Friday, August 23rd, 2024
Today was a “Day at Sea”. We had a chance to read. So it was a quiet day. There were three lectures that we attended in the afternoon and evening.
The first lecture was by Rear Admiral John Lippiett. His presentation was called “Sailors Discover the Unknown World 500 Years Ago”. He explained how early maps revealed information about the European explorers who tried to find “riches in the East”.
Not long after Lippiett’s lecture, we attended Dr. Ronald Orenstein’s presentation called “What to See at Sea- Seabirds and Other Creatures”. He presented on the birds we have seen or might see as we sailed on our cruise.
The last presentation we attended today was Sue Stockdale’s talk on her “Crossing the Greenland Ice Cap- A Lesson in Teamwork”. This was another epic adventure that she did with a team of other adventurers. Her trek was quite fascinating as the team crossed the Greenland Ice Cap.
Saturday, August 24th, 2024
We didn’t arrive in Nanortalik, Greenland until 2:00 PM but this morning from 7:00 AM until 11:00ish we sailed in Greenland’s Prince Christian Sound. Sue Stockdale, a guest lecturer on our ship who skied the Greenland Ice Cap, gave a commentary about what we were seeing as we sailed.
The sun was relecting off the mountains and the icebergs. It was stunning!
Prince Christian Sound was approximately 60 miles long and located in Greenland’s southern edge and was a narrow passage. Below was a map that illustrated the sound as we sailed through it.
Prince Christian Sound was named after the prince, later he became king Christian VII of Denmark.
The view was absolutely breathtaking. We saw many waterfalls, icebergs of all sizes, glaciers, and some glaciers that reached the sea!
We had so many fabulous pictures it was very difficult to choose a few for this post. The icebergs we saw reminded us a little of Antarctica. Of course, Antarctica had more.
We saw glaciers as we sailed. They were magnificent.
The terrain was filled with steep mountains and a rugged terrain.
The snow melted and we saw many waterfalls that flowed all the way down the mountains.
We saw snow-covered mountains.
There was one settlement in Prince Christian Sound called Aappilattoq. The name meant “red” after the red mountain. There were 100 inhabitants living there. Aappilattoq people fish and hunt and were isolated except for when a boat stopped by or a helicopter flew into the settlement.
The settlement had colorful houses. One can see how isolated this town was along the Sound.
We still saw icebergs when we left the sound into the North Atlantic ocean.
Sailing up to Nanortalik, Greenland.
When we arrived at the island of Nanortalik we tendered in to the town. The sky was clear but the air was windy and chillly. Nanortalik was Greenland’s southernmost town. Its name meant a “place of polar bears”.
The town’s main industries were seal hunting, hunting crabs, fishing and service and administration with about 1,000 inhabitants. As we walked around, a celebration was happening.
The homes were painted bright colors. We loved walking among the town’s homes.
We had a self-guided tour of the town and its open air museum. Locals were out selling their handcrafted items. We purchased a Christmas ornament from a woman who had maded it from beads. She told us she had made the ornament along with six more!
The Nanortalik Open Air Museum had buildings that housed different aspects of the history of the area with nine historic buildings. One building showed the Viking way of life.
One building had Inuit fishing and hunting tools, kayaks and more.
The former blubber house had displays.
Another building was the former train oil factory.
Another building was filled with medical equipment.
Dave climbed up the narrow stairway for a panoramic view of the area!
There was one lutheran church in town. It was wooden and built in 1916.
Many of the locals were out enjoying the day.
The tide was out when we tendered back to the ship.
When we looked out at the ocean from town, we could see icebergs floating.
Tomorrow we will make another stop in Greenland.
