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Svalbard Part 26 |
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28 August - 8 September: Those were my last days on Svalbard. On the 30th of August we made a hike to Sacrofagen. This is the high mountain behind our home. To get on top of this mountain we first had to walk past a glacier.  Meltwater channels This glacier (Larsbreen) had multiple melt water channels. These are small rivers in the ice where the melt water flows down through. There are also melt water channels deep under the ice. In the winter season they create ice caves that you can walk through.  View on the way to Sacrofagen The valley we were walking in had a moonlike landscape. This is the reason why NASA wants to test their Mars robots and other pieces of machinery on Svalbard in the future.  Spitsbergen Sneeuwhoen On the 31st of August I suddenly saw a ptarmigan while I was looking outside. Of course I quickly got my camera and when I came outside I discovered that there were as many as five ptarmigans! |
 Spitsbergen Sneeuwhoen The ptarmigans all had their intermediate plumage which they grow between summer and winter. This resulted in a contrasting mix of brown and white ptarmigans. A couple days later there were up to fifteen ptarmigans in front of my bedroom window.  Plateau On the 5th of September we made our last hike on Svalbard. We walked past Sacrofagen to get on top of the plateau behind our home. We walked over the plateau towards the UNIS. It was really starting to get winter by then, it was cold and there were hardly any birds left. We did see many ptarmigans though, and a couple of snow buntings. The landscape was impressive, nothing but loose rocks as far as you could see.  View from the room The picture above was taken at midnight, five hours before our plane left. It was rough weather with a hard wind and for the first time some snow again. The mountain tops already had a thin white layer again. A nice goodbye from this beautiful country! At 4:50 our plane left from Longyearbyen to arrive at Amsterdam (Schiphol) around 10 o clock. Full of beautiful memories, I arrived in (warm) Holland again I want to thank everybody who contributed to those unforgettable 3 months. I hope everybody enjoyed reading the report! |
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