The Dog Equator

Sisimiut is the second largest city in Greenland and is just north of the Arctic Circle or the Dog Equator.  What is the Dog Equator?  By Greenlandic law, only Greenland dogs can be kept north of the Arctic Circle.  They are one of the oldest dog breeds in the world and are very pure.

It seems just about everyone in Sisimiut has a great view of the ocean as the town is built on a hill that slopes up from the harbour.  The town is bordered by barren mountains on the other three sides.  To have to go up to go down town (or would it be up town?) - there isn't any choice, you have to walk uphill.  But after an ice cream or a cool beverage on a warm Sisimiut summer day, it is a pleasant, easy walk back to the ship.

There were a couple of different hiking options again today.  A fairly tough hike up Priest Mountain that yielded a superb view of the city and the surrounding wilderness.

The other option was a guided hike to Tele Island.  This hike culminated at an important archeological site that showed people occupying this region in waves through several different time periods stemming back 4000 years.

There were also boat trips to the nearby ghost town of Assaquataq.  Ghost towns crawl with atmosphere.  Assaqutaq feels like the people just left only days ago.

Whatever people chose to do today in Sisimiut it was a perfect day weather wise.

With the exception of the photograph of the Greenland Dogs, the photos in this post are all from the hike up Priest Mountain.  In one of the images you can see the entire town of Sisimiut.  The last photo is of the group at the top of the mountain.