• End of an Era voyage to Tanquary Fjord.
• BBC film crew aboard.
• Aerial sight-seeing.
• Arctic flora and fauna.
• Devon Island.
• Coburg Island.

Witness breath-taking beauty on the western shore of Ellesmere Island during the final voyage to Tanquary Fjord of Kapitan Khlebnikov. The icebreaker is retiring from service as an expedition vessel in March 2012.

Ship: Kapitan Khlebnikov
Duration: 16 days
Embarkation and Disembarkation: Resolute, Canada
Staging point: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Please note: Charter flight must be purchased at the same time as the expedition.

The BBC has decided to produce a sequel to Planet Earth – Frozen Planet. As a result, a BBC film crew will be shooting footage during the voyage. The film crew will work in conjunction with landing operations and deliver presentations and show dailies – raw footage captured during each day’s filming. The dailies will be filmed with the technology that enables the BBC’s Natural History Unit to capture never-before-seen footage of wildlife in their natural habitat.

In the imagination of many people the Arctic landscape is vast tundra valleys that stretch toward snow-capped mountains, while polar bears and walrus rest on ice floes just offshore. We can’t guarantee polar bears and walrus sightings, but we can promise breathtaking landscape during this expedition that begins in Ottawa, Canada.

During your flight from Ottawa to Resolute, boreal forest changes to tundra and ice. By evening you’ll be above the Arctic Circle and aboard the icebreaker Kapitan Khlebnikov.

With a landscape surprisingly similar to the planet Mars, this ice - capped island will be the site of your first shore landings. The Devon Island visits encompass wildlife, the history of Arctic exploration and the archaeological remains of the Thule people, ancestors of the Inuit.

From Coburg Island, a nesting ground for seabirds, you sail to Grise Fjord, the only community on Ellesmere Island. From there, the ship navigates Hell Gate, a narrow passage that has been transited successfully only by a handful of passenger vessels.

The epic beauty that is Tanquary Fjord encompasses sweeping mountain valleys under huge Arctic skies. Luminous glaciers cascade down to clear blue waters. You’ll stroll across soft tundra, home to thousands of species of miniature plants. Twenty- four hours of daylight provides ample opportunity to take photos in Quttinirpaaq National Park on Ellesmere Island.

Our next stop is Eureka Sound. Helicopter flights take us over an ancient petrified forest on Ellesmere Island’s western coast. Stunning Axel Heiberg Island is next. There another helicopter ride takes us in search of musk oxen, wolves and Arctic hare.

There are many wonderful and exciting sites during this journey through Norwegian Bay and Belcher Channel. However, the experience of watching the 24,000 horsepower Kapitan Khlebnikov battle its way through some of the toughest ice in the world may be one of the most memorable. We then head south, through Penny Strait to Queens Channel, with plans to explore McDougall Sound on the alert for walrus and polar bears.

Our final landing is on Beechey Island to view the Franklin Memorial. History surrounds you on this desolate coast, where, in 1846–47, Sir John Franklin and his men wintered before disappearing, never to be seen again.

From Resolute you fly to Ottawa to spend the night.

After breakfast, depart for home.

Map of Voyage Important reminder: Embracing the unexpected is part of the legacy – and excitement – of expedition travel. There are no guarantees that we can achieve everything we set out to accomplish. A measure of flexibility is something all of us must bring to a voyage.