Pond Inlet & Eclipse Sound, Canada
A Warm Canadian Welcome! After a dramatic crossing of Davis Strait from the west coast of Greenland, and aided by large trailing seas, we awake alongside the small Inuit community of Pond Inlet.
After clearing Canadian customs we prepare for our first step onto Canadian soil. With both the Canadian maple leaf and Nunavut flags proudly flying from local houses and government buildings Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik in Inuktitut), is a town of 1,500 people.
A strong tide is evident as the first Zodiacs make for the beach landing in front of the town. Although not as colourful as the small Danish-style villages of Greenland, the people of Pond Inlet are warm and very friendly. A highlight for all was both the traditional sod house where an Inuit elder named Elizabeth tended a seal oil lamp in the traditional way and a performance of throat singing at the local cultural centre. Sitting on a bed covered in Caribou hides and with dried ptarmigan hanging on the walls, Elizabeth speaks through a translator telling of her childhood growing up in a sod house very similar to the museum-style replica. At the cultural centre, local performers enact a play and sing songs in both English and Inuktitut detailing both traditional and Inuit life. For the finale, four young women pair off in a competition of throat singing. Resembling more a form of ethereal sound art, the competition ends when one girl starts to laugh. Some guests visit The Northern Store, the most recent incarnation of the iconic Hudson Bay Company. Upon departure from the beach, smiling young boys help pass out life jackets and revel when their help is asked for in pushing out a few Zodiacs into the surf.
After departing Pond Inlet we travel west and north along Bylot Island into Eclipse Sound, landing at a secluded beach ringed with rocky outcrops. It’s here that we get the first indication of why the Norse called this part of the world Helluland (land of flat stones) as the sculpted limestone has eroded into millions of gray plates on the beach. Hikes to local viewpoints are punctuated by the occasional stop for caribou antler, seal, whale and walrus bone. The long hike, for a time, parallels tracks set in the muskeg by a group of elusive muskoxen.
An amazing day is topped off when Narwhal are sighted off the bow. Although, keeping a very respectful distance from the ship, about twenty-five animals spend half an hour in full view.
A wonderful introduction to the inlands and wildlife of the Canadian high arctic!
A Warm Canadian Welcome! After a dramatic crossing of Davis Strait from the west coast of Greenland, and aided by large trailing seas, we awake alongside the small Inuit community of Pond Inlet.
After clearing Canadian customs we prepare for our first step onto Canadian soil. With both the Canadian maple leaf and Nunavut flags proudly flying from local houses and government buildings Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik in Inuktitut), is a town of 1,500 people.
A strong tide is evident as the first Zodiacs make for the beach landing in front of the town. Although not as colourful as the small Danish-style villages of Greenland, the people of Pond Inlet are warm and very friendly. A highlight for all was both the traditional sod house where an Inuit elder named Elizabeth tended a seal oil lamp in the traditional way and a performance of throat singing at the local cultural centre. Sitting on a bed covered in Caribou hides and with dried ptarmigan hanging on the walls, Elizabeth speaks through a translator telling of her childhood growing up in a sod house very similar to the museum-style replica. At the cultural centre, local performers enact a play and sing songs in both English and Inuktitut detailing both traditional and Inuit life. For the finale, four young women pair off in a competition of throat singing. Resembling more a form of ethereal sound art, the competition ends when one girl starts to laugh. Some guests visit The Northern Store, the most recent incarnation of the iconic Hudson Bay Company. Upon departure from the beach, smiling young boys help pass out life jackets and revel when their help is asked for in pushing out a few Zodiacs into the surf.
After departing Pond Inlet we travel west and north along Bylot Island into Eclipse Sound, landing at a secluded beach ringed with rocky outcrops. It’s here that we get the first indication of why the Norse called this part of the world Helluland (land of flat stones) as the sculpted limestone has eroded into millions of gray plates on the beach. Hikes to local viewpoints are punctuated by the occasional stop for caribou antler, seal, whale and walrus bone. The long hike, for a time, parallels tracks set in the muskeg by a group of elusive muskoxen.
An amazing day is topped off when Narwhal are sighted off the bow. Although, keeping a very respectful distance from the ship, about twenty-five animals spend half an hour in full view.
A wonderful introduction to the inlands and wildlife of the Canadian high arctic!
