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.