South Greenland – Prins Christian Sound & Nanortalik
Today, the fog lifted and dropped like a stage curtain giving us a Greenlandic day in three acts.
Act One: The Ice
I knew the fog had lifted when all of the ship’s photographers got up from their breakfasts and headed for the bow deck. The foggy night had given way to a bright morning, and Captain Philip delivered us to the foot of a very active and very large tidewater glacier near the very southern tip of Greenland. With icebergs scattered around us, we watched and wondered about this glacier. Its size, its age and its fate; what will happen to this landscape over the next ten, one hundred, one thousand years?
Act Two: The Sound
From the glacier itself, we continued through Prins Christian Sound for the entire morning. This area is just north of Cape Farewell, the southernmost tip of Greenland. The water was glassy calm, and the fog stayed high enough for us to peer up the lower portion of the mountains. A few seals and various gulls crossed our path, and mostly we had the opportunity to see glaciation in action. Everywhere you look here there are examples of moraines, hanging glaciers, and colonizing vegetation. Those who stayed committed to the breezy but beautiful bow deck were rewarded with apricot and chocolate pastries which prompted a different line of questioning. How do they make the snacks so incredibly good?
Act Three: The Town
By mid afternoon we were ashore in Nanortalik. With the exception of one very small village, this is the most southern town in Greenland. Our Greenland specialist had some of us expecting a comparatively lush and gardened paradise. Paradise, yes. Lush and gardened? Well, we did find a lovely field of buttercups.
The people at Nanortalik were friendly and welcoming. Especially the kids who, after thoroughly exploring the Zodiacs and life jackets, became our valets. They kept all of the life jackets in order and were ready to hand them out to each of us as we needed them. During our time ashore, we had a chance to explore the town’s extensive museum that is housed in several buildings of different styles. Kayaks and tools, a sod house, summer sealskin tents and various artifacts from different ages of hunting and fishing were on display. A few of our local guides dressed in sealskin paddled an umiak (this is a boat large enough for several people that is made of sealskin and traditionally paddled by women) to shore and made a meal of seal meat for us to sample. With so many questions to ask, this town site helped provide some answers about life and history in such a remote and beautiful wilderness.
Today, the fog lifted and dropped like a stage curtain giving us a Greenlandic day in three acts.
Act One: The Ice
I knew the fog had lifted when all of the ship’s photographers got up from their breakfasts and headed for the bow deck. The foggy night had given way to a bright morning, and Captain Philip delivered us to the foot of a very active and very large tidewater glacier near the very southern tip of Greenland. With icebergs scattered around us, we watched and wondered about this glacier. Its size, its age and its fate; what will happen to this landscape over the next ten, one hundred, one thousand years?
Act Two: The Sound
From the glacier itself, we continued through Prins Christian Sound for the entire morning. This area is just north of Cape Farewell, the southernmost tip of Greenland. The water was glassy calm, and the fog stayed high enough for us to peer up the lower portion of the mountains. A few seals and various gulls crossed our path, and mostly we had the opportunity to see glaciation in action. Everywhere you look here there are examples of moraines, hanging glaciers, and colonizing vegetation. Those who stayed committed to the breezy but beautiful bow deck were rewarded with apricot and chocolate pastries which prompted a different line of questioning. How do they make the snacks so incredibly good?
Act Three: The Town
By mid afternoon we were ashore in Nanortalik. With the exception of one very small village, this is the most southern town in Greenland. Our Greenland specialist had some of us expecting a comparatively lush and gardened paradise. Paradise, yes. Lush and gardened? Well, we did find a lovely field of buttercups.
The people at Nanortalik were friendly and welcoming. Especially the kids who, after thoroughly exploring the Zodiacs and life jackets, became our valets. They kept all of the life jackets in order and were ready to hand them out to each of us as we needed them. During our time ashore, we had a chance to explore the town’s extensive museum that is housed in several buildings of different styles. Kayaks and tools, a sod house, summer sealskin tents and various artifacts from different ages of hunting and fishing were on display. A few of our local guides dressed in sealskin paddled an umiak (this is a boat large enough for several people that is made of sealskin and traditionally paddled by women) to shore and made a meal of seal meat for us to sample. With so many questions to ask, this town site helped provide some answers about life and history in such a remote and beautiful wilderness.
