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Northern Ring of Fire, Part II: Kamchatka & the Kuril Islands
Aboard the Clipper Odyssey
From $8,580 per person, based on double occupancy. Solo occupancy rates from $11,480.
Trip Details
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Trip Overview
From Petropavlovsk, cruise southward along the Kamchatka Peninsula, which is home to 300 volcanoes. Watch for seals, brown bears and horned puffins as you travel along the coast in Zodiacs. Sea otters and their pups gather in the Kuril Strait and among the rugged and rarely visited Kuril Islands. Visit lakes and lagoons, hidden harbors strewn with WWII remnants and beaches occupied by northern fur seals and Steller’s sea lions. On Russia’s tiny Tyuleniy Island, observe astonishing numbers of wildlife; on Sakhalin Island, residents of a Russian town welcome us with a traditional choir performance.
This tour can be combined with Part I, Aleutians & the Bering Sea, which runs July 25 – August 11, 2010.
Trip Itinerary
Monday, August 9, 2010: Home / Anchorage, Alaska
Arrive independently in Anchorage and transfer to the hotel. Meet up with your fellow travelers and staff at a welcome dinner and spend the night at the hotel. (D)
Tuesday & Wednesday, August 10 & 11: Anchorage / Cross International Date Line / Petropavlovsk, Russia / Embark
After breakfast, fly to Petropavlovsk, one of the oldest cities in the Russian Far East. En route, you’ll cross the International Date Line, “losing” a day. Vitus Bering arrived in Kamchatka and laid the first foundation stone in 1740 in this huge and well-sheltered harbor. Visit the museum of ethnography and natural history, the gold-domed Orthodox cathedral, and the marketplace with local guides. Embark the Clipper Odyssey in the evening and set sail southward along the magnificent Kamchatka Peninsula. (B,L,D)
Thursday, August 12: Kamchatka Peninsula / Russkaya Bay
A geologic wonderland, Kamchatka is home to 300 volcanoes that soar skyward. Some 29 of these are active, steaming, bubbling lava or producing dramatic pyroclastic eruptions. Cruise the southern coast – a naturalist’s paradise – as you watch for seals, and brown bears, plus horned puffins and large colonies of slaty-backed gulls. In nearby Russkaya Bay, see evidence of the powers of Kamchatka’s volcanoes, including lightweight pumice scattered along the shoreline. During a walk through a coastal forest, look for such birds as the Eurasian nutcracker, taiga flycatcher, and red-flanked bluetail. Continue down the eastern side of Kamchatka and keep binoculars at the ready for possible sightings of Kamchatka brown bears and Steller’s sea eagles. (B,L,D)
Friday, August 13: Kuril Strait / Atlasova Island, Kuril Islands
On the way to Atlasova, cruise through the Kuril Strait, where sea otters congregate by the hundreds and pups are often spotted riding on their mother’s upturned bellies. Atlasova Island claims the highest peak of the Kurils; the spectacular Alaid Volcano rises nearly 8,000 feet from the sea. Steller’s sea lions haul out on the coastline and rosy finches are a common sight. Land on a sweeping black sand beach and explore the shore and inland fresh water lake. (B,L,D)
Saturday, August 14: Paramushir Island / OnekotanIsland
Anchor in the morning at Paramushir Island in Shelakova Bay, an old whaling station. Scan the rugged and rocky ledges for seabirds during a shoreside walk with our naturalists. Small streams and waterfalls tumble down the hillsides to the beach; we may see brown bears that forage for roots on the island’s hillsides. On the volcanic island of Onekotan, see a WWII Japanese pill box and bunker and go for walks along the coast. After crossing a river, walk across the tundra in search of red foxes and such birds as the red-throated pipit. Offshore it is possible to spot Dall’s porpoises and seals. (B,L,D)
Sunday, August 15: Matua Island / Srednego Islands /Yankicha Island
Go ashore at Matua Island. During WWII, the Japanese established an island airfield that was targeted by the United States frequently in 1944. During our landing and walks on the old roads, see the remants of bunkers, equipment and artillery. The rugged Srednego Islands are home to large populations of Steller’s sea lions and northern fur seals. During Zodiac cruises they can be seen frolicking in the waters around us or staking out their territory on rocky ledges. In the evening, arrive at Yankicha in time to view whiskered auklets creating a virtual auklet haze as they return to their nests in spectacular swarms after feeding offshore in the mingling tides. (B,L,D)
Monday, August 16: Yankicha Island / Shimushir Island
A sinking volcanic caldera at Yankicha Island offers access during high tide. Enter the magnificent lagoon via Zodiac and observe the ongoing volcanic activity of sulfur fumaroles. The island’s rocky slopes are nesting grounds for crested auklets, and common and thick-billed murres make their homes in the ledges of the vertical cliffs. Heading south, Laysan albatross may be wheeling effortlessly in our wake. From the deck, look for the telltale bubblegum pink bill of the magnificent yet vulnerable shorttailed albatross – a species hunted nearly to extinction but whose population has been on the rise. Shimushir Island’s narrow crater pass opens into a nearly hidden harbor – Broutona Bay – once home to a Soviet military base and 2,000 occupants from 1978 to 1991. Abandoned since 1997, the area has a ghosttown atmosphere, with its empty buildings, rusting vehicles, vacant school, and an unused playground. (B,L,D)
Tuesday, August 17: Broutona Island
Go on several Zodiac excursions today, visiting a series of small islands punctuated with caves and coves. Western Broutona is home to vast colonies of northern fulmars – an estimated 1 million nest here – plus cormorants, puffins, black-legged kittiwakes, and guillemots. (B,L,D)
Wednesday, August 18: Tyuleniy Island
A sensational show of wildlife awaits at the landing site today. Tyuleniy means “seal” in Russian, and you will immediately understand why the island is so-named. Hundreds of northern fur seals and Steller’s sea lions cover the beaches. Their calls pierce the air, bulls defend their harems, males spar, and pups and other seals cavort in the water. With naturalists by your side, observe the wildlife from rough blinds built by Russian researchers. Look for common murres and kittiwakes covering the cliffs and flying overhead, as well as crested auklets, Siberian rubythroats, Pallas’ warblers, red-necked stints, and narcissus flycatchers. (B,L,D)
Thursday, August 19: Korsakov, Sakhalin Island /Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk
Set off for an overland visit to the island’s capital, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. Founded as a small Russian settlement in the 1880s, the city became a Japanese prefect capital when the southern half of Sakhalin Island was declared a Japanese colony in 1905. After WWII it was returned to Russia. Highlights of explorations include a visit to the local church (with an opportunity to hear a choir), and a visit to the Regional Museum, which is housed in an impressive former Japanese mansion. Alternatively, join our ornithologist for a day of birding in the southern part of the island. Watch for Latham’s snipes, Eurasian bullfinches, and white-tailed sea eagles. Prized sightings may include the Siberian thrush, Swinhoe’s robin, and Siberian rubythroat. (B,L,D)
Friday, August 20: At Sea / Otaru, Japan
Arrive in Otaru this afternoon and enjoy a tour of the historic and photogenic Canal Zone, including a visit to the Kitaichi Glass Factory. Created by a sea reclamation project in 1914, the canal is lined with original stone shipping warehouses plus shops and restaurants. Birders set out from Otaru for an exploration of the surrounding foothills to search for such resident species as the Japanese pygmy woodpecker and varied tit and migrants including blue-and-white flycatchers lingering in the Hokkaido forests. (B,L,D)
Saturday, August 21: Otaru / Disembark / Sapporo / USA
Disembark the Clipper Odyssey and transfer to the Sapporo airport for your flight home. Cross the International Date Line, arriving home the same day. (B)
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