Hello! My name is Candice, and I will be describing to you the adventures that awaited us today. I am an Inuk from Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada, and I am very excited to share my stories and culture aboard National Geographic Endurance.
Today we woke up in Greenland to beautiful, calm water, so calm it was like glass. Any day you wake up in Greenland is a great day. Steve presented on unique Arctic adaptations this morning. It was a great tribute to Inuit who not only adapted to but thrived in these harsh conditions, as we continue to do today.
This afternoon, we shook off our sea legs and hiked. We admired two old qammait (singular, qammaq) at a Thule site. These are old stone and moss huts that Inuit lived in many years ago. It was a beautiful insight into what life was like for Inuit in such a beautiful land. Seeing what they saw and walking where they walked is amazing to think about, especially being an Inuk myself. We continued our hike and heard the dovekies nesting in the hills on either side of the valley as we walked. It blows my mind to think that around 4,000 years ago, they kickstarted the habitation of this land since their droppings allowed vegetation to grow. Over years and years, the land became tundra. One of the hiking groups saw an arctic hare while the other admired arctic cotton and glaciers. The moss was so spongy to walk on that sometimes it felt like walking in deep snow. I guess we can't ever escape winter in the Arctic. Ha ha! Small bits of glacial ice hugged the shore, making for unique sights on the Zodiac ride back to the ship in calm waters. Today was a great welcome to Greenland. We couldn't have asked for a better day aboard National Geographic Endurance. Qujannamiik.
Text written by Candice Sudlovenick, Community Ambassador
