Keith Jones, Adventures with Wild Animals
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  9 Day itinerary for the Narwhal of Baffin Island Adventure  
  Day 1,  Friday August 7, 2009:    Our Arctic narwhal adventure begins when we meet in Ottawa, Canada. From Ottawa we’ll fly to Iqaluit, Baffin Island and on to Pond Inlet. We’ll meet up with our local guides and spend our first night in a local hotel. The remainder of the trip will be in camp accommodations.    
  Day 2  August 8:  Today we go through our final gear check and then travel via motor boat to our base camp location at Koluctoo Bay.   On the way we’ll begin the Narwhal and Bowhead whale search while enjoying the passing arctic scenery. The odds are excellent we will sight several icebergs along the way.  We will set up camp and then probably have time to explore the area around our camp.   
  Day 3  Sunday, August 9th:  Today we will go out in our chartered boat in search of Narwhal and other marine wildlife. We’ll adjust our routine to suit the weather and the group personality.  
  Day 4, 5 & 6  August 10, 11& 12: These days are set aside for hiking, fishing and observing the narwhal and seals from the shore or from the point of land at Bruce Head.   This special rocky ledge is an area where the narwhal pass close to shore as they enter and leave Koluctoo Bay.  This past year we experienced what we called the narwhal parade, when for 25 uninterrupted minutes we watched a steady stream of narwhal swim by, as close to us as 20 feet.. We expect that by day 6 we will have viewed Narwhal several times.  On all previous trips the best viewing of narwhals took place from the shore, not from the boat.  So don't let the days on shore make you think nothing will happen.  In 2008 our group sighted tusking narwhals very close to shore and for a long time.  Our Inuit guide rated that viewing as the most amazing and one of the best he has ever seen in his entire life.  
  Day 7   Thursday, August 13 :  This will be our last full day at base camp. The boat will take us out on the water again to observe marine life and to explore the bay.  If conditions are right we'll take a high tide exploratory trip to the Robertson River where Arctic Char up to 50 pounds in size can be seen and fished for.  On our last trip the group felt that our trip here was one of the major highlights of the entire adventure.  
  Day 8  -  Friday, August 14:  Today the boat returns us to Pond.  But that doesn't mean you won't see wildlife.  Last year Orcas were sighted just outside of Koluctoo Bay by our group on the return to Pond Inlet.  Bowhead whales have been seen in this channel.  
  Day 9 Saturday, August 15 -  Today we fly south from Pond Inlet to Ottawa and home.  
     
  This itinerary is a sample only.  Each day our activities will be dictated by the weather, the animals and by the other special social situations that can occur in Nunavut Territory.  I promise you that the August 2005 & 2008 Narwhal trips were very successful with narwhal sightings every day from the boat and on several occasions from the shore at our base camp.  This is a unique trip.   Nobody else in the world does a trip like this.  This trip is one of a kind and designed specifically to get to see as many narwhal as closely as it is practical to do.  Therefore you will experience and see things that almost no other travelers have ever seen.  On any given year maybe only a dozen or two dozen tourists from outside Nunavut visit Koluctoo Bay.  Each year for a number of years now, narwhal researchers from the USA, Canada and Greenland have used this area to further their research into narwhal behavior and migration patterns.  
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