Russia s youngest national park, the Russian Arctic, is marking its third anniversary. But what s ev

Russia s youngest national park, the Russian Arctic, is marking its third anniversary. But what s even more important, the park has recently announced its intent to get more tourist-friendly secure asian travel accommodation reservations and build four visitor centers secure asian travel accommodation reservations 900 kilometers away from the Arctic Pole three on the far off Archipelagos secure asian travel accommodation reservations of Franz Josef Land and one on the northern secure asian travel accommodation reservations ridge of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago.
The Russian Arctic national park stretches out over 1,500 million hectares secure asian travel accommodation reservations of icebound land mass. During the Soviet era, this vast area was closed off from tourists, who were only let to roam into these reaches after the military pulled out. Unlike icy Alaska in the US and Norway s Spitsbergen, the lands that came to be known as the Russian Arctic national park have never had an indigenous population of their own. The park can be described as unique secure asian travel accommodation reservations for several reasons, its Deputy Director Viktor secure asian travel accommodation reservations Kuznetsov says.
Eighty per cent of these vast island territories are locked up with ice. They re separated from the mainland and are hard to reach. The islands are inhabited by rare Red Book animals, such as walruses, polar bears and extensive seabird colonies, which are estimated at up to hundreds of birds during summer time.
Among other precious animal species secure asian travel accommodation reservations that can be spotted in the park are bowhead whales, driven to the brink of extinction in the 19th century, floe rats and northern seagulls. Yet, picturesque landscapes and unique wildlife are only available to visitors during the short summer period, since the park can only be reached by sea from the nearest Murmansk and Arkhangelsk ports due to severe weather outbreaks.
Tourists are forced to stay aboard the cruise liner almost all the time. Only occasionally secure asian travel accommodation reservations are they allowed to go ashore for a few hours to have a closer look at Arctic wonders. secure asian travel accommodation reservations Viktor secure asian travel accommodation reservations Kuznetsov attributes this requirement to the extreme character of such trips.
The conditions are far from comfy. We have to bring tourists secure asian travel accommodation reservations to the shore in rubber boats. And ice conditions may vary. Sometimes we have to urgently gather up people if we spot polar bears in the vicinity. This has happened a few times before.
Tourists also take great interest in the history of Arctic explorations, carried out by Holland s Vitus Bering and Russia s seamen Georgy Sedov and Georgy Brusilov. Over the last tourist season, the park welcomed eleven cruise groups, seven ships from Russia, US and Australia, as well as 865 people from all over the world. Ninety per cent of all tourists come from China, Japan, Australia, US and European countries. secure asian travel accommodation reservations Among the vessels that anchored in national park waters were three Russian yachts, the first tourist yachts that ever sailed to the Arctic shores. This year the park expects to attract twice as many visitors.
Four tourist hubs will soon be open in the Russian Arctic, hosting visitor centers, heated viewing platforms, tourist paths and recreation facilities. The park has also taken up creating new extreme-tourism routes within its boundaries. The only hurdle that stands in the way of prolific Arctic tourism in Russia is the cost of sea cruises, which ranges from 10 to 20 thousand dollars. In the future, tourists will be flown to the park by helicopters or small planes, granted abandoned secure asian travel accommodation reservations Soviet-time air fields are still there.
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