An icy day with a surprise

The midnight sun was just too magnificent and one did not want to loose a moment! Tired eyes were however clearly gone in the fresh morning air when we made an extra landing at Qulissat on Disko Island. Qulissat is an old, now abandoned mining settlement. It was founded in 1924 as a coal mining town and in its heydays had 1200 inhabitants. The mine operated for 48 years until 1972, when the economic base of the settlement collapsed, leading to its abandonment. We landed at the beach- and figured out soon that the place was not so abandoned after all: two retired men live here at the moment to spent their summer months. We walked through the settlement, Birger talked about the life in a small community, Miki found an old open house with a toy collection from the good old days and so everyone enjoyed the morning stroll…

We said that there was not much sleep in the morning. In the evening, suddenly you could hear people running to the outside decks, grabbing their cameras and just disappearing! “A bowhead whale straight ahead” was the announcement! A bowhead whale? Our geographer Friederike nearly fainted as she has been coming to Greenland for over 30 years and had never seen one! But there it was: always close to the ice, it moved its 100tones with ease. Characteristic for a bowhead whale is the large head which takes approximately 1/3 of the entire body proportion!

When we reached Arveprinsens Island it became clear that there was a lot of ice ahead. Even King Neptun, who suddenly appeared on our very own deck 5, was speechless. We had hoped to reach the glaciar Eqip Sermia in the late afternoon for some hiking, but this was clearly no option today. But- icebergs, a beautiful surrounding and a calm sea can only mean one thing: Time to get dressed warmly in our thermal suites and out we went with the Polar Cirkle boats! To sit on water level and then suddenly having the ice so close and from a different perspective was something one will not forget.

A day in Uummannaq and Ukussisat north of Nuussuaq!

If you struggle at home with the right pronunciation of all these Greenlandic names you can be sure, it is not so easy for us too. But we try to do our best and our Greenlandic lecturers do a good job to teach us.

 



Uummannaq is the town with the huge heart shaped mountain as its landmark. People welcomed us so nicely that we had the feeling that all inhabitants of Uummannaq have a big heart too. It was easy to walk through the city and get in contact with the residents. Some of us had even a meeting with some citizens and they got a lot of information about the life in a Greenlandic little town.

Others have been more interested in the geology of the region. By boat they sailed along the icy coastline to the so called “Red dessert”. This place is famous for it´s special rock formation. As there is so much sulfur on the Island the region looks slightly like a moon landscape.

At lunchtime other passengers used the possibility to taste Greenlandic food. Food is always a good option to get more impressions about the way of life in a country.

In the afternoon the hikers got their chance again. Along the “heart mountain” they reached “Santa´s Cabin”, a little hut that was built as a film coulisse for a Christmas film at the Danish TV.

Back on board our Chef Eric was waiting for us on Deck 7 to give us an explanation about dry fish. Of course we could get a taste of it also. For most of the guests it has been a new experience.

In the evening, after a wonderful cruise through a world of ice, we reached Ukussisat – a small settlement nearby –. As HURTIGRUTEN visits this little village since years the inhabitants were waiting and waving for us when MV FRAM arrived. But before we could discover Ukussisat by ourselves many inhabitants visited us aboard and gave us a nice demonstration of their singing and dancing.  

Welcome to the big island – Welcome to Qeqertarsuaq!

During the night we were heading forward to Qeqertarsuaq - a small settlement on Disko Island - that was well-known during the whaling time as Godhavn. The weather was still amazing. As we are here during the midnight sun we have sunshine for 24 hours. Exactly at 24h last night we could see our first icebergs sailing smoothly through the calm sea in a very golden light. Some of us were not even thinking about sleeping as long there was such an unforgettable nice iceberg ally next to the vessel.

As soon as we reached the harbor of Qeqertarsuaq we started our landing with our little Polarcircel Boats. In several groups we went on a nice hike to the so called “Valley of the wind”. We have just spring time on the Disko Island. The typical Table Mountains – formed during a volcanic period 55 to 60 Million years ago - are still a little bit covered with snow but the tundra is blooming already.

Some passengers joined a guided tour through the little village. It was nice to get at least a first impression about the life in a small Greenlandic settlement.

Back to the vessel it was lecture time. Our lecturer team started to teach us in three different languages. Hopefully we will remember at least a small part of all these nicely given lectures.

Now in the late evening the sea is so calm that the mountains are reflected in the sea like in a mirror. The icebergs are shining golden again. And once more it is difficult to go to bed. When will we see a landscape like this – especially under this unbelievable conditions – again?

On a mystic misty day

Our day in Sisimiut started with dense fog. That is very typical for this region. But it is also typical that the fog disappears later in the morning. So our first impression of Sisimiut, Greenland´s second largest city, was a bit mystic. You nearly could not see the settlement or the mountains in the surrounding. But after a while you could recognize the first houses, fisher boats in the harbor and the landscape around Sisimiut. Later on the fog was gone and the sun was shining again like yesterday in Kangerlussuaq.

Especially those guests on a hike to the top of Palaasip Qaqqa could have been happy about the nice weather as they got an excellent view over the area.

 

Many passengers went by boat to Assaqutaq, an abandoned settlement nearby Sisimiut. There was only a summer camp left for the children of Sisimiut and they welcomed us and showed us the results of their fishing and hunting lessons.

As the tundra just started to bloom we got a first impression how nice the vegetation can be. Greenland seems to be a real green land.

In the city itself we learned about the modern Greenland. We saw the houses out of the sixties and the very modern houses built in the last ten years. What a difference! The modern supermarkets offered nearly the same than our shops at home. Only the whale and seal meat in the fridge remembered us that we were not in Europe.

In the evening after dinner we met Miki, a Greenlandic singer and artist in the Observation Lounge. He gave us a first concert with special songs from his country.  

All together we have to say: It was a perfect day, with a mystic start and an exciting end.

Going and Coming – A typical changeover day!

Everything has an end and finally, we had to leave the vessel. After such a long trip with all these wonderful impressions we had to go home. The little polarcircle boats brought us to the pier in Kangerlussuaq; a last good bye from the expedition team and then we left.

But as our plane would fly first in the evening we had still time for a last big experience. With huge tundra busses, companied by expedition team members that would fly home with us in the evening, we went in the direction of the inland ice. During the trip aboard MV FRAM we saw so many ice, sea ice and glacier ice, but now we wanted to see the Greenlandic ice cap as best as possible.

The day ended for us with a nice BBQ at Lake Ferguson. It was a nice possibility to say good bye to Greenland. Perhaps we will come back at any time but at least we will never forget the wild and exiting nature and of course all the Greenlanders that welcomed us by heart.

At the other side the new incoming guests were looking forward to their Disko-Bay trip. The plane arrived at 3.20pm. Busses brought all guests directly to the pier and only a little bit later everybody was checked in already. Outfitted with new blue jackets the trip could start. The mandatory safety drill was quickly done and after a first relaxed dinner buffet everybody was welcomed by our Captain Arild Hȧrvig and his officers. A first introduction to the expedition team by the Expedition leader Anja Erdmann remembered us that we are aboard of an expedition vessel and not on any so called “Loveboats”.  

During MV FRAM is sailing through the Kangerlussaq Fjord – this night in the opposite direction then last night – all passengers went to bed as they have been tired after a long day of travelling.

European Football Championship in Ittileq

It was the last day aboard MV FRAM. We nearly could not believe it, but after 18 days we felt like home on our ship so that most of us did not want to go home. The weather was so unbelievable nice again, we had nearly no wind. The sea was smooth like a little lake; the sun was shining out of a spectacular blue sky; nice white clouds gave our photos the last kick. How could we think now about packing?

The highlight of the day was the soccer game in Itilleq, a small settlement with only something around 100 inhabitants. We were sure, that a lot of people around the world were watching the European Football Championship at home, but we were also sure, that we had more fun during the very special football game between MV FRAM and the inhabitants of Itilleq.

There have been no rules that disturbed the play. Everybody could play in the MV FRAM team, passengers, officers, staff members. For a while we have been only a handful people against 20 or 25 inhabitants, but later we got more players. Sometimes we had even 40 or more people playing more with than against each other. It was a coming and going, for a while it looked that the field was too small and so the team continued the play anywhere in the village, we could not even see them sometimes. It was a wonderful and for sure an unforgettable football game.

In the evening we reached the Kangerlussuaq Fjord. This fjord belongs with a length of 180 km to the longest fjords of the world. Snow and ice covered mountains, hanging glaciers, giant moraines and totally flat eroded stones were waiting to be photographed by us. Many of us enjoyed the last evening in the midnight sun but it was not too late, when the last passengers went to bed. Today was only the last day aboard MV FRAM, tomorrow it will be our last holiday day. So we needed at least a little nap to be fit for the day in Kangerlussuaq tomorrow.

 

Where are all the angels now...

... could have been the question coming up in the morning? We all were introduced to the ice chart yesterday which already showed an ice coverage in front of Ilulissat of approximately 8/10 to 9/10- which means that most of the survace is covered with ice. But to hear it- and then to see it is a different story.
It became evident that this time the ice chart was correct and that nature will show us the boundaries. Even though we have made our plans, excursions were booked- now we are in the Arctic and nature rules. The ice belt in front of Ilulissat was 7.5nautical miles wide. Just before 8am, Anja came over the loud speaker to give the news of the cancellation- and introduced at the same time the new morning activity. The vessel moved to a location for good navigation- and everyone had the chance in the morning to go via the small Polar Cirkle boats sailing among the ice! It was in itself an incredible, mind blowing experience in not only seeing the majesty of the ice, but also hearing the sounds of it. If you ever though that ice is silent- think again!
The great surrounding was used as well and during lunch time we welcomed a royal visitor on board: Not an angel, but King Neptun in person had made it to deck 5 to welcome the "new comers" to his kingdom as we crossed the Polar Cirkle yesterday!

But that was not it! Calls were made, plans scheduled, piers booked- and we found ourselves wandering around the town of Qasiannguit in the afternoon. This picturesque town of 1.300 inhabitants is situated in the southern area of Diskobay and carries the name "Pearl of the Disko Bay" with pride- and with justice.
As soon as we were docked, the expedition team took us in teams through the place and we ended up in the museum area. Since the morning, the town has been busy in preparing for our arrival and that was clearly visible now. We had locals telling about the museum area, showing old Inuit games that we could also try out, an older gentleman had brought his sledge down and his lead dog. Others were taken to an old Turf hut - and all of us enjoyed the friendliness of Qasiannguit!
The highlight was definately the choir who had invited us to come into the local church! The candles were lit in the church, the choir sang, some members wore the National Costumes and it was a great ending of a nice surprise stay.

Now we are sailing out Diskobay. The midnight sun shines, there are icebergs around and the sea is calm. Maybe the day did not turn out how it was planned- but we all agree that our day has been extraordinary...The word we always heard on this voyage was "Immaqa"- which means in Greenlandic "maybe- or maybe not". And today we understood the real meaning of it.

66*33`00`` N - Qaasuitsup Killeqarfia Avannarleq

It was 10.29 a.m.when we crossed the Artic Circle, a short time before we arrived Sisimiut. It is the second largest "city" in Greenland, with 5.350 inhabitants.

The Artic Circle, the Polar Circle and the Dog Equator are all different names for the same line.The Dog Equator got its name because in Greenland true Greenlandic sled dogs are only found north of the Dog Equator!

Today we learned that Sisimut is the southernmost town in Greenland with true sleed dogs. Sisimiut is today a modern town. Many people from smaller villages moved to Sisimiut years ago, because at the benefits of living in a larger  community - a lots also abandoning their old houses. The surrounding scenery is impressive with steep rocky cliffs rising straight up from the sea.

There were lots things do in town such as visiting the excellent museum and spending our money in the various shops including the excellent craft workshops by the harbourside. But the weather was also excellent for our hiking tours. So many of us joined the historical walking tour to Tele Island.

Then the hike to Priesters Mountain near Sisimiut was undoubtedly the hardest hike of this fantastic cruise. The view after two hours of steep hiking was breathtaking and we had a beautiful view towards the alpine fog. It was a proud group returning to the ship after almost five hours in the Greenlandic mountainlandscape.

A very interesting excursion was the boat trip to the abandoned village Assaqutaq. This place was established in the 1920`s but in the 1960`s the population began to decrease. The village officially closed in 1969. Now  it is a ghost town. Today the settlement is used as summer camp or the local public schools and is in June a busy place where the inhabitants from Sisimiut go fishing for the capelin.

Some of our guests used the possibility in Sisimiut to get a little impression of Grenlandic food. The excellent kitchen in the "Hotel Sisimiut" prepared a very special buffet for the passengers. Everybody enjoyed all the specialities like rendeer, muskox, lamb, dried cod and catfish, shrimps, crabs,scallobs

and even more.

Just before departing the key we were treated to an extraordinary display of kayaking prowess. We all shivered as we watched Elias and Emaanooraq roll the kayaks gain and again in the frigid polar waters of Sisimiut harbour.

It was a real interesting day and final ending was the amazing ice and fruit carving by members of the kitchen in the Observation Lounge.