink, but not as bad as penguins. This was a zodiac run only and we didn’t land on shore. There are 97 guests on this cruise and we go out in 2 waves, each for about an hour. Later in the morning we were supposed to go on land at a different spot, but the weather had worsened and it was deemed unsafe to make the attempt. In the afternoon we moved to Anastasii Bay for a wet landing and an opportunity to either take a long hike or just stroll about the beach. We ended up taking a medium hike from the beach looking at various flora. Everything is low growth and there were numerous patches of edible Kamchatka blueberries, dogwood berries & cranberries that we enjoyed. They were a bit tart and not as flavorful or as large as our farmed berries.
On the 6th we were in Natalii Bay area. The morning excursion was a landing in Petra Bay with options for a long trek, medium trek or remain at the beach. The 2 treks started off together for ½ hour and then we could opt for the harder or easier. We opted for the easier because we would have more time to enjoy the landscape and plant life. It was pretty rugged walking over rocks, streams and soft muddy moss areas and it was all uneven ground. It was overcast and foggy in the distance, but no rain. After lunch we took zodiac tours to Bogoslov Island where there were thousands of nesting black footed kittiwakes, horned & tufted puffins and common guillemots, and they all got along with each other. Later in the afternoon we went to a remote area of Natalii Bay to have some champagne & snacks by a bonfire and explore around the river and grassland.

Your bird pics are really outstanding!

Great Puffin shots those are not easy to get. Loved the Walrus as well. Were you in the zodiacs with the walrus in the water. That happened to us in Svalbard and I loved it.

Enjoying your posts and photos, Jim. Puffins are very close to being my favorite bird. Wonderful shots.

We were in zodiacs for both walrus & birds.

Wonderful photos Jim. Thank you for sharing them.

Sept 7, on our way to an afternoon arrival in Lavrova Bay, a brown bear was spotted on a beach and the ship was stopped so zodiacs could take people for an up close look. I viewed the bear from the deck with binoculars while Pat took the camera on a zodiac ride and got some good close photos. Lavrova Bay is the site of a former Soviet era fish processing plant that once housed 10,000 workers. It wasn’t economically viable and was closed down about 25 years ago after the fall of the Soviet Union. The abandoned buildings are still there but mostly fallen down. We walked around the area looking at plant life and the remains of the plant. On the beach we spotted bear footprints in the sand, but they looked to be a day or two old. There was an old shipwreck fishing boat on the shore that we passed close to on our way back to the ship. The wreck supposedly happened as the 3 captains were arguing, probably inspired by too much vodka. The weather has improved and it was only partly cloudy and 55 degrees temperature.
Sept 8 had a new destination added to the itinerary on recommendation of our sister ship which had recently visited the village. The village of Tymlat on the Tymlat River was established in the mid-19th century as a trading post. The population of around 500 is 70% native Koryak which is ethnically related to our Inuits. They fish for salmon, cod, herring, marine mammals and hunt for reindeer. We had a 2 mile zodiac ride up the river to the village and were individually greeted with ritual greeting ceremony. It was a sunny day with shirtsleeve temperatures. The villagers had some fresh caught salmon and demonstrated the traditional way of filleting it and taking the roe and wrapping it with grass to be preserved. The State Koryak folk ensemble, “Mengo,” is a renowned cultural group. Dressed in handmade deerskin dresses the women & girls put on an extensive folkloric show of dances & songs. There were tables of local food for us to try including wild berries, smoked salmon, salmon roe fire roasted harbor seal, small pinecones filled with delicious pine nuts and some jams made from the wild berries & cloud berries. After the show, which went on for 1 ½ hours, we were served salmon soup, made over wood fires during the show and it was delicious. We walked into the village whose buildings were all made of weathered and unpainted wood and whose streets were cinder. Most houses had vegetable gardens in their yards. When we returned to the ship, the tide was coming in quite fast creating large breakers at the mouth. The zodiacs had to accelerate to climb the breakers and, on one, we were completely airborne. Our team of 3 won Liar's Club.

Great pictures Jim. Had to take a look before I left today. I will keep checking the internet while I am gone.

WOW airborne in a zodiac now that is adventure!

It is amazing how these villages go to so much trouble for a ship visit. They are very welcoming that is for sure.

Jim, I too enjoy hearing about you adventure, and the rich details of your narrative! Can't wait to hear the next story. Hope you continue to have a good internet connection!

I always try to partake and be appreciative when local people prepare food for us. I did have to work to choke down the whale blubber in Greenland, but fortunately I have a pretty much cast iron stomach . The little pine ones with pine nuts sound delicious, and I would have tried everything on the menu. Looking forward to the next report.

Jim, I need you to do a little recon for me. George was looking at the itinerary the other day, and it mentioned the opportunity for snorkling at a couple of the stops. Can you find out whether there is snorkle gear onboard for passenger use, or does he need to bring his own? Thanks.

They have plenty of snorkel gear in all sizes.

Thanks!

Jim
You need to show Peter the link that Arlene posted yesterday under Narwhal about the ship they found in Canada from the Franklin ship.

Susan

I think Peter saw it as soon as it was published. Now he has to change his lecture.

We left the Kamchatka Peninsula on Monday night and headed south east to Komandor Island. On Sept 9th the original schedule was to visit gravesite of Vitus Bering (for whom the Bering Sea is named) but gale force winds were hitting the east side of the island making zodiac landing out of the question. We sailed overnight and through the morning and the decision was made to visit Nikol’skoye on the west side of Komandor. There were high winds and large swells and a few people were seasick overnight. We arrived at 2pm and took zodiacs to shore and walked into the village in a cold & strong wind. On the way we visited their new Russian Orthodox Church which is the easternmost church in Russia. It’s quite small and built with logs (it looks like Lincoln Logs) but it had some nice icons inside. We then went to the town hall / community center for a folkloric show of song & dance. The natives here are Aleut and were dressed in traditional costume. There were adults and children in the performance and it was an enjoyable interlude. Following the show we visited the museum which had some very interesting displays and information on local history. In the latter part of the 19th century there was quite a fur industry, particularly in beaver pelts. Whales & seals were also processed here. Nowadays there doesn’t appear to be much more than fishing happening here. All along the harbor front and nearby streets there is abandoned & rusting junk, everything from small vessels to bulldozers, cars, piping, gearboxes and anything else that wore out and wasn’t worth repairing. The wind had picked up by the time we got to the zodiac to return to the ship and quite a few waves splashed over us. Fortunately the parkas and pants are waterproof. With 90 kph winds and 20 ft. swells it was a rough night and we had to put any loose or breakable items away. One nightstand fell over and the queen size bed split into two.
At around 9am on Sept 10th we arrived at Kamenistaya Bay, back on Kamchatka Peninsula. It was sunny but still very windy so we anchored and waited to see what the weather would do. Around 10:30 a bear was spotted on the beach and the outer decks filled with photographers. At lunch time it was determined that it was still too rough to use the zodiacs so we sailed on south to Kamen Kozlova. Close to where we anchored was a colony of Steller sea lions on a rock outcropping. Zodiacs aren’t allowed to approach them so we took photos at a distance from the deck. We rode zodiacs to the beach for a wet landing and explored the beach area and river flowing into the sea. There were numerous bear tracks on the beach and eventually a bear was spotted up the river. We also saw a Steller Sea Eagle in the far distance. As we sailed away and were listening to the evening briefing & recap an announcement was made that a whale was spotted on the port side. Everyone headed to the forward decks and “a whale” turned out to be a pod of 20 or more humpbacks. None breached, but they surfaced & dived. We were close enough to them to clearly hear them blowing. In the distance we saw a beautifully shaped conical volcano and later, at dusk, we passed an active volcano with smoke spewing from the top.

It sounds like you had quite the exciting night. This is the first time I have read about beds splitting apart because of rough seas. Your descriptions really let people know if this would be a cruise that they would want to book. Another fabulous instalment! Thank you.

We approached Morzhovaya Bay at breakfast time, anchored and had a wet landing on the rocky beach. Just before anchoring we passed a rock outcropping which had a Steller Sea Eagle nest, but the only thing in it was a kittiwake, so the eagle was long gone. We had to stay along the beach due to bear threat inland. The beach was filled with rocks of all sizes and walking was difficult. Although it was only around 50 degrees, it was sunny with no wind and jackets came off. There was a stream behind the beach where some live salmon were swimming, but there were far more dead ones which had finished spawning. We saw a few harbor seals playing near the shore as well as some harlequin ducks and on the beach was a rusted fishing boat that had run aground. When we got back on board we went to the rear pool deck and enjoyed the pleasant weather where we were joined by Australian friends and remained for an outdoor lunch. The expedition staff had reconnoitered a couple of other potential landing spots but either the swells were too rough to land or the Russians said “Nyet”, so we sailed on and were informed that the Russian agents on board had arranged permission for us to dock at Petropavlovsk this evening instead of waiting until tomorrow. Just as an afternoon lecture was to begin an announcement was made that orca were nearby. For about 20 minutes we went through a field of orca surfacing and diving close to the ship. Then as we were heading back inside, we came across a large pod of dolphin. On the way to Petropavlovsk we saw more whales and volcanoes. We were supposed to pick up the pilot at 6pm, however, there was a naval exercise going on and the pilot boat couldn’t leave until later. After our evening briefing we had a cocktail party on the rear sun deck, enjoyed the scenery and got a good view of a Russian navy ship & a submarine. It was still sunny and a fleece vest was adequate to keep us warm. We finally docked during dinner and the ship was cleared by 9pm and we could have gone ashore, but with no rubles and being tired, we didn’t go to the local bar. Full day in the city tomorrow.

Thanks for the post Jim. The orcas how fantastic was that!!!. I can just imagine that particularly if you then in sight of the gorgeous coastline coming in to Petropavlovsk. Then the dolphins as well. Sounds like a great day. Seeing wildlife is really the thrill of expedition cruising.

Petropavlovsk is named for Saints Peter & Paul (also the names of the ships of ships Vitus Bering who established this town), and it is the largest city on the peninsula and is the administrative center for the peninsula. We were docked here overnight and at 9am on Sept 12 we headed out for a 6 hour tour by bus with our guide Kate (a.k.a. Ekaterina who spoke excellent English.) This is the first Russian stop where there have been more than a handful of cars. Most cars are imported and the majority are from Japan. Japan drives on the left like England so their domestic cars are right hand drive and that’s what the Russians import, even though they drive on the right. Our first 2 stops were to see war monuments for the Crimean War (1800s Charge of the Light Brigade war, not Putin’s purge) and the battle for the Kuril Islands during WWII. There was also an interesting small wooden Russian Orthodox Church by the Kiril monument. We then visited a museum of Kamchatka history, including mineral, wildlife and native peoples and it was very informative and interesting. We made a brief stop at a market which used to be an outdoor one, but it burned down so now it’s in a nice building. The meat and fish sections were of the most interest. Salmon caviar, very expensive, is of several qualities and price with the smaller and darker being the premium variety. It was fresh and in tubs about 2 gallon size. Black caviar was available, but it’s canned and not from this area. It was all clean and pristine, but the old markets with flies all around are more fun to see. The next stop was at a Russian Orthodox Cathedral which is under reconstruction so we couldn’t see the main floor, but saw the less important section. The building looked fairly modern and nowhere as interesting as the 1000 year old churches we saw last year on our Moscow to St Petersburg river cruise. We then rode about ½ hour into the countryside to sled dog training center. Their dogs are a cross of Alaskan malamutes and Siberian huskies and beautiful animals. We were greeted with vodka and bread with salmon caviar and vodka, and vodka, and vodka… They told us about the dogs and how they are trained and used (get vodka refills if you wish) and let us pet the dogs and get photos. Next was a folkloric show with natives dressed much like the ones at the previous stops and with the same flat reindeer skin drum. Food was set out and there were cheeses, meats, bread, salmon cake, potatoes and vodka. The entire day was sunny and warm and couldn’t have been more perfect for the events we attended. When we returned to the ship we were told that the planned 5pm departure was delayed due to an “important military exercise” and shore time was extended. There was a festival along the waterfront close to the ship and a few of us walked to enjoy it. There were lots of families with children there and several stalls with artwork, face painting, food and music and it was quite festive. Back at the ship we were informed that the “important military exercise” was continuing and we may depart at 10pm. We did see 3 flights of fighter jets flying overhead, but they didn’t attack. Tonight is the Venetian Society (guests who have previously sailed Silversea) cocktail party on the rear deck outside. Of the 97 on board, only 1 was not a member and he was invited anyway.

You mentioned parkas in an earlier post, Jim. Did they give you the Arctic ones or something lighter? I assume since we were never asked our size that there won't be anything on SUMO; certainly not the heavy ones.

My two trips on the Explorer were in the Arctic so it sounds nice to read that they are using the rear deck. I'm not surprised that almost all of the guests are Venetian Society - I imagine it will be the same on SUMO.

The parkas are the Arctic version, but we're getting warmer weather and often use lighter jackets. I don't believe any jackets will be given on Sumo. Best trick is to have a light wind & rain proof jacket with a hood and wear a vest or sweater under it for cooler days. That makes packing easier also. We haven't needed gloves or earmuffs.

The “important military exercise” kept us in the Petropavlovsk harbor until after 1am on the 13th so we were 8 hours behind on the planned itinerary. We have left the Kamchatka Peninsula and will travel the Kuril Islands to Japan in a week’s time. The Kuril Islands were Japanese until Russia conquered them during WWII. Japan keeps asking to have the lower third of the islands returned and Russia keeps saying “nyet.” Just before we left our room for breakfast an announcement was made that there was a whale on the port side and we saw out our room’s window. It was head down with its flukes slapping the water, but we passed it so fast that most people missed it. It was named the “breakfast whale.” The expedition leader announced that we couldn’t reach our first destination until around 4pm so lectures & a cooking demonstration were organized. We sat in the observation lounge reading our Kindles, watching birds and seeing countless volcanoes in the distance. We arrived at Shumshu Island around 4pm where we were scheduled to have a zodiac ride around the kelp beds and see sea otters, however the kelp had disappeared, probably from a storm, and otters weren’t available so we headed off towards Atlasova Island. It was at sunset time that we arrived at Atlasova for a beach walk along a volcano caldera. It was a scenic area from the ship and quite a number of us opted to remain in the comfort of the ship rather than exercise on the cold & windy beach.
I had mentioned in one of my first postings that the ship had run out of red wine during the Northwest Passage cruise and were to be resupplied in Nome. Champagne arrived, but no red wine, so the ship bought out the limited supply of the local bottle shop and that turned out to be an expensive, but drinkable, Chilean merlot & cabernet brand, Gato Negro. That wine sells for around &5.00 back home. The new shipment didn’t arrive in Petropavlovsk either, so they emptied a local supplier and got a decent variety of reds from different countries and finally we have some variety.

Hopefully they will bring on a good supply in otaru!

I think we all hope that.

On Sept 14, due to strong currents we arrived at Lovyshki later than scheduled and zodiac loading was delayed by rough swells. Lovyshki is a grouping of rocky outcroppings filled with northern fur seals & Steller sea lions and surrounded by kelp beds and we could hear the seals from the front deck when we anchored. The fur seals are dark in color and much smaller than the brown Steller seals. We had a 45 minute zodiac ride to the seal area and first encountered numerous fur seals in the water close to the zodiac. They like the bubbles from the prop and would follow us closely. They porpoised, raised their heads out of the water and were generally curious about us. Closer to the rocks were also Steller seals on the water and both species were on the rocks. They were all barking loudly and, when we got downwind from them, they stank. We circled the island and it was cold but sunny and a very enjoyable excursion.
We then sailed on to Matua Island. For centuries the island was visited by hunting & fishing parties of the Japanese native Ainu people, but there was no permanent settlement. The island was a Japanese WWII army camp with an airfield with 7000 – 8000 soldiers stationed there and, after the war, the facilities were manned by Soviet Border troops. It was abandoned after the fall of the USSR. Although it is now uninhabited, last year a Russian Orthodox Church was built on a hilltop. We had a rough zodiac ride over the swells and a difficult rocky beach to traverse to the trail to the camp. It was a ½ hour uphill walk and, when we arrived, the camp that was there 2 months ago was gone. Other than a large bunker, there was no sign of the WWII buildings and the camp area had been freshly bulldozed. Nobody knows why, but perhaps a radar site or some other military use may be made of it.

We anchored off the island of Ketol and at 9:30am the first group of zodiacs headed towards a rocky outcropping where a colony of Steller seals reside. There were several large bulls, many females and lots of young. The adults are brown and the young are greyer and smooth haired. We spent 45 minutes looking at the seals on the rocks and groups of them were playing in the water around the zodiacs. There was plenty of loud bellowing from the adults. Although it was cold, it was sunny with little swelling of the water so it was a great photo opportunity. Once the second group of zodiacs had their turn, we hoisted anchor and headed to Ushishir Island.
Ushishir is an uninhabited volcanic island located in the center of the Kuril chain in the Sea of Okhotsk. Its name is derived from the Ainu language for “hot spring.” We could only enter at high tide due to the shallow inlet and we went to the southern island portion, named Yankicha, which is the summit caldera of the volcano. We had a scenic zodiac ride through the inlet and around a small island in the center of the lagoon to a rocky beach with steam & sulfuric gases coming out of fumaroles in the ground. There were some boiling pools and hot water flowing to the lagoon. It is a spectacularly beautiful island and is listed in the 150 islands to see before you die. We walked around and climbed up about 50 meters and let the younger crowd make the steep climb to the caldera ridge. While we were there a fox ran across the beach near people standing there. It was a pleasure just standing on our plateau and watch the scenery seem to change as clouds drifted over to alter the sunlight on the slopes. It was like seeing Nature’s kaleidoscope. On our way back to the ship we went over to a rookery where kittiwakes, auklets and northern fulmars nest. At dawn there is a massive flight of birds heading off for the day’s fishing and at sunset they return like a massive cloud over this rock jutting out of the sea. We then went to another section of the island where there is a cave passing through to the other side. On a rock by the entrance, and hiding behind a sprig of grass, was a small fox.

Photobucket is seriously slow getting to where I can post photos. Here are some from recent posts.

Fabulous shots Jim worth the time to load them on Photo Bucket. You must have a good camera the clarity is fantastic. An "see this island before you die" experience sounded super.

See you in a few days.

On the morning of Sept 16 we sailed into the Chirpoy Islands which are part of the Kuril Islands. Our planned itinerary was to have a zodiac cruise around Brat Chirpoev (Russian for Chirpoy’s Brother) to view the volcanic structure of this parasitic volcano. Much to the total surprise of the expedition staff, Brat was active and none of them had ever seen it active. Being able to get a zodiac cruise along an active volcano is extremely rare. There were numerous steam vents along the waterline and an occasional eruption from the cone and the noise was like loud thunder. We didn’t see any lava, but got plenty of smoke & steam. Along the steam vents rock was breaking away and falling into the water, much like a glacier calving. We sailed away between Chirpoev and Brat Chirpoev through thousands of northern fulmars (a relative of albatross & petrel) which were flying all around us. The rest of the day is at sea and about mid-way through the 11:00 lecture an announcement was made that orcas were about. There were 3 of them chasing a Dall’s porpoise which they caught and it was seen in the male orca’s mouth. We followed them for about 45 minutes. The captain opened deck 4 forward (at the bow where mooring lines & anchor controls are housed) so we all could spread out on different decks and get a front rail view. The rest of the day was filled with lectures and there was a cocktail party for those of us staying on for the next segment.

Note to Sumo group. Japan laws prohibit internet within 12 mile limit of the coast so it will only be available at sea. Should have it every day, but early morning or evening depending on itinerary.

Wow what an Orca experience! What a volcano experience! Sounds like a true expedition day to me.

I was not expecting any internet we have always had trouble in Japanese waters I hope you are right and we have some at sea that would be great.

Wow, cruising around an active volcano. That is a once in a lifetime experience!

I knew about the Internet thing. Guess I will be up early and late!

We anchored off the tiny island of Tyulenly on the morning of Sept 17 for wildlife viewing. The hope was to go on land and view the seals from the observation blinds overlooking the shore, however the beaches were so crowded with northern fur & Steller seals that a landing was impossible, so we had zodiac cruises offshore. Tyulenly is a Russian research center with several buildings on the top of the rocks, but is currently uninhabited. As we approached the shore fur seals were swimming and splashing all around our zodiacs. On the beaches were literally hundreds of both fur & Steller seals intermixed and barking noisily as they waddled around or lounged around. The young were fairly well developed and swimming & feeding for themselves. Hundreds of black legged kittiwakes were nesting on the rocks and we also saw many fulmar and a few cormorants. It was really quite a sight to enjoy. We sailed away before lunch and had the rest of the day and all night at sea heading for our final Russian port. It’s the next to the last night of this cruise segment and the captain’s farewell party and dinner were held.

Jim, I had to google all your sightings to see who is who. You're sure getting a wildlife lesson. Thanks for sharing seamail with us.