Eqip Sermia

It is 23:00 and the sun is slowly sinking behind a low mountain.  The sky is mostly cloudless.  There are icebergs scattered throughout the channel as we depart the glacier Eqip Sermia. Just moments ago I ran outside to photograph the last image in today's blog.  I would rather show you a photograph of our view than to struggle with inadequate words.

Our morning was filled with icebergs and generally fantastic scenery.  When we were tired of "oohing" and "aahing" over icebergs, there was a full agenda of lectures to attend.

We arrived at Eqip Sermia at 17:00.  We were truly in Greenlandic wilderness.  The only sounds to be heard were the loud regular rumblings of the glacier.  White thunder!  A few of our hardier souls braved the frigid Arctic waters and went for a plunge.  They now have well deserved bragging rights of having gone swimming above the Arctic Circle!  Twenty people hiked to a high vantage point for a splendid view of the glacier and Fram.  I suspect they were opting to burn a few extra calories in anticipation of the sumptuous barbeque we enjoyed on the stern deck of Fram.  What a life!

Our next destination is Qeqertassuaq where we will have to stock up on more sunscreen and possibly more insect repellant.

What's Drying On Your Porch?

We are back to fantastic weather again!  

Today was a full and rewarding day.  We visited two really special places, Uummannaq and Ukusissat.  

As any Greenlander can tell you, Uummannaq is where Santa Claus lives in the summer.  Santa's cabin just happens to be a perfect place from which to start a hike.  The hikers would go across country and meet up with the ship in Uummannaq, about an hour and a half from their starting point.  As you can see in the photographs the country is rugged and beautiful.

The hike through town is always interesting.  It is common to see meat  hanging to dry in the yard or on the porch.  In the fourth photograph you can see seal meat drying beside the socks and underwear! 
Once in the village, everyone set off in different directions.  Some people elected to have a special lunch in the hotel which featured local foods such as muskox, caribou, seal and whale meat.  Other folks went to the museum, the church, a talk given by local hunters or just sat for a while at an outdoor cafe.

Next on our agenda is one of my favourite stops in all of Greenland, the small village of Ukusissat.  It is special for many reasons.  It is situated in an impossibly beautiful setting and it is the best place on our itinerary to get to know the local people.  

We always invite people from the village on board Fram where they entertain us with their choir, folk dancing and by modelling some of their native clothes.  Usually we expect twenty or so visitors.  This time over fifty people came to see us!  Everyone in Ukusissat was excited to see Fram as it was our first visit this year.    For those of us that work on Fram it is a chance to meet up with friends. We were excited too! For most of our passengers it was a first time visit to Greenland and a really great opportunity to talk and interact with local people,  so everyone was eager for this stop!

After the choir and folk dancing we hopped on the Polar Cirkle boats for a short ride to the village.  Here we were invited to the community house for coffee and cake.

By midnight we were all back on Fram.  Weary but happy!

  

When A Glacier Goes Mad

After Nuuk, we sped through the night to arrive in Ilulissat by 16:00.  Ilulissat is a Unesco World Heritage Site largely due to the insane volume of ice spewed out by the glacier Sermeq Kujalleq in to Kangia Fjord.  The glacier calves 46 cubic km of ice annually. The fjord is choked with ice.  The number of icebergs in the region is incredible.  It is a stunning site. It is what happens when a glacier goes mad.

A 45 minute hike through town and then across a very well constructed boardwalk brings you near the mouth of the fjord for a jaw-dropping view.

En route to the fjord, our hike lead us past a soccer match.  It seemed nearly everyone in Ilulissat was at the game.  It turned out that today was the final match for the national Championship of Greenland!  No wonder so many people were there!

Just outside of town we walked by what seemed like hundreds of Greenland dogs.  It was a veritable dog town.  All of the dogs, with the exception of puppies were chained.  Puppies are free to roam until they are six months old.    North of the Arctic Circle Greenland dogs are the only breed of dog you will find in Greenland.

If you come to Greenland you MUST come to Ilulissat and you have to see Kangia Fjord!!

The Capital of Greenland

Today we visited Nuuk, the capital and the largest city of Greenland.  According to the government guide, Greenland In figures 2010, the population of Nuuk is 15,469 making it one of the smallest capital cities in the world.  The total population of Greenland is 56,452.

There is a vibrant air in Nuuk that is  different from other Greenlandic communities. Perhaps it is a "big city" hustle and bustle.  Not only is Nuuk a government town with the headquarters of all political parties located here but the university is here as well, as is the national museum, national radio and television stations and the Katuaq Culture Centre. It is a centre for Greenlandic art and culture and is the fastest growing city in Greenland. It has shown steady growth over the last two decades.
As one might expect wilderness is right on the doorstep of Nuuk. Fortunately and unfortunately I joined a fabulous hike in the wild terrain bordering the city.  That was fortunate.  Unfortunately I did not have time to explore the vibrant city.  The photos for today's blog are all from our hike.

Can Rugged Explorers Have Heated Tiles In The Bathroom?

You are probably bored with our incessant bragging about perfect weather.  Well.  We had clouds all day long today and a bit of rain.  Feel better?  But rugged explorers like us laugh in the face of clouds and a little water falling from the sky.  True to say that we are rugged explorers that have luxurious heated tiles in our bathrooms.

 The entrance to Paamiut is very beautiful.   Fram had to thread her way through a narrow passage, skirting several small islands.  The harbour itself is small but deep.  There seemed barely enough room to come about but Fram's powerful thrusters allowed her to turn on her own length and then slip into the key moving sideways.  Slick. If only my car had bow and stern thrusters!

At approximately 09:00 the gangway was lowered and dozens of rugged blue jacketed explorers eagerly set off to investigate the attractions of Paamiut.

At 11:00 we were treated to a special performance by the local choir in the small and very quaint church.  I think just about everyone attended as there wasn't an empty seat to be found.  The church itself was very pretty.  It was built in 1909 in a very distinctive Norwegian style.

The town is easy to explore.  There is a very good small museum.  A ten minute walk takes you to a scenic lookout from which you can see most of the town.

Like Qaqortoq, Paamiut is very green.  Several houses had attractive flower gardens.

Just a few minutes after exiting the harbour we encountered three humpback whales.  The navigation officers were able to position the ship close enough where we had excellent views of the whales and at the same time not interfere with what seemed to be foraging behaviour.

All in all, another really good day!

Qaqortoq Is The Green In Greenland

Treading in the footsteps of Vikings argh!  The legendary viking chieftain, Eric the Red came to southern Greenland from Iceland around the year 982.  It is widely accepted that he named the region Greenland to encourage other settlers to follow him. This morning we landed at the last known area inhabited by Norse Vikings in Greenland.  Hvalsø.
The incredible stone structures of the church and meeting hall at Hvalsø date back to 1300.  The last official record in the community was of a wedding that took place in 1408.  The second last record was also about l'amour.  It was not a happy event.  A young man by the name of Kolgrim was convicted of sleeping with another man's wife.  The young lady's name was Steinum.  She was the daughter of the local lawman Ravn.  Kolgrim was accused and convicted of using sorcery to seduce Steinum.  He was subsequently burned at the stake.  Poor Steinum.  It wasn't long before she went mad.  She died soon after.

Whoa.

Fascinating story, but let's turn our thoughts to a happier time.  We had more perfect weather.  At the landing site everyone spread out over the Viking settlement.  Many sat in the sun and enjoyed the spectacular view of the fjord and the ruins.  Numerous sheep roamed the area.  Indeed there are over 20,000 sheep in Greenland.

I have to mention that in all of the  many years of experience of all of the expedition team members we have NEVER seen a group of passengers arrange their life jackets as neatly or as attractively as everyone did today.  The life jackets represent a new form of landscape art. Beautiful!

It is a short boat ride from Hvalsø to our next stop at the town of Qaqortoq, the fourth largest community in Greenland (population 3,306).

We had lots of time to explore the attractions of Qaqortoq.  Amongst other things, there is an excellent small museum, many beautiful scultures both free standing and carved into the bedrock and a superb tannery that specializes in making clothing and other items from seal skin.

Qaqortoq is a very lush, green town in the summer.  Qaqortoq is the green in Greenland

Enter, The Twilight Zone

Our morning was spent in a fog.  No. Not the alcohol induced kind of fog.  It was a dense sea fog that often happens when cold water and air, meet warm air.  Hundreds of northern fulmars escorted the ship riding the brisk winds like a massive invisible roller coaster

Despite limited visibility we were still able to spot whales.  In fact there were numerous sightings throughout the morning and into the early afternoon.  While most of the whales were far off of our route, we were able to ascertain that at least some (if not all) were humpback whales.

And then as if by plan, at about 14:30 the fog parted, the sun burst forth and there lay Greenland!  It could not have been more dramatic. It was almost like the curtains opening at the start of a play.  Barren, rounded mountains loomed out of the ocean just a few miles ahead.

Our goal for the afternoon was to cruise through a very narrow, very beautiful passage in the southernmost part of Greenland called Prins Christian Sund (no, that's not a typo).   Prins Christian Sund stretches for 55 nautical miles. It would take us six hours to navigate.

Soon the outside decks were festooned with a couple of hundred camera slinging, blue-jacketed, happy, smiling people.  Dozens of waterfalls that were fed by glaciers high above us tumbled down the bare rock.  The narrowest part of the channel was a meer 350 metres across.

Strange. As we exited the channel we could see the fog bank lying in wait.  I half expected to hear Rod Serling's voice from The Twilight Zone on our public address system. Still, it added a weird sort of symmetry to wrap up our day.

The Rewards of Relaxation

I love sea days, especially when travelling on Fram.  Especially on perfect days like today. The sun has been shining for most of the day.  The motion of the ship is gentle.  Extremely relaxing.

Fram is designed for comfort. She is perhaps a little wider than what you might expect for her overall length.  Because of the shorter, wider design a little speed is sacrificed but stability, by virtue of less rolling and therefore more comfort is gained. Her active stabilizers further reduce rolling.  

It is a very bright ship with extremely large picture windows in all public areas. The public areas are spacious and plentiful.  There is never a feeling of being crowded.  If quiet introspective moments are what you need or perhaps a place to sit quietly in the sun, Fram is the vessel for you.  It is easy to find solitude.  There are plenty of spots both inside and on deck, where you can have a quiet moment to watch the ocean roll by.

Sea days are both a time to catch up on your rest and a time to broaden your understanding of the regions we visit.  We have an Expedition Team that is dedicated to that end. I don't mean that they are dedicated to catching up on rest (although we try to do that too!) but is devoted to enhancing your experience on board by broadening your understanding of the history, politics, geology, geography and wildlife of the regions we visit.  Lectures were scheduled throughout the day on a broad spectrum of topics in French, English, German and Scandinavian, reflecting the needs of the international mix on board.  

It can also be a time to get to know your fellow passengers.  It would be unfortunate if you didn't. The Fram experience can be a cultural experience unto itself.  Where else will you find so many people from such disparate and interesting locales sharing a common interest?

Cetaceans were spotted severals times throughout the day;  humpbacks and unidentified species of dolphins.  Although the observations were often fleeting they were but one of the many rewards of relaxing by a window or out on deck. 

Every Dark Cloud...

Has a silver lining.


Bang! Wonka-wonka, bang!   Wobble   flap        flap                      flap.

Two flat tires.

Another beautiful sunny day. Many of us (47 to be precise) had opted to go on a boat tour of Breidafjördur Bay, a really great place to observe nesting sea birds.  It was a half hour drive by bus from where the ship was anchored in the picturesque village of Grundarfjördur to the even smaller fishing village of Stykkisholmur, where we would rendezvous with our excursion boat.  

Alas, it wasn't to be.  Our local Icelandic guide Barbara was doing a great job describing the history and various geographical features seen along the roadside when both of our left rear tires suddenly exploded. Bummer. 

But, soon help was on the way.  (Yes. There are excellent cell phone communications in Iceland).

As mentioned earlier it was a gorgeous sunny day.  We were waylaid in the middle of a wild volcanic wilderness.  The heavy browns, blacks and greys of lava rock and ash were relieved by generous swaths of green vegetation and bright splashes of vividly coloured flowers.  It really was a serendipitously beautiful moment.

Meanwhile a team from our Icelandic agents changed the two tires. Within an hour we were back on the road.  Too late to meet our excursion boat but the fantastic Icelandic landscape definitely eased our disappointment.

We departed beautiful Grundarfjördur at 14:30 and set our bows in the direction of Greenland.  The remainder of the afternoon was taken up by informative lectures and briefings of what to expect in the coming days.

  

The Entrance to the Centre of the Earth

Ours is an exotic adventure.  We begin in Iceland.  A place name that invokes images of geological tempests.   This spring, Eyjafjallajokull volcano (good luck pronouncing it!) shook the earth by causing 100,000 flights to be cancelled by spewing out voluminous, giantic ash clouds.  Jules Verne imbued Iceland with a rugged romantic aura.   On our 45 minute drive from the airport to the dockyards in Reykjavik we could see Snæfellsjökull volcano.   Because of Mr. Verne, everyone knows that the entrance to the centre of the earth lies within Snæfellsjökull.   The Icelandic landscape is rugged and beautiful.  We were graced with perfect weather: sunny blue skies with temperatures hovering around 10˚C.

Upon our arrival to Fram we experienced a very low tide.  So low in fact that we were able to embark on deck five, not our customary deck three!  This meant for a very steep gangway and proposed an interesting challenge for some people on their first experience with the ship!  Soon though we were all on board.
And before long we were whisked through the check-in process and escorted to our cabins. 

At 19:30 we set sail. It could not have been a more beautiful evening!  At 20:30 we all met at our muster stations on deck five for a compulsory fire drill. At 21:00 we joined the ship's officers, some of the crew and the Expedition Team in the Observation lounge for a welcome speach and introductions to some of the ship's key personel.

Now it's 23:33. The sky is still bright. We watched the sun set just 8 minutes ago.  The sea rolls gently along. A little earlier in the evening we had a group of five White-beaked dolphins riding our bow wave. Now, elegant Gannets soar about the ship. Kittiwakes, Arctic Terns and Northern Fulmars are all around. Greenland lies in wait.

BBQ in Skansbukta

Is it really the last day already? Most of us are flying out in the early morning of the 23rd, so lets use the time: Bridge visits with Captain Hansen in the morning, lectures by Camille, Martin and Ralf about photography, history and glaciers, beautiful scenery, writing the last postcards... I tell you- this is quite busy.


Our last landing today was at Skansbukta, named after the nearby mountain Skansen. For people interested in geology- that is an amazing place regarding color of the stone and the steep cliffs! In the layers one has found anhydrite, a mineral that is chemically identical with gypsum (Calcium sufate). It has been mined at a few places, including Skansbukta. Mining started in 1918 but closed down relatively quickly again. What can be seen today are remainings of the mining town including the mine entrance as well as a short railway line.
Walking around you stepped on tundra with a comparably rich vegetation. A few sea bird colonies are in the area as well including Kittiwakes and a few Puffins


Many passengers have asked me how Svalbard compares to Greenland or Antarctica! And you will not like the answer- you can not compare it at all, but you have to see it! I have been here on a holiday trip and have been working in Greenland now 10 years and in Antarctica for around 6 years as Expedition Leader. And no, you can really not say what is nicer!
Antarctica- one needs to see it! The scenery, the Drake Passage, the wild life, the penguins, the weather changes, icebergs en mass and glaciers coming down to the sea everywhere-it is hard to describe.
Greenland- that is more or less home for me. I love the people, the interaction, the nature., the remote settlements and the icebergs. But if you want to see wildlife, it is maybe not the prime place to go to due to the hunting culture. But if you want to experience nature and culture – you will love it!
And now to Svalbard: It is an amazing place for scenery and wildlife. If you want to see a polar bear- it is definately THE place to see! I found myself constantly watching through my binoculars- and doing a happy dance if there was a Polar bear or a whale or a walrus or....
So you get by now what I want to tell you: it is all not comparable- but that you have to come and see it yourself!

Krossfjord/ Kongsfjord and Ny-Alesund

June 21- the longest day of the year! And by now most passengers are really tired- because you just can not get yourself into bed! The sun is up all night long, it has a soft, yellowish light reflecting over the sea, great mirror images of the mountains can be seen in the calm water. We have been extremely blessed on this trip with the weather!

Krossfjord is approx. 30km long and 5km wide and shares its entrance with Kongsfjord. The entire area is situated in the Northwest Spitsbergen National Park. The name derives from „Cross bay“due to a wooden cross that was erected by the English whaler Jonas Poole in 1610. The land here rises steeply from the fjords. We used our good weather fortune to launch the Polar Cirkle boats in Kongsfjord and cruise along the glacier front at the head of the fjord.

Ny-Ålesund was named after the Norwegian town Ålesund, where the company that founded the mine was based. Coal mining stopped here in the 1960s and since then it has developed into an international research village. The settlement is without a doubt one of the most important sites in the history of the North Pole exploration! It was from Ny-Ålesund that Amundsen and Umberto Nobile started to fly towards the North Pole in the air ship NORGE in 1926. They were the first once to do so! Amundsen, having already been the first man to the South Pole, received most of the media attention. The dispute was also if the fame should go to Norway or Italy where Nobile was from. The result was an all- Italian expedition and in 1928 Umberto Nobile took his airship ITALIA to cross the North Pole again. The airship crashed on the ice after a successful crossing on the way back. Amundsen also took part in the rescue operation but his plane vanished with him. One has to imagine Nobile- after being rescued, the world saw him more or less as the „man who killed Amundsen“- not an easy weight one ones shoulder...
We could roam within the city limits freely and could follow the road around the settlement. Most ended up sooner or later in the souvenir shop and of course in the post office. The „main square“ is marked with the Amundsen monument.

You just can not go to sleep! After this expedition everyone needs a week of rest, I assume!! Today it was not only the good weather that prevented us from a good nights sleep- but also the fantastic and fun crew show on board MV Fram!