Again
another perfect day! Cloudless sky and brilliant sunshine!
At 8.30 am
we enter the small bay of Qasigiannguit and go along side the small pier of the
town. The Fram is twice as long as the pier, but our Captain manages squeeze
the Fram along side-side the pier at 9.00 am.
At 9.30 the
Kayak Adventure group departs for a kayak tour in the waters around
Qasigiannguit. The calm sea and the brilliant sunshine are perfect conditions
for successful kayaking in the grand scenery with rocky islands, narrow
channels in between and icebergs.
At the same
time the first group of the Ice Cruisers boarded the big Polar Circle Boats and
started the trip through the narrow channels between the islands, along big and
small Icebergs and into open waters. The first group was lucky to see whales
but they dived for a very long time and they re appeared far from the boats.
Most of our
passengers enjoyed a walk in town. They visited the small but very nice and
interesting museums about Greenlandic life, history of the community and the
archaeology of the region. In the vicinity of Qasigiannguit one of the oldest
settlements of Greenland was discovered and excavated. This settlement belongs
to the Saqqaq-Cultures approximately 3500 years old. Material of this old
culture is exhibited in the archaeological museum.
Some
passengers walked out of town and enjoyed the nice landscape and a scenic lake.
At 13.30
the manager of the local fish factory visited the Fram together with two
workers and gave a talk about the fish factory and answer questions of
interested passengers. The factory of Qasigiannguit is the biggest fish factory
of Greenland mostly processing halibut and salmon. The factory staff brought
several types of Greenlandic fish specialities for tasting with them.
At 15.00
the Fram departed Qasigiannguit. An hour later we had lectures about landscape
photography and Tundra vegetation.
At 17.00
the Fram sailed into the Ilulisat Icefield, which is produced by the Ilulisat
Glaciers, the most active Glacier in Greenland. This Glacier and the Ilulisat
Icefjord is a Unesco World Nature Heritage site.
After an
hour impressive cruising in the ice-field the Fram had to leave it because as
our captain says: ”The quickest way to go through an icefield is to surround
it”.
Thus we
make our way along the icefield to be in time at Uummannaq our next
destination.
Children from kindergarten welcoming our guests to Qasigiannguit
Local people showing "The living settlement" nearby the lake in Qasigiannguit where they also cooked whale meat for tasting and sewing sealskin to show how Inuit lived.
