ARKTIKA 2.0 – Bears and walruses
Gilles and Alexia’s courageous journey continues, with their dogs’ crucial assistance, whose strength is supported by the FORZA10 diets, and the North Pole as their perpetual goal, but with the ultimate objective being to shed awareness for a conscious awakening toward the preservation of the North Pole.
After leaving the base, the first navigation stage for Gilles and his human-canine crew was Bear Island. This is the southernmost island of the Svalbard archipelago, which owes its name to its discoverers, who upon disembarking first saw a polar bear.
Following a short break on Bear island, due to strong winds, our heroes continued on in the direction of Svalbard, reaching it and circumnavigating it until Kongsøya Island, west of the archipelago. Right here, they had an amazing interaction.
A group of walruses circled the boat, seeming to be particularly intrigued by the dogs, who in turn were quite excited by the encounter with these curious tusked sea lions. Behind them though, a white sentry watched them quietly: a polar bear in search of food.
Gilles quickly realizes that the sea is not the only danger...
Gilles sends us news from north-east of Svalbard, not too far from Franz Josef Land, a Russian archipelago which we Italians call Terra di Francesco Giuseppe. After more than 1000 nautical miles from the departure day, the dogs are doing well and the journey continues according to plan.
Alexia and Gilles’ furry crew still needs to set foot on land almost every day, and it is precisely one of these mornings, as you were brushing your teeth over the sink in the comfort of your home, that Alexia, Gilles and the dogs were chased by an enraged bear, who tried to catch them. They escaped just in time, sheltering themselves on their boat.
Current weather conditions are not adept for travel with dogs, so Alexia and Gilles have sought shelter in the western area of Kvitøya Island, an island part of Svalbard archipelago, awaiting better circumstances to be able to leave.
