June 23, 2003 -- There are, believe it or not, several really good reasons for visiting the Iceberg Capital of the World: the town of Iqaluit, which is the capital of Canada's newest territory, Nunavut.
It's cool up there when the summer's hot down here in much of the USA; You can commune with nature's rarities inside the Arctic Circle; You can go where few have gone before and; the price is just so darned reasonable for such an unusual adventure offered by the Great Canadian Travel Company.
The cost of a six-night trek to the North starts from $1,470 per person (tax not included), double occupancy, out of Ottawa, Canada's beautiful capital city. You'll have to get yourself to Ottawa, but we recently reported on an Air Canada sale that should help you get there affordably.
GCT's package includes roundtrip airfare from Ottawa to Iqaluit, two nights lodging in Iqaluit, and four nights in Qikiqtarjuaq, aka, the Iceberg Capital. Medical insurance is required, and cancellation insurance highly recommended in case of inclement conditions. Qikiqtarjuaq is lies 96 kilometers (about 50 miles) north of the Arctic Circle, off the coast of Baffin Island. Qikiqtarjuaq (which changed its name from Broughton Island in 1998) means "big island" in Inuktitut, even though it's only about 9 x 7 miles in size.
Your stay includes a boat tour into the bay, rich with the possibilities of spotting polar bears, seals, narwhals, walruses and other aquatic mammals. In the village, you can visit traditional carvers, who work with whalebone and stone, or take hikes on numerous trails around the town.
Back in the territorial capital of Iqaluit, you'll visit the local museum and art galleries and take a peek at the new legislative assembly. This city was once known as Frobisher Bay, by the way. Nunavut means "our land" in the local language, and was previously a part of the Northwest Territories before it was split off in April, 1999.
You can make reservations, request a copy of the company's 32-page catalog, and get more information through their Chicago office by calling 800/661-3830 or visiting www.greatcanadiantravel.com.
