Ilulissat and Its Ice Fjord

September 5th

After visiting Uummannaq, our northernmost stop above the Arctic Circle, the ship sailed a bit south. 

We stopped at Eqip Glacier, the most active calving glacier in Greenland. At first I wasn't impressed, as I had seen more dramatic ones in Alaska. But once I realized that the glacier I was viewing was over 5 kilometers wide, I was more appreciative. And as we got a bit closer the glacier made itself known. 

Then on to Ilulissat, translated as "iceberg," third largest town in Greenland and the most visited by tourists, due to its Ilulissat Icefjord. This fjord contains the Jacobshavn Glacier, which produces so many icebergs that they often block passage to the fjord. These icebergs are sometimes so large they cannot move down the fjord and get stuck in the shallower areas. The mouth of the fjord is particularly full of these icebergs. We took small boats to move among them. Cold and impressive! 

The local tour of the town included walking past the public housing, an experiment in moving whole villages into towns. Nuuk also contained much of this type of housing. Greenland is rethinking this approach, as the breakdown of natural villages has led to increased alcoholism and other problems. 

The tour also included the local museum and the Zion Church, built in 1779 and used until 1929. This church sits next to the fjord and provides a view over the iceberg filled entry. The town is known for having almost as many sled-dogs and kayaks as people. It also has shopping opportunities, an essential for tourists. 

Ilulissat was the location for the Arctic Ocean Conference in 2008, which led to the Ilulissat Declaration, which addresses environmental protection, climate change and other issues dealing with the Arctic Ocean. 

We hoped to have an opportunity to walk a path further into the fjord, but another ship - a larger one doing the Northern Passage from Alaska to New York - took away the guides and transportation. Definitely a popular tourist spot! 

Greenland and the Ocean Diamond

This is the first part of our Greenland trip. 

We flew to Kangerlussuaq in Greenland late on our third day to embark on the Ocean Diamond, our expedition ship for our visit there. The zodiak out to the ship, not to mention the bus ride to the zodiak, was a real adventure! 

Our first stop on September 3rd was at Sisimiut, the second largest town in Greenland, at around 5500 people. Greenland's total population is only around 57,000. I read part of "The Greenlanders" to acquaint myself with the island, as the original Nordic population disappeared from Greenland in the 15th century and I thought the book might explain why. It did not. Today's scientists are still puzzling over this disappearance. 

Greenland is currently over 80% Inuit. These people originally migrated from northern Asiatic regions to Alaska, northern Canada and on to Greenland. We were told that Inuit from all these areas speak the same language, basically unchanged from region to region. Local museums in each town included examples of the national costumes worn by the native Inuit.

Sisimiut gave me my first look at the colorful houses of Greenland. I would learn why they were so colorful at our next stop. This fishing port had some interesting boats, including one named Rita. Had to laugh at that. We sailed past  lots of icebergs that first full day on the ship. 

Our next stop was Uummannaq, a small hunting and fishing village in the shadow of a heart shaped moutain. The colors there were particularly bright, houses painted red, blue, pink, orange, green - nearly every color of the rainbow. The colors show what the building was used for, before widespread literacy. For instance, if a building was painted yellow, it was a hospital. Royal blue meant that it contained the local electricity generator for the town and red was used for public buildings such as museums or government offices. 

We were warned to stay away from any sled dogs we encountered as they were not friendly! 

The harbor in Uummannaq was filled with small icebergs and is icebound in the winter. Very cool! In fact, this town was my favorite stop, due to its beautiful setting. 

Westman Islands

Vestmannaeyjar Archipelago 

I am going to write backwards about my trip. We visited this area on our last day on the ship (September 13th) before docking again in Iceland.  

Heimaey is the main island in this set of 15 islands. The population is around 4000. This is a primary Icelandic fishing area and is known for the volcanic eruption that took place in 1973. This eruption destroyed a fifth of the town. The population was successfully evacuated to the mainland using its fishing fleet, which happened to be in the harbor because of bad weather. 

The island's puffin population is especially large, with the birds nesting in the cliffs, where they hatch their young. Once the young have hatched in late August or early September, the parents leave for their winter grounds. 

The pufflings make their way out of the nesting holes and must fly to the water in order to survive. Unfortunately, the lights of the town distract them and they often end up there rather than the sea. The young people in town look for them each evening in September and catch them. They take them to the aquarium to be weighed and checked and release them on the beaches as soon as they can. The young daughter of our guide showed us the one she caught and we watched her release it. It quickly dived in and swam away. Neat! 

We visited the local museum, which was built around one of the houses that had been covered in the 1973 eruption. 

This whole island is fascinating, as it is the youngest part of Iceland. The island increased in size by one-third due to the eruption.