Cindy Miller Hopkins: Why the North Pole Never Looks the Same Twice
Updated: 2 days ago
An Introduction from DeSalvio Travel
At DeSalvio Travel, we have been developing our Polar Knowledge project because we believe that planning a journey to the Arctic or Antarctica should involve more than choosing an itinerary. The more we learn from people who have spent years working in these regions, the more we understand how much there is to know before you ever step aboard a ship.
That is why we were particularly grateful to PONANT for making this conversation with Cindy Miller Hopkins possible.
Cindy brings a remarkable perspective to polar travel. She is a professional photographer and an experienced expedition traveler. She has now been to the geographic North Pole eleven times and has visited 165 countries. Her experience gives her a very different way of looking at the Arctic, from understanding the behavior of polar bears to knowing when to put the camera down and simply watch.
We were able to speak with Cindy thanks to PONANT, whose expedition philosophy places considerable emphasis on exploration, expert guidance and small-group experiences. Their expedition teams include specialists in fields such as marine biology, glaciology, climatology and geology, and their itineraries are designed to respond to the conditions encountered along the way.
We would like to thank the PONANT team, and Cindy in particular, for giving us the time for such an open and generous conversation. What follows is not intended to be a guide to the Arctic in the usual sense. It is a conversation with someone who has spent decades paying attention to these places, and who still finds something new when she returns.
For us, that is exactly the kind of knowledge we want to bring into our Polar Knowledge project at DeSalvio Travel and Sarasota Cruise Agency.
You can explore PONANT's current expedition journeys and polar itineraries through their official website. PONANT EXPLORATIONS
And now, the conversation with Cindy Miller Hopkins.
The Long Way to 90 Degrees North
I have now been to the geographic North Pole eleven times, and I have been to 165 countries. People sometimes ask why I keep going back when I have already seen it so many times. The simple answer is that the Arctic is a very big place, and no two expeditions are really the same. The weather changes, the light changes, the ice changes, and the wildlife changes. I have done four trips back-to-back and each one was completely different.
Even the different parts of the Arctic have their own character. Svalbard is not the same as the Canadian Arctic, and the Norwegian Arctic is not the same as the Russian side. In Svalbard, for example, you have opportunities for walrus Arctic fox or the Svalbard Reindeer, as well as different kinds of whale encounters. You can return to the same general region and still come home with an entirely different experience.
Reaching 90 degrees north is also more interesting than simply putting a coordinate into a GPS. As you watch the numbers move from 87 to 88 and then closer to 90, you realise how slowly you are actually moving across the ice. That final degree can take an entire day. When you finally reach 90 degrees, there is a real sense of anticipation because you know exactly where you are.
Two years ago, we even saw a polar bear at the North Pole. That is not something you can plan. Polar bears are following the ice because that is where they hunt. They are looking for cracks and open water where they can find seals, so whether one happens to be at 90 degrees depends on the conditions that year.
Learning to Look at the Ice
The North Pole is not simply a white landscape. The ice can be incredibly complicated. There can be pressure ridges, cracks that have frozen over again, formations and icicles, and areas that almost look like a moonscape. As a photographer, I am interested in those smaller details as much as the huge landscape.
After 25 years as a professional photographer, I am also much less interested in photographing everything that moves. I have learned to wait. If I see a polar bear in flat light, for example, I may simply watch it rather than immediately start shooting. Perhaps the bear will move toward a particularly beautiful section of ice, or it may get into the water, climb out and shake itself like a dog before rolling around in the snow. Those are the moments that make a photograph interesting because you have understood the animal well enough to anticipate what might happen.
That is what I mean when I say that preparation meets opportunity. I can spend an hour photographing and then spend two hours editing those images, so I would rather come home with fewer photographs that really mean something. I also want guests to understand this before they go into the field. Your phone can take fantastic photographs, but the Arctic often requires more preparation because the animals can be farther away and more difficult to approach.
Why the Expedition Ship Matters
I have spent thousands of days on ships, and I started cruising with my grandmother when I was about thirteen. I eventually discovered expedition cruising and became completely hooked on it. To me, there is an enormous difference between being on a small expedition vessel and being on a ship carrying thousands of people.
I often compare it to having a private guide with your family versus getting off a bus with fifty other people. On an expedition ship, you can have a marine biologist sitting next to you, go out in a Zodiac and actually experience the environment rather than simply looking at it from a ship.
PONANT's approach also reflects how much expedition travel has changed. The company has had a low-impact philosophy from the beginning, and the technology on ships such as Le Commandant Charcot allows the vessel to operate with much less noise. The ship can use LNG and battery power and, in the right conditions, can move quietly through the environment rather than approaching wildlife aggressively.
People sometimes ask how you can call a ship environmentally responsible when it is breaking ice. My answer is that you do not protect something you do not understand or love. Watching a polar bear on television is not the same as standing there and seeing it in its environment, particularly when you have a biologist or climate specialist explaining what you are looking at.
The goal is never to chase the animal. You park, you sit there and you let the bear come to you.
Cindy Miller Hopkins: "Go Outside"
The most important advice I can give someone going on their first High Arctic expedition is very simple: do not miss anything. You cannot assume that because you saw one polar bear today, there will be another one tomorrow. Your first bear might appear at two in the morning, and you have to decide whether you are willing to get dressed and go outside.
I always say there is no bad weather, only bad attire. You need proper waterproof trousers, waterproof gloves and good layers. Cashmere gloves may be wonderful in a hotel, but they are not what you want when you are sitting in a Zodiac in Arctic weather.
And then there are the moments you cannot plan. You may go outside thinking the weather is terrible, spend an hour in the snow, and come back wondering why you almost stayed inside. Suddenly there is a rainbow, or a fogbow, or the snow has completely changed the landscape.
That is what keeps bringing me back. I know enough now to understand that I cannot control what the Arctic is going to give me. I can prepare, I can pay attention and I can be ready when the opportunity comes. The rest belongs to the place.
Further reading:
Polar Bears: what does it actually take to see one
Travel With Someone Who Knows the Ice
For travelers considering their first expedition to the Arctic or Antarctica, experience matters. The right ship, expedition team and preparation can change the entire experience, particularly when conditions require a change of plan. At DeSalvio Travel and Sarasota Cruise Agency, we use expert knowledge and first-hand expedition experience to help clients choose the right polar journey for the way they want to travel.
Comments