Expedition tour «Whales and walruses of the Beringia National Park»

12:30 Arrival to Anadyr city – the capital of Chukotka Autonomous District.

Passing border control (Chukotka is still an Area of Regulated Visit).

Transfer through the Anadyr Estuary of the Bering Sea (Pacific Ocean) on a barge (during transfer tourists do not leave the car).

Accommodation at the hotel Anadyr 3* (twin rooms with facilities).

Sightseeing excursion around the city.

Dinner in the hotel restaurant (on your own).

! NB Depending on the flight arrival and possible delay sightseeing excursion can be replaced to another day.

Accommodation in a hotel

Electricity available

Good mobile signal

Shower available

Breakfast at the hotel (independent).

Transfer to the airport, crossing the Anadyr Estuary by boat.

10:00 Departure to Provideniya village by flight (in good weather conditions).

11:25 Arrival at Provideniya village. Meeting with a guide of the Beringia National park.

Transfer to Provideniya village by bus. Passing around Emma Bay (9 km) with short excursion about history and life of locals.

Accommodation in a technical school dormitory (shared rooms, shared bathroom facilities on the floor).

Lunch at the cafe.

Excursion to Beringia Heritage Museum.

Walking around the village with visiting the monument to the 1st Kamchatka expedition of Vitus Bering.

Dinner at the cafe.

Discussion of the further itinerary.

*If the flight departs on time and weather conditions are favorable, it may be possible to depart for the tundra following the next day's program. This will allow you to maximize your time for whale watching and observing other animals and birds.

Accommodation in a hotel

Electricity available

Bad mobile signal

Shower available

Breakfast at the cafe.

Check-out and transfer to Rumilet Bay with short stops for photography (upon request).

Stop at the Rumilet cordon. Transfer to boats and loading of luggage.

Tour participants are provided with special warm suits for sea travel.

Boat trip from cordon Rumilet. During sea passage along Senyavin Strait (about 2 hours) it's possible to observe gray and humpback whales, seabirds (Bering's cormorant, spoonbill, hatchet, Pacific Black Guillemot, etc.).

Upon arrival in the village of Yanrakynnot, you will be accommodated in a guest house – a cottage for 10 people with a toilet inside, but no shower.

A traditional Russian banya is rented for the group in the village (once during your stay).

Lunch will be served at the local school.

Excursion to Yttygran Island and sacred monument of Eskimo culture Whale Alley (with a guide).

Optionally: walk to the monument to the whaling flotilla «Aleut» and visiting the Klyuchevaya River. It's possible to observe Canadian cranes and representatives of the hawk family: buzzard (barnacle) and gyrfalcon (red-billed subspecies). Visiting the natural monument «Klyuchevoy» – Sinyavin thermal springs.

Duration of excursion about 4 hours (with a guide and inspector).

Dinner.

Discussion of the further itinerary.

The uniqueness of the village of Yanrakynnot lies in the combination of two cultures: reindeer herding and coastal Chukchi. The village is located on a hill overlooking the Senyavin Strait, at the mouth of the Marich River.

In the vicinity of Yanrakynnot, a visit is planned to a monument erected to Vice-Admiral S.O. Makarov – a Russian naval commander, oceanographer, and polar explorer. A short guided tour of the village is also planned (you will have the opportunity to see the school, administration building, library, abandoned fur farm, old Chukchi houses, etc.).

You may have the chance to taste traditional national dishes at the homes of local residents: reindeer, walrus, and whale meat, as well as dishes made from wild berries and mushrooms.

Return to the cottage with the guide.

Dinner at the school.

Discussion of the next day's itinerary.

Electricity available

No connection

Accommodation in guesthouses

Breakfast at the school.

Boarding the boats and a sea crossing with a sightseeing tour. Together with a guide, you will visit the islands of Merkinkinkan and Achinkinkan – small islands in Penkegney Bay, Senyavin Strait – with a visual inspection of the largest colony of horned puffins, tufted puffins, and parakeet auklets in Chukotka.

Whale watching: in Penkegney Bay, you will have the opportunity to see humpback whales.

Landing on Merkinkinkan Island, here you'll be offered a snack.

Return to the cottage.

Dinner at the school.

Electricity available

No connection

Accommodation in guesthouses

Breakfast at the school.

Boarding the boats and a sea crossing across the Senyavin Strait with a guide. Possible observation of gray and humpback whales from a safe distance, as well as sea lion rookeries. In some years, walruses can also be seen.

Visit to Yttygran Island, followed by a tour and educational excursion with a guide to the sacred Eskimo cult site «Whale Bone Alley». This cultural heritage monument of the peoples of the Russian Federation (federal significance) consists of two rows of enormous bones and skulls of Greenland whales embedded in the ground.

Lunch in the tundra.

Optional excursion «Klyuchevaya» with a guide and a national park ranger. This includes: a visit to the monument to the whaling fleet «Aleut», a visit to the mouth of the Klyuchevaya River.

During the excursion, it is possible to observe Canadian cranes and representatives of the hawk family: the common buzzard and the gyrfalcon (a Red Book subspecies). A visit to the natural monument «Klyuchevoy», better known as the «Senyavin Hot Springs», is also planned.

Duration of the excursion: up to 4 hours.

Sea crossing to Nuneangan Island.

Return to the cottage.

Dinner at the school.

Electricity available

No connection

Accommodation in guesthouses

Breakfast at the school.

Sea crossing with a stop at Glazenapa Bay (southwestern tip of Arakamchechen Island in the Senyavin Strait). You will visit the grave of Yegor Purin, a sailor from the clipper ship «Gaydamak», who was buried here in 1875.

Sea crossing by boat to Abolesheva Bay. During the crossings, it is possible to observe members of the seal family: the ringed seal (akiba) and the spotted seal (larga), as well as humpback and gray whales.

Return to the cottage.

Dinner at the school.

Electricity available

No connection

Accommodation in guesthouses

Breakfast at the school.

Departure by all-terrain vehicles to the reindeer herders' camp. The duration of the excursion depends on the distance to the camp's location. The group will have the opportunity to learn about the modern-day life of the reindeer-herding Chukchi.

Lunch at the camp.

Return to the cottage.

Dinner at the school.

If for any reason the visit to the reindeer herders' camp proves impossible, or if weather conditions require an early return from the tundra to the village of Provideniya, the order of days will be changed and the program will be shifted accordingly.

(See Day 8)

Electricity available

No connection

Accommodation in guesthouses

Breakfast at the school.

Packing of belongings. Sea crossing across the Senyavin Strait to Rumilet Bay.

Transfer to a high-clearance vehicle and travel to the village of Provideniya.

If time permits, a visit to the Eskimo village of Novoye Chaplino is planned along the way from Rumilet Bay.

Accommodation in a technical school dormitory (shared rooms, shared bathroom facilities on the floor).

Lunch at the cafe.

In the evening: optional visit to a banya (sauna) for an additional fee, souvenir shopping.

Dinner at the cafe.

The ancient Eskimo settlement of Avan (in case of program shift).

Breakfast at the cafe.

If for any reason the visit to the reindeer herders' camp proves impossible, or if weather conditions require an early return from the tundra to the village of Provideniya (Day 7), the order of days will be changed. On Day 8, an excursion will be made to the picturesque site where the ancient Eskimo settlement of Avan once stood.

The trip will be made in a «TREKOL» high-clearance vehicle. A walk along the coast and stories about the ancient settlement. If you are lucky, you may see gray whales from the shore!

Lunch (snack).

Return to the village of Provideniya.

Dinner at the cafe.

Accommodation in a hotel

Electricity available

Bad mobile signal

Shower available

Early breakfast. Check-out from the hotel.

Transfer to airport of the village of Provideniya.

12:05 Departure by flight (subject to no weather-related flight delays).

13:30 Arrival to Anadyr city.

Transfer to hotel, accommodation (twin rooms with private facilities).

Free time and souvenir shopping.

Dinner at a cafe (on your own).

Accommodation in a hotel

Electricity available

Good mobile signal

Shower available

Breakfast at the hotel (on your own).

Excursion to Gudym.

"Gudym" (also known as "Anadyr-1" or "Magadan-11") is a former Soviet and Russian strategic missile forces (RVSN) base with an associated military town, located in the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug. The name likely comes from the surname of the construction supervisor, Colonel Gudym.

The underground base (Facility "S") was built in 1958 and entered combat duty in 1961. The purpose of the facility was the storage and routine maintenance of nuclear weapons (nuclear warheads). The facility was subordinate to the 12th Main Directorate of the USSR Ministry of Defense.

Since 1986, in accordance with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, all nuclear weapons were removed from the base. The underground premises were then used as a storage base for the Anadyr military garrison.

The facility was decommissioned between 1992 and 1998, and was finally abandoned by the military in 2002. The population of the military town was relocated to the cities of Engels and Saratov.

The facility consisted of autonomous underground structures exactly 996 meters in length, with numerous separate, dead-end branches having no other exits. It was designed with full anti-nuclear protection (though this is questionable due to extensive ventilation). Inside, the facility was divided into sections with different access levels for personnel. Cargo was transported by electric carts on a narrow-gauge underground railway. There are two central entrance portals with multi-ton door-wagons.

Picnic lunch.

Return to Anadyr.

Visit to the Museum and Exhibition Center "Heritage of Chukotka".

Dinner (on your own).

Accommodation in a hotel

Electricity available

Good mobile signal

Shower available

Breakfast at the hotel (on your own).

Departure out of town to a picturesque location – Cape Dionisiy.

At Cape Dionisiy, you may encounter spotted and ringed seals, as well as see a small, beautiful waterfall. The nature here is quite contrasting. The flat Anadyr tundra suddenly gives way to a steep sea coast rising 15–20 meters high.

Return to the hotel in the evening.

Dinner (on your own).

Accommodation in a hotel

Electricity available

Good mobile signal

Shower available

Breakfast at the hotel (on your own).

Check-out.

Transfer to the airport. Flight to Moscow.

Estimated departure time from Anadyr – 15:15, arrival in Moscow – 14:40.

The end of the tour.

* One of the curious features of air travel to and from Chukotka is that on the return flight, according to local time, you land earlier than you took off.

* The tour schedule may be adjusted due to weather conditions.

* Local time is used.

* Times are approximate.

Good mobile signal