Colourful Greenland

Photo Roland Hans Jürgen

When we woke up from the rocking sea you could feel that the weather had change. The sun is now shining and gives a golden shimmer over the landscape. Greenland is colourful right now with the autumn strong red and yellow on the ground between the mountains. And the mountains go from red to brown in different layers. And we bring the sharp blue in to it. We had a wonderful hike up to the Vally of the Wind. We pass the dog yard that said god morning to us. Big icebergs has now reach the beach and shiny blue you can see them between the houses. As we walk thru the town the children gets very curious about us. And they slowly try to talk to us and we to them.

A rainy autumn day in Sisimiut

Photo: Roland Hanns Jürgen

It´s raining, but it feels like soft and warm pearls of water. The smell of fish, salt and sea tickles in your nose and for just a moment you can sense the smell of diesel from the harbor. Somewhere in the background you hear the dogs. They’re howling. “Feeding time? “ is the question that goes thru your head.
What a wonderful rainy day in Sisimiut. The dog we pass on our way up to the old church where standing like statues. Sitting on the rocks with the ears hanging down and the eyes focus two meter in front of them. It´s really an experience to discover Sisimiut in this pouring rain.
“There is actually not bad weather, only bad cloths” comes from one of our happy guests.
After a wet hike we go for a good cop of coffee at Sisimiuts café. We pass the local butcher. The top of the mountain disappear in the low sky.
Time to go back to the ship. Drilling, safety and finally dinner. We leave Sisimiut on a rocking sea. Suddenly the sun appears. The rain stops and we have a wonderful sunset.

Storm in Kangerlussuaq

Questions about the weather? Just don't ask...
The morning was quiet, peaceful, maybe a little sad because of the farewell. And then someone up there snapped a finger and all of a sudden high winds and nasty waves all over the fjord. The ride in the Polar Cirkel Boat became a most dangerous enterprise for driver and passengers. So we had to keep all the new arrivals ashore until quite late, knowing that everyone must have been veeeery tired from the trip. But there was no choice, and luckily everyone seemed to understand, especially after they had their own bumpy joyride to the ship. So the spirit is really good now, although everybody is of course dog-tired. Now, that was a true Expedition start, so let's heave anchor to make our way through the night! Our first destination is waiting - Sisimiut.

Itilleq

Oooops, two weeks gone already? That can't be, haven't we just left two days ago? Hm, but our itinerary leads us inevitably towards the Sondre Strømfjord, where it all began.
However, this is another fantastic day in paradise, fine weather again, seas calm, so we have all reason to smile as we ride in to Itilleq in our Polar Cirkel Boats. And this is certainly a special stay: In many of the cosy houses we are invited for a kaffemik, a Greenlandic tradition taking place in the private houses of the people living here. So we really get to see how they live, get to eat their (very, very delicious!) cakes and get a decent cup of coffee. We might need all our strength, since we are on for the event the people of Itilleq have been waiting for all the time: The famous football match. Starting with only a handful of folks on both sides, this game got more and more of a sportive happening. Disregarding age, personal fitness or nationality, the ball was driven over the dusty pitch until the final score said 5:4 - for the host. Well, everybody won here today, that is for sure. And so now it's getting time for Captain's dinner and farewell as we re-enter the Kangerlussuaq fjord in the dark.

Eqip Sermia

Riding the waves, yeeehaaa!
Many of us felt reminded to the Drake Passage in Antarctica, a good swell going our way. This gave the bridge tours a little extra, navigation live.
The wind picked up considerably, so we started to dread the bay at Eqip Sermia might be too rough for us. But then it is alway a good idea not to lose optimism, just take a look what's there. And indeed, we were lucky, the cove giving us nice protection from the choppy sea. After a short while everybody was ashore and could enjoy the majestic beatuy of the great glacier, or even take a hike on the mountains from where you could catch a glimpse of the inland ice. The glacier front is about five kilometers wide, something you just don't believe for the lack of reference. But surely boats don't go near for the glacier is highly active. However, sitting there, listen to the wind and the ice, looking down on the world where we are just visitors - this is a reward, and this is also an occasion to let the past days drift by, all the images and memories of everything we've done. So the stormy beginning of the day finds a peaceful end.

Upernavik - so near and yet so far

There is something different when we are getting up this morning, that's what our bodies tell us. Oh yeah - the ship is moving. Not in the nearly imperceptible way it used to do in the last weeks, but whith a great deal more of motion. Now there's a chance to find out if we have real sea legs! In a drunken sailor's fashion we move towards the breakfast hall and back, just before our arrival to Upernavik, our goal for the day. Anchor chain is rattling out noisily, the familiar sound of the tender deck opening is to be heard and many a head is craning over the sides to watch the expedition team mount the Polar Cirkel Boat. Well - try to mount...the swell is letting the boat jump like a young rodeo horse. The decision is taken right away: We have to skip this landing, it's just too dangerous. So we are waving Upernavik good-bye and turn around to continue our journey south.
Well, but isn't board life good, too? Train your brain with more lectures, train your body and go to the gym, in the sauna, marinate in the Jacuzzi, sit and dream in the observation lounge, eat a lot, participate in the polar bear art contest, listen to Erman, Edgar and Jael sing in the bar. Or just - do nothing. This is holiday, after all!

Half a seaday

It is time to head south, everybody knows. So we are diving back again into learning: The lecture halls are not being half emptied when the next crowd is already lining up, eager to hear about Greenlandic culture, Passions for Ice, Earth History and more. Just as we are running in full university mode, there is news: As we are getting close to the village of Krauthavn and since the weather is just fine, tide included, we can as well do a landing there, right? Once proposed, everybody goes for warm clothes and life jacket and off we are.
Since 140 of the 200 inhabitants are on a school trip, the welcome comittee is rather small, although very friendly. The stroll through the place reveals a different side of modern Greenland. Situated in the most remarkable spot between two lagoons and the open sea, we encounter a vast amount of neglected houses, waste and miserable dogs. The friendly smiles of those we meet here are a stark contrast to this place where many people apparantly have lost their hope for a better life. This is what happened often in the 1970s when many villages where closed and the old way of living was lost.
But then again, the other side of the village is sporting newly built houses with nice verandas towards the sea. Perhaps life just starts to come back here. Thoughtful we return to FRAM, but when the villagers gave us a frantic farewell escort with no less than six fishing boats full of women, men and children it is really a touching sight, leaving - in a bizarre way - a good memory to this place.

Siorapaluk

We're back online!
Sorry Folks, but the delay is built-in if you travel this far up north: The satellite coverage is poor and in many parts simply non-existent. But here we are again, full of things tell you and show you. Just scroll down and see what happend, of course we did not skip a single day!
The only reason that the cosy little village of Siorapaluk is not overrun by tourism is its position: It is the northernmost settlement in the world and really, really far out, a good deal higher up than even Thule and Qaanaaq. And we do have the privilege to land there, more than warmly welcomed by the people who seem to celebrate our arrival like a public holiday. It is an unbelievable atmosphere, a mild late-summer sun hanging over the glistening Siorapaluk Fjord, the glacier looming in the background, filling the bay with the most beautiful icebergs. And the beaches! They are pretty, the sand is juuuuust fine, they are empty - if it weren't for the large icecubes everywhere you would feel like in Portugal or somewhere else warm and pretty. Well, the ice did not keep everyone away from the water, three of us went swimming, under the amused looks of the villagers who even took pictures for their families to tell.
The day ended as spectacular as it begun, under a bright full moon we continued our journey back south, back to the realms of modern communication. And that's why you can read this little account...

High North

For many of us this is the day that was supposed to make it all worthwhile. To be sure, we had Neptune baptize us beforehand.
Canada and Greenland at equal distance, this is how we traveled to get up here, feeling very much in the footsteps of the ancient and famous expeditions. The weather decided not to spoil our adventure, an amazing sunset made Canadas mountains gleam bright orange and covered Greenlands coast with a magical blueish sheen. You could literally feel the atmosphere on board, everybody was so exited!
And then the shout from the bridge - polar bear! There he was, quite in a distance but certainly visible, prowling the drift ice, stopping here and there to sniff. Of course everybody hoped that the galley boys on FRAM were coincidentally preparing fish for dinner… And he came closer, and closer yet, and - then he lay down and decided not to move anymore. Well, that's how they hunt, isn't it? However, we had it, our eyes had seen! So we push the throttle again and keep going north, aiming for high.
Only one hour later: This is it. Finally we have to stop. The GPS shows 79°40,9' North when we encounter the Big Ice, impenetrable for us. This is the highest latitude FRAM has ever reached! It means that we are now just a little more than 1150 km away from the pole. It may sound a lot, but it isn't: Except military personnel and a few handful of scientists, we are probably the northernmost people upon this planet. What a thought…
Of cause this calls for a celebration, and so the Captain proposes a toast on deck seven, ships horn is sounding - Whew!

Qaanaaq - Ultima Thule

Change of plan. Again, and again for a really good reason. We heard that THE German adventurer, Arved Fuchs, would be staying in Qaanaaq with his tiny but famous sailing boat "Dagmar Aaen". So, if this is not a hell of a chance to get some first-hand information about the Arctic. At least, you can always ask…
And we were lucky! "Bribed" with a box of fruit and two cases of beer, Arved Fuchs and two of his team came over to FRAM and told us - and of course the camera team - all about his current projects, the last of which was retracing the unlucky Greedy expedition of 1896, where 16 men died of hunger.
After this event we were all shuttled over to Qaanaaq and had plenty of time for all kinds of things. Here you can actually HIKE to the icecap. It just takes a couple of hours to get there, and the brave ones really did it. Those who preferred to take it more from the holiday point of view strolled through the village, watched the whale hunter tell his tale and sell Narwhale skin right from his boat or had a chat with Finn who runs the small but exquisite museum with a lot of very good artefacts from many a period.
And then we got visitors again on our ship - the senior (over 80 years old!) of Qaanaaq came over with his wife to perform traditional songs accompanied by the drum. Time and History dissolved in our observation lounge when we all listened. As we opened our eyes again, it was already time for us to leave - go North!

Dundas / Thule

History alive can look pretty grim. That's what we learn when we land on the lonesome beach of Dundas, where Knud Rasmussen erected his station in 1909 next to ruins from the Thule period. In 1952 the small settlement got the American military forces as a dominant neighbor who not only built Thule Airbase after the Second World War but also forced everybody to move out within four days.
The village is falling apart ever since, the abandoned houses and playgrounds casting an atmosphere of morbid beauty on the place.
Sitting in the background as if watching the scene sits Mount Dundas, a spectacular viewing platform the very steep slope of which we climb to get another marvelous view across the bay, including Thule Airbase. Certainly worth every drop of sweat we shed on the mountain! Back to the beach we got curious visitors, a polar fox and some snow hares that were not shy at all, apparently oblivious to the centuries of history that shaped this very remakable place.

The Kullorsuaq Surprise

OK, ok. Yes, this is expedition. Things can change, we know. But to turn a sea day which was supposed to be a mere cruise up far north, filled with lectures, movies and good food into a landing in one of the most stunning places so far on this trip - this is simply GREAT!!
When we passed the bay of Kullorsuaq, Anja decided to give them a call, just to see how things were. And then the mayor invited FRAM, captain agreed to enter these scarcerly chartered waters, and so we turned to starboard and made our way through a labyrinth of white, floating giants until we could distinguish the first houses far away. Kullorsuaq means "Thumb of the Devil" because of the finger-shaped mountain in the background. But the devil must have left a long time ago, maybe because the place is simply too beautiful. Situated just at the foot of the inland ice, blessed with fish and seal and whale, this hunting settlement is slowly growing into a pretty, very unspoiled village. The kids stormed our landing sight and had so much fun hopping in our Polar Cirkel Boats, the sights in the evening light were undescribable, and true Greenlandic life was everywhere. So this unexpected visit was certainly one of the highlights so far.
And now we are finally heading north, with a little delay, a huge amount of photographs, and a smile on the face. That's what it is really all about!

Uummannaq

If there was one complaint today, it might have been that there was no snow at Santa Claus' hut on Uummannaq, name of the scenic island, the heart-shaped mountain, and the village at the same time. The hikers were rather sweating under the arctic sun but enjoying every moment of it. The visibility was outstanding, also for those who took the boat ride to the most unusual place along Greenlands west coast, the "Red Desert". The Uummannaq Fjord was jammed with gigantesque icebergs which gave a fantastic contrast against the ragged, dark gray and red mountains. Lunch was certainly an experience for the daring gourmets that tried the typical Greenlandic platter in town. After all these activities there was still time to stroll through the village, see the museum or just have a delicious soft ice on the quay.
In the evening there was movie time, of course about something useful, "Frozen Planet", a spectacular domumentary. And then there was a "late night show", having the Captain himself, the Chief Engineer and the Hotel Manager on the podium for anecdotes and questions.
Another long day in paradise!
Note: We are going far North now, so it may occur that we will have only scarce internet possibilities for a few days. Please be patient, folks, we will be back!

Qeqertarsuaq

We certainly are being favoured by the weather gods, hardly any winds, clear heavens and summer-like temperatures want to make us forget that we are currently in the high Arctic. Not so the unbelievable icebergs that seem to have a gathering in Qeqertarsuaq bay, their flancs glistening white in the sunlight.
Today we go out in the wild, in two different hikes. Whereas those among us who prefer to take it rather slow and stop here and there for a couple of pictures set out for the Valley of the Winds, there is another call for "All Ye Brave Hikers": For the first time in this season we go on a long and more strenous hike to Kuaanit, all the way long across ancient lava streams and lush green fields to the basaltic columns that seem to guard the whole coastline, all the time beneath the majestic plateau that once was a huge volcano. Everybody agrees that this is a stunningly beautiful place. More than once you can hear the word "paradise" spoken with a smile. It's quite hard to turn back, but then again, a hearty lunch is waiting for us.
In the afternoon the "floating university" opens its gates while we are lifting anchor to enter the Vaigat Sound, a whole series of lectures in no less than four languages is given, mostly on geology but also on dog sledging in wintertime. The sunset finds us surrounded by an enormous amount of huge icebergs all gleaming white, orange and finally dark blue.