#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. The Norilsk Development Agency (NDA), together with specialists from Roshydromet, the Taimyr Nature Reserves, the Taimyr Museum of Local Lore, the Anabar Tour and Magic Taiga tour operators, explore the tourist opportunities of polar weather stations and interesting natural objects.
For four days, the experts visited the most remote and little-studied territories of the tourist and recreational cluster Arctic. Nornickel helped arrange helicopter flights.
Recall that at the last Norilsk interregional forum, the NDA and the Northern Department for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring signed an agreement on the use of weather stations for tourism purposes.
“We visited three polar weather stations at once, two of which are operational. It was possible to assess their potential for domestic and foreign tourists, to agree with polar explorers on further cooperation.
Another important task of the trip was to study the geographical, biological, the tour cluster remote territories’ ethnographic features, to determine the tourism potential of interesting natural sites and rich wildlife”, explained Maxim Mironov, the NDA director.
Hatanga
In Hatanga, the experts discussed the features of the presentation of the settlement to tourists during excursions with a visit to the center of folk art, which stores valuable information about the culture and rituals of the indigenous peoples of the Far North, the Mammoth Museum in permafrost, and the Holy Epiphany Church. Particular attention was paid to Hatanga’s gastronomic opportunities: a variety of northern dishes can be a real discovery for tourists.
Lake Taimyr
On the second day, the expedition visited the world’s northernmost real large lake Taimyr. This is the fourth largest fresh water reservoir in Russia and the second after Baikal in the Asian part of the country.
Cape Chelyuskin
Further, the route ran to cape Chelyuskin, the northernmost point of the land border between Russia and Eurasia. Musk oxen, arctic foxes, rare species of birds got into the researchers’ lenses. On Chelyuskin, the trip participants examined the first polar weather station founded here in 1932. It’s still working.
“Communication with polar explorers, getting to know their way of life and work, launching a weather balloon, as well as the special energy of this place will leave the most vivid impressions for any guest”, the NDA said.
Severnaya Zemlya
The archipelago with an area of about 37 thousand square kilometers is the last one discovered on Earth in the 20th century. It is located north of the Taimyr peninsula in the Arctic ocean and consists of four large and several small islands.
Polar bears, arctic foxes, seals, bowhead whales, beluga whales, walruses and thousands of birds live here. The participants visited the Solnechnaya bay station in the south of Bolshevik island, as well as the operating research station cape Baranov, where oceanologists, meteorologists and biologists work.
“The station workers are ready to show tourists exactly how they monitor the weather and make forecasts, tell interesting stories from life at the station and provide full immersion in the life of polar explorers”, the NDA noted.
The experts were especially impressed by the views of Severnaya Zemlya – almost half of the territory of the local islands is occupied by glaciers, which form whole icebergs fields.
Byrranga and the Shrenk river
On the way back, the participants of the trip flew over the world’s northernmost mountain range – Byrranga – and landed at the Shrenk river, where you can see smoldering coal seams. This stop, according to experts, has to be included in the tourist routes.
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Text: Anzhelika Stepanova, Photos: Alena Ivanova and Vitaly Gorshkov / Norilsk Development Agency
