Waterfalls – Dave and Kay's Travel Adventures

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 rising over the fjord of Prince Christian Sound.

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.

map of the Prince Christian Sound and it showed where some of our pictures were taken!

Prince Christian Sound was named after the prince, later he became king Christian VII of Denmark.

We watched from our deck for part of the time and then went to the front of the ship so we could see both sides of the Sound.

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”.

Some of the boats tied up in the Nanortalik harbor.

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.

Locals celebrating and enjoying food and drink.

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!

A street sign along the gravel road and rocky terrain in town.

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!

Dave looking out at the town of Nanortalik

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.

Boats grounded because the tide was out.

When we looked out at the ocean from town, we could see icebergs floating.

Tomorrow we will make another stop in Greenland.

Wednesday, August 21st, 2024

Today we visited the town of Akureyi, the “Capital of the North”. It was located at the end of a fjord, Eyjafjördur. Its location was 62 miles from the Arctic Circle. Akureyri was the second largest city in Iceland with a population around 19,000. The founder of the city was an Irish Viking, Helgi Magri Eyvindarson in the 9th century.

On the hilltop was the local church, Akureyarkirkja, which had a stained glass window that originated in the Coventry Cathedral in London, England prior to its destruction in WWII.

The traffic lights had heart shaped stop signs instead of solid circles. This was one attempt to boost its citizens’ morale, especially during the dark days of winter.

We traveled again along the Ring road. Our first stop was the northeastern shore of Mývatn Lake which was part of the Diamond Circle in Iceland. Lake Mývatn was created from a massive basaltic eruption about 2,300 years ago. During this eruption the lava flowed and it encountered wetlands and lower-lying areas. The hot lava mixed with water and caused steam explosions that created pseudocraters.

The lava caused an obstruction that dammed up the water which created Lake Mývatn. It’s one of the largest lakes in Iceland.

It was a beautiful area as we walked around the lake even though it was overcast.

We had an early lunch which included one drink of your choice, slaw, cooked potatoes, Arctic shark and tomato soup. The tomato soup was not gluten free so I had a lamb vegetable soup.

The Hverir Geothermal area that was also called Námafjall was otherworldly. We saw colorful mineral deposits that were shades of orange, yellows, reds, and greens. It felt like being on another planet. NASA brought astronauts here to train. It was located on the east side of Lake Mývatn. Fumarole gas contains hydrogen sulfide that caused the smell of rotten eggs. Yes, it did smell!

Hverir Geothermal area and its surreal landscape

There were smoking fumaroles. At a depth of over 3,000 feet the temperature was 392˚F, so water that flowed below was quickly heated and came to the surface as steam. These steam vents resulted from the intense geothermal activity beneath the surface where magma heated the groundwater that caused it to rise and escape through fissures in the earth’s crust.

We also saw boiling mud pots that were surrounded by sulphur crystals of different colors. These bubbling mud pots were formed when acidic gasses interact with the surrounding rocks and broke them into thick mud.

Watch the short video below that illustrated the boiling mud pots!

Dimmuborgir when translated means “dark castles”. We spent some time walking through this area. These lava formations were created about 2,300 years ago from a volcanic eruption. We saw lava pillars, caves, rugged crags and towering rocks.

It was a dramatic expanse of lava. Some of these spectacular pillars reached 65 feet in height!

We used our imagination to transform a rock into the face of a troll of something else. Look at the picture below and do you see the profile of a troll?

Do you see the kissing trolls in this picture?

What about a chicken in the picture below?

If you watched Game of Thrones, Dimmuborgir was featured. It was filmed during the winter and was where Mance Rayder held his wildling army.

Some more pictures from our walk through the formations.

The locals believed that Yule Lads lived in Dimmuborgir. In December, you could see these beings around the area. It would be fun to have experienced this.

As we walked it was pointed out to us the crack in the earth due to the two tectonic plates, the North American and the Eurasian.

North American plate and the Eurasian plate shifting apart

Nearby was a volcano and it you look closely you could see the hikers on the top.

The last stop was to Godafoss, also part of the Diamond Circle. Its name translated to “waterfall of the gods”. The waterfall cascaded over a horseshoe shape and spanned about 100 feet and plummeted 39 feet. It flowed from the river Skjálfandafljót which orginated in the Icelandic highlands.