Fire & Ice: Japan to Kamchatka

Towering peaks form a dramatic backdrop to a landscape of dense forests, flowering tundra, and volcanoes emerging from the sea as we sail north from Hokkaido, Japan, along the Kuril Island chain to Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. Whales, seals, otters, and thousands of seabirds surround us, and the history of the Cold War and Arctic explorers will come to life as we trace the Ring of Fire through the North Pacific.

Itinerary

Day 1 - USA / Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan
Depart USA on your independent flight to Sapporo.

Day 2 - Sapporo
Cross the International Date Line, arrive in Sapporo in the evening, and transfer to our hotel for a light buffet dinner and overnight.

Day 3 - Sapporo
Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island, is in full bloom in June, an ideal season for our visit. A morning tour of its capital city, Sapporo, highlights historic buildings, such as the city’s symbolic Clock Tower.
We also visit the bustling Nijo fish market and Moerenuma Park, designed by sculptor Isamu Noguchi. Completed after his death in 2005, the parks and greenbelts that now unite urban Sapporo reflect his innovative“landscape of dreams” vision. After lunch, the afternoon is at leisure. Tonight enjoy a
welcome dinner, briefing, and overnight at our hotel.

Day 4 - Sapporo / Otaru / Embark CLIPPER ODYSSEY
This morning we continue our exploration of Sapporo with a visit to the open-air Hokkaido Historical Village Museum and the Hokkaido University Botanical Garden. We then drive to the charming harbor city of Otaru where we enjoy lunch and a tour of the historic Canal Zone, including a visit to the Kitaichi Glass Factory. Later this afternoon we embark the Clipper Odyssey and set sail northward.

Day 5 - Rishiri Island
The classical cone-shaped volcano of Rishiri Island looms before us this morning and we disembark after an early breakfast to stroll or hike in the magnificent conifer forests of Rishiri-Rebun-Sarobetsu National Park. A stop at the municipal museum unveils local history and ancient artifacts.

Day 6 - Korsakov / Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Island, Russia
Sakhalin Island marks our official arrival in Russia. After docking in the port of Korsakov we 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 became a Japanese colony in 1905. After World War II it was returned to Russia. Highlights of
our exploration include a visit to the local church with the opportunity to hear the traditional choir, and a visit to the Regional Museum, housed in an impressive former Japanese mansion.

Alternatively, join our ornithologist for a full-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.

Day 7 - Tyuleniy Island, Sakhalin Coast
A dizzying, sensational show of wildlife meets us at our landing site today. Tyuleniy means seal in Russian, and we immediately understand why the island is so-named. Hundreds of northern fur seals and Steller’s sea lions cover the beaches, their calls piercing the air. We see bulls defending
their harems, males sparring, other seals cavorting in the water, and pups—ranging in age from hours to weeks old—flopping about on the beach.

We hike the island with our naturalists, observing the wildlife from blinds built by a small Russian research station. Birds fill whatever space the seals and sea lions leave unclaimed. Thousands of common murres and kittiwakes cover the cliffs and fly overhead. Other bird species include
crested auklets, Siberian rubythroats, slatybacked gulls, and Pallas’ warblers, with sightings of red-necked stints and narcissus flycatchers also possible.

Day 8 - Broutona Island / Chirpoy Island / Brat Chirpoy, Kuril Islands
We take several Zodiac excursions today, visiting a series of small islands punctuated with caves and coves and populated with profuse wildlife and birds. Western Broutona is home to vast colonies of northern fulmars— nearly a million nest here—black-legged kittiwakes, puffins, cormorants, and guillemots. Chirpoy offers excellent hiking against a backdrop of three smoking volcanoes. And
Brat Chirpoy showcases a Steller’s sea lion rookery while sperm whales and orca often abound in the surrounding waters.

Day 9 - Shimushir Island / Yankicha
As we scout for whales and sea otters, Laysan albatross may be gliding in our wake on our way to Shimushir. A string of extinct, snow-capped volcanoes soar vertically from the water, creating a spectacular geological sight as we approach. The crater’s narrow pass opens into a nearly hidden harbor— Broutona Bay—home to a Soviet military base and 2,000 occupants from 1978 to 1991. Because no one lives here any longer, there is a ghost town atmosphere to the empty buildings, workshops, vehicles, and even a school and playground.

Nearby, at Yankicha, a sinking volcanic caldera offers access during high tides. Inside the magnificent lagoon, we witness the ongoing volcanic activity. Grassy and rocky slopes are nesting grounds for crested auklets, and common and thick-billed murres make their home in the ledges of the vertical cliffs. A colony of whiskered auklets feeds offshore in the mingling tides and nests in the cliffs of the caldera.

Day 10 - Srednego Islands / Rasshua
These rugged islands are home to thousands of birds nesting on columnar stacks— northern fulmars, guillemots, black-legged kittiwakes, and, the rarely viewed whiskered auklet. A huge population of Steller’s sea lions and northern fur seals also resides in these often fog-enshrouded islets.

A stop at Rasshua makes us the first expedition ship to visit. On island hikes we observe indigenous flora and we search the kelp beds for marine mammals and colorful sea anemones.

Day 11 - Matua / Lovyshki Islands
One of the Kuril’s most active volcanoes rises from Matua with more than 14 eruptions documented in the past 250 years. During World War II the Japanese established an airfield here, targeted by the United States frequently in 1944, and during our landing and walks on the old roads, we witness old
bunkers and the remains of equipment and artillery scattered about.

The clusters of rocks that comprise the Lovyshki Islands are home to huge populations of sea lions and northern fur seals and our Zodiacs are greeted with a raucous soundtrack and photogenic antics.

Day 12 - Northern Kuril Islands
The desolate northern volcanic Kuril Islands offer extraordinary wild and marine life viewing and we make expedition stops where weather and tide permit. Quiet inshore waters often offer excellent views of pods of orca, while we keep an eye out for brown bears on shore. Small streams and waterfalls tumble down hillsides to pristine beaches, and lush tundra slopes are the habitat for red foxes and a myriad of bird species, such as the red-throated pipit. Accompanied by our naturalist on Zodiac and shore excursions we scan rugged and rocky ledges for seabirds. Along the way we may spot the ruins of Ainu dwellings.

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. Sea otters congregate in the region by the hundreds— perhaps the highest density anywhere—and
in this season pups are often spotted riding about on their mother’s upturned bellies. We leave these stunning islands behind as we sail northward through the Kuril Strait toward Kamchatka.

Day 13 - Utashud Island & Vestnik Bay, Kamchatka Peninsula
A geologic wonderland, Kamchatka is home to 300 volcanoes that soar skyward. Some 29 of these are active, some producing steam, others bubbling lava, and a few issuing forth dramatic pyroclastic eruptions. This morning we cruise the southern coast—and naturalist’s paradise—by Zodiac, watching for seals and large colonies of slaty-backed gulls which breed along here, and horned puffins winging
overhead. In nearby Vestnik Bay we spot evidence of the powers of Kamchatka’s volcanoes, such as lightweight pumice scattered on the shoreline. During a walk through a coastal forest—a birding highlight—we are likely to find such sought-after species as the Eurasian nutcracker, taiga lycatcher,
and red-flanked bluetail. We continue northward, up the eastern side of Kamchatka.

Day 14 - Petropavlovsk
After breakfast we set out for an exploration of Petropavlovsk, the only major city on the peninsula and one of the oldest towns in the Russian Far East. Vitus Bering arrived in Kamchatka and laid the first foundation stone for the city in 1740 in this huge and well-sheltered harbor. Hospitable local
guides bring us to the museum of ethnography and natural history, the art school, the gold-domed Orthodox cathedral, and the marketplace. Alternatively, take an optional helicopter excursion to the Valley of the Geysers. Please see description at right. We return to the ship for our final overnight on board.

Day 15 - Petropavlovsk / Disembark / Anchorage, Alaska, USA
After breakfast on board, disembark the Clipper Odyssey and transfer to the airport to meet your flight to Anchorage. Weather permitting the flight unveils magnificent views of the mountains and four active volcanoes that ring Petropavlovsk, each blanketed in snow and draped with glaciers.
Crossing the International Date Line we gain a day, arriving in Anchorage on 20 June. Transfer to our hotel for the night.

Day 16 - Anchorage / Homeward
Transfer to the airport for your independent flight home.

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