Several hours into our journey East in the Jones Sound, we had a further stop for another shore landing – and the Baad Fjord at the South of Ellesmere Island seemed to be the right spot for an afternoon stroll.

We found ourselves once again in fabulous surroundings with a nice table mountain backdrop, good views to the bay and a nice beach.
I had walked up the incline a bit to get a better view and continued walking up here in parallel to the beach, when suddenly I realized something white (small enough to not pose a threat) about ten meters in front of me. I froze – and realized there was a pair of arctic hare just in front of me. It stayed that way for a minute or two – until the two started to run away. They obviously had not seen humans before and were not sure on how to react or what to do … and ultimately decided to just run.

I also did run at a later point during this landing – – for a quick Arctic plunge.
I kind of had this on my agenda and it was to be expected, that this tour operator would not go for an official polar plunge (as for instance Quarks did on my first Antarctica cruise). So this landing was just the right time to go for it (Baad is close enough to Bad, which is “bath” in German). So I had already put my swimmers on and a towel in my pack, and after an extensive walk (long enough to be sure that the masses and the ship’s photographer are back on the ship) … just did it. It may have destroyed my hair-do, but was well worth it – plus … I now own a comb ????