The Place by the foxholes

The morning starts with a question mark: Will the weather be good or shall we have our first landing in grey, rainy conditions - here, out at sea you have no clue, since the higher moisture very often creates fogs that dance elegantly over the calm seas. But as soon as we enter the busy port of Sisimiut the skies turn blue and the colorful houses of this 5200-soul place shine brightly in the sunlight.

A gentle and fresh breeze has a very appreciated side effect - the mosquitoes stay away, which could otherwise be a great nuisance.

Especially if it comes to activities out in nature, and this is what Sisimiut is all about. And in our effort to offer something to everybody our range of activity is wide: The multi-faceted history of the place can be seen best on the historic hike to Tele Island, which takes you from modern life with shrimp factories back through colonial times with beautiful buildings next to the harbor to remains of the whaling period that started as early as in the 1500s, down to ruins of ancient settlers who have been here a couple of thousand years ago.

The more recent events in Greenlandic history are unraveled on the boat trip to Assaqutaq, a picturesque abandoned island near Sisimiut, where a 20 minute ride in a speedboat takes you. Ones the centre of the local fishing industry the place was literally closed down by the Danish government who wanted to bring education and health care to the country and found the people simply too much scattered over the place.

So many villages were abandoned against the will of their inhabitants, because that meant giving up a lot of the old traditions and ways of living. Today, however, the place is used as a summer camp for children, who learn how to fish (inclusive how to gut them), and how to hunt for seal at an age where we usually start to fold our first paper plane… The boldest among us set out in the morning for an extra-tough hike up to Palaassip Qaqqa, the “Priest Mountain”, which is towering over Sisimiut bay.

Only with good binoculars the brave hikers can be spotted in the steep mountain walls. But almost all make it today, and they are rewarded by a splendid view in crystal-clear afternoon light. So everybody is REALLY happy on return, and there is even the time to do a little shopping; the Greenlandic souvenirs are mostly beautifully carved out of bone. As a bonus, two star kayakers from the town come alongside with their needle thin boats, and demonstrate all a true Greenlander can do with this incredibly small vessel, breathtaking rolls and stunts, in ice-cold water. Many, many cheers from a large audience! Into the pastel colors of the polar night we sail, knowing it will not get fully dark. So no stargazing, but veery romantic atmosphere instead.

21˚ C... Can This Be Greenland?

Photo © Mark McDermott

The Greenlandic Icecap glinted and sparkled in the sun as we descended towards the runway in Kangerslussuaq. It was an exciting entrance and an inspiring introduction to the beginning of our holiday in the Arctic. When we stepped out of our Coca-Cola-red charter jet onto the tarmac we were surprised by how warm it was. 21˚C. Not nearly as frigid as we had imagined it would be. After all this was the Arctic. This didn't fit with our expectations! Greenland: home to Polar Bears and Muskox and rugged Greenlandic people. Land of the midnight sun and eternal winter nights. We had just flown over a portion of the 2nd largest ice sheet in the world. But the warm air and clear blue skies seemed more in line with a tropical destination. But really, who’s complaining?

Photo © Mark McDermott

Inside the small terminal we were greeted by the Expedition Team from the Fram who escorted us to three waiting motor coaches. En route to the ship we learned that Kangerslussuaq is the warmest place in all of Greenland with the best weather. There aren’t any palm trees to match the tropical temperatures we experienced in Kangerslusuuaq but one thing it does have in common with the tropics is mosquitoes. Many people believe there are more mosquitoes in the tropics than anywhere else, but, nope. Not so. There are far more mosquitoes in the Arctic. While they hummed a strident tune about our heads they weren’t much more than a mild annoyance.

Photo © Mark McDermott

After a short 15 minute ride in a stiflingly warm motor coach we arrived at the pier. We were issued life jackets and shown how to put them on. One would think a compulsory piece of equipment like a life jacket would be easy to put on, right? Think again. Sure it only has two straps but it felt like we wrestling with an octopus. Once we had bested the life jackets we hopped into the small Polar Cirkle boats and enjoyed a short but brisk ride to the ship.

One of the nice things about taking a chartered jet is that we didn’t have to collect our luggage at the airport. Our bags were taken directly to the ship and then delivered to our cabins. Nice.

On the ship we were issued our ship’s I.D. cards and then escorted to our cabins.

Photo © Mark McDermott

At 18:00 we had a compulsory safety drill where we all gathered at our muster stations on deck 5. The whole process of the drill was quite interesting. It was evident that the crew was a well polished team.

Right after the drill we heaved anchor and began our cruise down Kangerslussuaq Fjord. It is the longest fjord in all of Greenland.

At 21:00 we met in the Observation Lounge for the Captain’s Welcome. the Captain gave a short but heart felt welcome speach and then introduced key personnel of the ship. The Expedition Leader then introduced the members of her team.

Now we are at about the mid-point of the 172km long fjord. It is a beautiful summer evening. The rocky walls of the fjord rise steeply from the sea on both sides of the ship.

It is now 22:23. The sky is bright. It stay that way all night long.

Tonight we will cross the Arctic Circle.  Sisimiut awaits.

Aka - Our Greenlandic trainee!

Our last landing has been in Itilleq. The sun was shining out of a clear blue sky again. Fram visits Itilleq since 2007 and the program in this little village became over the years a nice routine for the inhabitants and for our guests. In Itilleq our passengers have the possibility to visit the Greenlanders for a “Kaffeemik”. Later on we have always the very well known soccer game between Itilleq and FRAM. That has been a real nice adventure at the end of our trip along the west coast of Greenland.

Today we want to give our trainee Aka the possibility to write about her life aboard FRAM! Read, what she is thinking and feeling during her work with us. And Aka – thank you to be with us. You are wonderful and a big help!

Working aboard Fram: Exploring, learning, meeting other people and having fun!

Trainee onboard Fram!!!

I am Aka Simonsen from Qaqortoq, Greenland, a trainee onboard MV FRAM!!

I couldn´t believe my luck being offered to be a trainee ONBOARD MV FRAM!

But some dreams come true! Believing it or not, 4. June 2012, exited I went onboard. Checked in, got my own room!

Had a guided tour on the ship and was introduced to the staff onboard and received a uniform.

Working, Exploring, Learning and having fun, are the key words of being trainee onboard. Excites me a lot! You get to meet nice people with different nationalities, having fun. You get to learn some words like: Salamat = Thank you in Filipino. And the food! You get to eat very nice looking and very very delicious food: And I have to use the fitness center much more! You are able to swim in the sea with floating suits. Meeting HRH King Neptun and get to know in how cold water he lives in... You get to explore Greenland! Even me as a Greenlander, I hadn´t seen Greenland that far north before, beautiful exiting much different from south Greenland, where I come from.

Like now writing while I can just look out the window and admire the seals, whales and other animals enjoying the nature with me!

Being Greenlander and being a trainee onboard a cruise ship as MV Fram, I found out that having the uniform on when we are visiting settlements and towns, when people realizes I am a Greenlander, they admire me and they are proud of me, and glad because they know I will be able to say the right things about Greenland to the tourists. And that it is possible for Greenlanders to work in Hurtigruten!

So being trainee here onboard Fram = Exploring, learning, meeting other people and having fun!

Be open for plan B!

The captain tried it again and he did his best and our lovely ship MV FRAM too. But again - we could not reach Ilulissat as there has been such a dense belt of icebergs in front of the harbor. During the whole night we sailed through the ice. It was so amazing to see how maneuverable our ship is. This tour will be really unforgettable.

Our plan B was Qasigiannguit in the southern Disko Bay. Even we have been a little bit disappointed that we could not reach Ilulissat the day with our plan B was wonderful.

Our expedition leader organized together with her assistant a nice program. Those who wanted to stretch their legs went on a fine hike through the flowering tundra. Those who have been more interested in the history went on a city hike with the expedition team. The highlight of this tour has been the astonishing museum. In different houses you could learn so much about the way of life of the Inuit cultures. In the evening we met in the church of Qasigiannguit for an incredible nice concert given by the choir of the town.  

During the night we had to say “good bye” to the ice. Most of the guests enjoyed the very well known Fram Crew Show. In the light of the midnight sun we sailed southward to our last destination – Itilleq.

Greenland National Day!

June 21 was a special day to all on Fram but always a significant day to the Greenlanders as it is Greenland’s national day: 33 years since the introduction of Home Rule; 27 years since the Greenlandic flag first flied proudly on the flag poles around the country; 3 years since Self Governance was inaugurated.

Our landing in Qullissat in the morning, knowing of the importance the abandoned mining town has had for Greenland politically and culturally, fitted well into the value of the day. So did the introduction of a drum and mask dance for our guests in the evening. Both setting the dances into a social and cultural context and the actual performance by Greenlandic mask dancers was a wonderful conclusion of the national day.

The day revealed different sides of ice: the beauty of the ice as we experienced it when we crossed through the icescapes in the Polar Circle boats and the chilling forces of the ice that the captain and his crew had to navigate through.  

And than three  Humpback whales showed up between the ice!

On a slightly less spectacular note – and without contact with ice – was the Expedition Team’s test of the flotation suits outside Qullissat. The test was successful, though and confirmed that the suits are meant for floating!

Reaching the northernmost point

The day we spent in Uummannaq and Ukussisat. Our Expedition Leader Karin prepared a nice program with hikes and boat trips in the amazing surrounding, but the nature had another plan for us. The attraction of Uummannaq is the huge heart shaped mountain and that we could see already from the distance. But we could see also that there was a wide ice belt in front of the city. And so all plans, even they have been nicely done, had to be thrown into the waste paper basket. Latest now we learned that we are on an expedition cruise.

But believe it or not - this morning should become a highlight of our cruise. Even the ice belt has been so dense our experienced Polarcircel Boat drivers managed to bring us to the landing side. Some guests liked this very special ice cruise so very much that they did not like to leave the boat. They made their own decision to stay in our little red boats that were operating like a shuttle between FRAM and Uummannaq. Nobody will forget this event for sure. A big thank you to the boat drivers!

The museum and the church have been opened for us; the lunch buffet with Greenlandic specialities was waiting for the passengers. Some guests took the chance to talk to a hunter and fisherman to get more firsthand information. Everything in town was so interesting, but the best of all has been the cruise with our Polarcircel Boats through the dense ice in the harbor.

In the afternoon we made our way to Ukussisat. Like every week the inhabitants of the settlement came on board for singing and dancing. Later on we visited the village. The nice hospitality we could experience in Ukussisat will be unforgettable.

 

In the valley of the wind!

The day we spent in Qeqertarsuaq. Out of a geological view we are now in a very young area. The typical table mountains were built approx. 60 Million years ago. Remember, we started our cruise in Kangerlussuaq and the stones in this fjord belong with more than 2 Billion years to the oldest stones on earth. 

The little village Qeqertarsuaq was founded as a whaling station in 1773 by Svend Sandgreen. At this time it was called Godhavn, the good harbor, as it was such a well protected bay and just perfect for the whalers.

Godhavn became a Danish colony later on and was used as a bastion against the German, Dutch and English whalers. We could still find the canons out of this period on our landing side.  

From 1782 until 1940 Qeqertarsuaq has been even the economical center for North Greenland. Today it is a very quiet village with approx. 1000 inhabitants. Most of them are working in the fishing industry for Royal Greenland.

Passengers used different opportunities to spend the very sunny day. Many went on a nice hike to the “valley of the wind”, some made their decision for a city walk and others enjoyed the nice iceberg panorama sitting on a bench next to the shoreline.

 

We left Disko Island in the early afternoon and sailed along amazing icebergs forward to our next destination.

Three Minke Whales have been another highlight in the afternoon.  

     

Sisimiut – Here we come!

Today we visited Sisimiut, Greenland´s second largest city. The city was founded as a colony in 1764 by Hans Egede and he named it Holsteinsborg, after the famous missionary, Johan Ludvig Holstein zu Ledreborg. The first people that were living in this area have been the people of the Saqqaq and Dorset Culture. So you can say that the region was settled at least since 4500 years.

Hans Egede has been the first Missionary in Greenland. He hoped to find the descendents of the Vikings and he has been very disappointed when he “only” found the Inuit in Greenland. As there have been no Vikings any more he brought the Christianity to the Inuit.

Other missionaries tried to establish a settlement at this place before. But the Dutch whalers that had a station in this area prevented this for many years. During a huge pox epidemic in 1801 the colony was nearly lost as almost the whole population died.

When you are walking through Sisimiut you can still see the colonial center. The Bethel Church is the oldest well preserved church in Greenland.

Sisimiut, the name means the settlement next to the fox´s den, is a very modern town with 5200 inhabitants. Sisimiut is a central business center and an important shipping base for western and northwestern Greenland as it has the northernmost year-round ice-free port. So you can find the world´s largest factory for deep water shrimps in the harbor.

Sisimiut is the first town with Greenlandic dogs on our trip as we are north of the Polar circle, the so called dog equator. These working dogs have been never ever mixed with other dogs and belong to the world´s oldest dog breeds. 

During the night we made our way under the beautiful light of the midnight sun in the direction of Qeqertarssuaq. Around 24h we saw our first icebergs.

A busy long day!

It is the changeover day again, a hard and busy day for everybody. In the morning it was time to say good bye to our passengers and later on it was time to say hallo to the new incoming guests.

Good by my dear friend!



Let's go to the Icecap

For all passengers it was a long day. Those that were leaving the ship had time for a trip to the icecap in these huge “Tundra busses” and a nice BBQ in the evening before they flew home. Incoming guests arrived in Kangerlussuaq in the afternoon and were brought to MV FRAM directly.

Let's be prepared for the first Polarcircel Boat Cruise

The crew used the time to clean the ship during the whole day so that everything looked very nice for the new incoming guests. Of course the crew is cleaning everything all the time, but on a changeover day without any passengers aboard there are more special things to do. So it is a hard day for the crew too.

After a first delicate dinner buffet and the mandatory emergency drill for our guests our Captain Arild Hȧrvik welcomed everybody in the observation lounge. The expedition leader Karin Strand introduced us later to her expedition team.

During the night we sailed through the Kangerlussuaq Fjord to the open sea to our next destination Sisimiut.


Captain: Let's go!