Sisimiut

Colorful houses under a clear blue sky welcome us as we turn into the bay of Sisimiut, third largest town in Greenland. As soon as we are tied up at the pier we start with a full load of activities: A fast boat takes some of us to the scenic little island of Assaqutaq, where we learn a lot about the ancient Greenlandic way of living and fishing, their belief, but also about the pros and cons of Danish settlement politics in the early seventies. The early autumn light is just to the liking of the German camera team that is filming a documentary on this trip (to be broadcasted on Dec 25, 7pm, on NDR 3).
Those who stayed in town went on the very instructive historical hike or took more than just a look into the old town centre with the lovely museum and its exhibition of ethnic masks. It was also a good time to do a last bit of shopping before getting back on board. A splendid Qajaq (aka Kayak) demonstration ended our stay and very happy we set course towards our next destination, Disko Island.

Illulissat

A world UNESCO Heritage Site in the sunshine! What could be better?

It was a day for hiking, for helicopter trips to the ice cap, for boat excursions, whales, shopping, lunch. It was a day for everything and anything. It was so beautiful with all of the icebergs and the crystal clear air that it put a smile on everyone's face. It didn't matter what you chose to do today because, no matter what, it was going to be good. How could it not be?

Many people were lucky enough to see humpback whales on their boat excursion to Icefjord.

The helicopters were kept busy with 90 of our guests taking hei-tours to the glacier Sermec Kujalec.

Our hike to Sermiut was really good. A river of ice stretched as far as you could see. Sermec Kujalleq glaciar moves 42 metres a day! By 6:30 we were all back aboard the Fram. There were still lots of activities planned on the ship. A charity auction and the crew show.

The auction raised 38,000 Norwegian Kroner for the children in Greenland! Wow! A very big THANK YOU to our extremely generous bidders at the auction.

Eqip Sermia

Our day was filled with more interesting lectures and presentations while we cruised by hundreds of icebergs on our way to Eqip Sermia. We arrived just before 17:00 but before we could begin our landing the ship's crew were once again put through their paces on another safety drill. This time the objective was to rescue someone from the frigid waters of Eqip Sermia utilizing our Polar Cirkle boats. It was very interesting to watch the AB's in their exposure suits jump into the water and then be very efficiently rescued by their team mates.

On shore we spread out to various scenic points where the Fram's Expedition staff were waiting. Some chose a challenging hike up the mountain. Others opted for a bit of solitude along a narrow spit of land that faces the glacier. It was a gorgeous evening. It really didn't matter where you went - the scenery was really beautiful. The hiking and the cool air were all it took to wet our appetites for the delicious barbeque back on the ship. After the barbeue, at 21:30, it was time for our chefs to demonstrate their artistic talents with food and ice sculpting.

Upernavik

Upernavik has it's own unique appeal. Like almost all of the cities, towns, villages and settlements in Greenland it is built on the edge of the sea. You can see most of Upernavik from the water as it rises steeply up from the ocean. Perhaps part of its distinctiveness comes from the wonderful museum with the beautiful paintings and other artwork and artifacts on display, or maybe it was the interesting cemetery with the old grave site and a little higher up, the new grave site.
It is sort of an in-between size. We had visited villages with less than 50 people and towns with more than 5,000. the population of Upernavik is ~ 1500.
Most of us paid our respects at Navarana's grave (the wife of Danish explorer Peter Freuchen). She passed away in 1921. The new graves were formed with concrete and were decorated with hundreds of plastic flowers. Some of the graves were very old indeed with the graves being composed of a pile of stones as was common throughout the Arctic. You could peer between the cracks in the stones and see bones from Upernavik residents of days long gone by. One of the graves obviously held two people. We wondered what life was like during their time.
At the dock it was business as usual with a group of local children watching the Polar Cirkle boat activity.
We wrapped up our day in Upernavik by inviting the town choir to the ship where they entertained us with their terrific harmonies and traditional songs.

Melville Bay (Southbound)

After a very busy trip so far, it was a relief to have a day at sea. There was plenty of time to relax. And, if you wished, there was ample opportunity to learn. Lots of lectures were scheduled throughout the day. There was time to meet with our photographer Camille and asks questions about photography or problem solve issues with your camera. Camille also showed the video and images she had shot so far on this trip and was already getting lots of orders for the dvd.
Later in the evening, at 22:00 we met with our Hotel Manager Else Kristine and our Head Chef Jimmy in the Observation Lounge where we learned all about the hotel side of the ship.

Qaanaaq / Thule

At 09:45 some of the expedition team took a Polar Cirkle boat to shore only to find that the tide was extremely low. So low in fact that we had to wait another hour for the tide to come in before we would have enough water to get our boats to the small dock. The bay in front of Thule was completely dry. All the fishing boats were sitting in the tidal flats high and dry. The floating dock was not floating. It too was stranded far from any water.
At 11:00 there was plenty of water and the first people on shore were the hardy hikers. Off they went with a packed lunch. Their walk led them through town and then up to the mountain above Thule where they had incredible views of the town, the ship and the many icebergs surrounding the Fram.
All day long we were surrounded by many happy friendly children all looking to help us with our boat operations.
While we were visiting Thule many local fishing/hunting boats returned. Many of them were successful. We watched several boats unload seal meat and a couple of boats had plenty of Narwhal meat to unload. The buckets in the last photograph are full of Harp Seal meat.

Our crew had been looking forward to visiting Thule again. Thule had been looking forward to our crew returning after a year's absence. Why? Because Team Fram's basketball team beat Thule's basketball team the last time they met. This was an opportunity for a good-natured rematch. The result? Thule won by four points in a very sporting game.
By 16:00 the last Polar Cirkle boat left shore. All too soon the Thule choir had sung its reportoire in the Observation lounge. We waved goodbye to Thule, each of us content with a very full day.

Smith-Sund

00:00 or shortly after. A brief announcement. Bears! Another incredible stroke of luck and a pair of eagle eyes on the bridge brought us two more Polar Bears. Soon the decks were crowded with bleary-eyed but excited photographers trying to capture this golden moment in the ice forever. We all o-o-o-ed and a-h-h-h-ed and photographed to our hearts content. It was a precious moment to be savoured.

After a late night, the 8:00 wakeup call came all too soon. We were happily surprised to find that we were going to go exploring the pack ice in our Polar Cirkle boats! How exciting! The ship was drifting right on the edge of the dense ice pack.
There was not a breath of wind. Ice was everywhere. The sea was like a mirror. Canada lay on our left. Greenland on our right. Soon Polar Cirkle boats were zipping us through the open pack ice. It was a summer/winter wonderland.
By noon, we had all had our cruise in the ice. It was time for lunch and more scenic cruising.
At 15:00 we were visited by Neptune. Many lucky people were chosen to be baptized by Neptune with Arctic water and ice for the privilege of crossing the Arctic Circle by sea. Who knew that Neptune was so cruel?
Throughout the day we saw many seals including Harp and Bearded seals. We all saw lots of seabirds including: Little Auks, Black Guillemots, Northern Fulmars, Ivory Gulls (some say the Ivory Gull is most beautiful of all gulls), Black-backed gulls, Glaucous Gulls and Kittiwakes.
Now it’s more scenic cruising with a constant bear watch!

Siorapaluk

This morning we woke up to flat calm seas and grey skies. The tiny remote village of Siorapaluk, the world’s northernmost natural settlement, lay just before us tucked beneath a beautiful rosy coloured rocky mountain.

Shortly after 9:00 we were all on shore. There to greet us was a welcoming party of
children and some of the adults from the community. It was obvious that they knew the Fram and that we were welcome in the village.
The people of Siroapaluk love it when the Fram comes and very much look forward to visiting the ship. After everyone was on shore we took what seemed like the entire village of 80 people to visit the Fram.
Just before 14:00 several large bags of clothing including brand new jackets, overalls, boots and shoes were donated by the Fram and Hurtigruten to everyone in Siorapaluk. It was heart warming watching the people receive this generous gift.
At 14:30 we bid goodbye to Siorapaluk and set our direction west and then north to the ice. Throughout the afternoon we kept a constant watch for wildlife. At 17:30 the bridge spotted two Polar Bears on the ice. Captain Arnvid Hansen immediately slowed the ship and turned to the port to get closer to the bears. Chief Officer Espen took over the controls and skillfully brought us alongside the now swimming bears. It was a female and most likely a three year old cub.
What a fantastic sight that was. It was truly the wildlife moment that we had all been hoping for.

This evening we continue our journey ever further northward. We will all go to bed dreaming of what tomorrow might bring. Narwhals? A Bowhead whale? More bears?

Dundas / Thule

At last we seemed to be getting some truly Arctic summer weather. Or was it the onset of autumn? The skies were grey. The wind had picked up and so had the seas. Indeed the wind was gusting over thirty knots. The expedition team set out at 8:45 to prepare the landing site and to scout for Polar Bears. We watched from the Fram as the expedition team bounced across the waves to the beach only to return to the ship shortly after. They were all somewhat wetter than when they had departed. The landing seemed to be in jeopardy due to high wind and waves. It seemed luck was blowing in our favour. Soon the wind abated and the expedition team set out again. By 10:00 the landing site was secure and we started the landing process.
First on shore were the hardier souls that were going to climb to the top of Mt. Dundas. On a scale of 1-5 it was rated a 10!
Soon enough we all on shore exploring the ghost town. It was not officially the fall but autumn colours were showing strongly. The northern willow was turning bright yellows, red and orange. The grasses were turning shades of yellow and brown. The last of the niviarsiaq was still in bloom but past its prime. It wasn’t hard to imagine the first snow flurries beginning soon.

A day at sea: Melville Bay

A day at sea. A time to relax and a time to learn about where we are and where we are going. Today was cool temperatures, calm seas and overcast all day. Perfect for attending the many lectures that were scheduled for us throughout the day. Amongst other topics we learned about polar ecosystems, ice, whales, and the history of Greenland. The many lectures were followed by informative briefings on our upcoming landings at Dundas and Siorapaluk.
During the day there were a couple of cetacean sightings. It wasn’t until we examined our photographs later that we realized we had seen a pod of Long-finned Pilot Whales! Quite probably they were at the northern extreme of their range. What would we do without digital photography?
At 21:30 we were treated to “Jazz Music and Evergreens, An Evening for Solo Piano” by Henrik.

Uummannaq

Uummannaq is a beautiful place. The small fishing community is situated on the sea with a very impressive heart-shaped mountain looming over it. While Uummannaq does mean heart-like or heart-shaped, today we thought it looked more like the profile of a man

with a toupee looking up.
First off the ship were those of us going to the desert. The excursion boats picked everyone up right at the ship. There were hundreds of icebergs, if not thousands of icebergs on the way to The Desert.
At 10:30 many of us headed to shore where we explored town, visited the museum, and explored the authentic turf huts just in front of the old church. The museum looked particularly lovely today with a carpet of daisies growing all around it.
Some of us opted to eat on shore at the Uummannaq Hotel where they served an excellent buffet of authentic Greenland food. Here you can get muskox, salmon, char, minke whale and many other Greenland foods.
At 13:00 we all met on shore for our hike that would lead us right past Uummannaq Mountain (the man with the bad hair piece) on our way to Santa Claus’ summer home. Up and down and around we scrambled over the rocks. And who did we find at Santa’s place? Not Santa Claus but our expedition leader, Anja Erdmann and our Hotel Manager Else Kristine with some very welcome hot chocolate, coffee, tea and cold water which they had delivered by our speedy Polar Cirkle boats!
At 16:30 we were all back on the ship and looking forward to a pleasant evening of scenic cruising as we continue to make our way north.

Qeqertarsuaq

The Fram dropped anchor at approximately 8:30. Shortly after 9:00 our Polar Cirkle boats were zipping people to shore. We gathered outside of the small museum located just beside the dock while we waited for our shipmates to arrive before beginning the hike to the Valley of the Wind. What a great day for a hike. The temperature this morning was a cool 11˚ C - perfect.

Soon we were walking through the sleepy Saturday morning community and heading to a dark sandy beach on the edge of town. Here several icebergs were grounded, patiently waiting for high tide when they could resume there stately journey propelled by the prevailing currents. It was a perfect place to stop for photos. There were many Greenland dogs along the beach area. The expedition team informed us that the Greenland dog is not only one of the oldest breeds of dogs in the world, but also one of the purest.
Soon our hike led us to a soccer pitch that was being prepared for a very important match later in the day. The championship match for all Greenland! It was Uummannaq and Qeqertarsuaq in the final. The pitch was well groomed gravel. Not a blade of grass was growing on that field. Very carefully, the gravel was rolled, watered and chalked in preparation of the afternoon's big game.
We pressed on into the rolling hills behind town. Very impressive deep brown stratified cliffs of volcanic origin rose in front of us and to the sides. It was definitely inspiring scenery. Before we knew it we arrived at the waterfall where our hike ended. We all paused for a few more photos and took the opportunity to rest up before starting to hike back to the ship.

The ship set sail at 16:00. It was a beautiful evening for scenic cruising. We admired hundreds of icebergs as we headed to our next adventures in Uummannaq and Ukkusissat.
Stay tuned for more adventures in Greenland tomorrow.

Sisimiut

At 10:45 we dropped anchor just off shore from Sisimiut. Another ship, the Bremen, was tied up at the only available space along the pier. At 11:00, first off the ship were those of us going to the ghost town of Asaqutaq. Shortly thereafter our Polar Cirkle boat operations began. It was a quick ride to shore and a beautiful partially cloudy day to explore Sisimiut.
When exploring Greenland there are constant reminders that this is still very much a hunting and fishing society. Just outside of the dock area were three Greenlanders selling cariboo meat. Hunting season for cariboo and muskox begins in August. Piles of cariboo meat were placed neatly on flattened cardboard boxes on the side of the road. Just along the sea wall there were two fresh cariboo hides.
Just after our historic hikes to Tele island began at 15:00, the Bremen set sail and the Fram moved to the pier. It was a great day for a hike and our World of Greenland guides, Christina and Jorn educated us on the early Dorset and Thule societies that first occupied the area. Our hike took us by the local kayaking club where young Greenlanders are keeping the art of building Greenland style kayaks alive. Just before we left the dock at 18:00 we were treated to a kayaking demonstration. The two kayakers were obviously very skilled.
What a great way to start our travels in Greenland

Kangerlussuaq

Touchdown - Kangerlussuaq! Greenland at last. The journey we had all been dreaming about was beginning in earnest. As we entered the airport terminal we were greeted by the expedition team from the MS Fram. In short order we were escorted to the buses that would take us to the ship. A fifteen minute ride through barren rolling hills terminated at a small dock that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. The excitement mounted in anticipation of boarding the Fram. Our new home for the next two weeks lay at anchor just 1km off shore. But first, on shore side, we were given a brief introduction to life jackets (it seemed like fighting an octopus with all of those straps!) and Polar Cirkle boat procedures.
Once onboard we were very efficiently checked in, photographed, issued ID cards and shown to our cabins. Later, when we arrived to our buffet dinner, it was very obvious that we were not going to lose weight on this trip!!
At 22:30 we took part in a mandatory drill which was followed by a welcome from the Captain and an introduction to the ship’s officer’s and expedition team.

Whew! What a long day!