15 Jul 2015

Tundra - A Land of Contrasts

On Sunday we went ashore to visit a family of Chukchi reindeer herders in the village of Amguema, just north of Egvikinot.  Chukchis, who are the traditional inhabitants of the tundra, value the land, see its beauty and live off its resources. The 87 year old patriarch of the family we visited, who speaks only Chukchi, has a wealth of knowledge and told us how they are not only able to survive but thrive in this environment by following their traditions. He acknowledges however that this way of life is disappearing with each new generation as the young folk are drawn to modern distractions.

In contrast we stopped at an abandoned barracks which were a part of the gulag system and saw a graveyard for some of the prisoners who died while building the road to Egvikinot.  To these people who did not know how to survive this environment, the tundra would have seemed a desolate and lifeless place which ultimately claimed many lives. Such a land of contrasts!

We have been lucky to see the sun every day since Sunday and have watched the remaining winter snows recede a little more each morning.  This spell of good weather means we can undertake some outside maintenance and painting on the ship. The crew and staff are in good spirits and looking forward to meeting the expeditioners who will join us on the voyage north to Wrangel Island.